Pride month is overโnow what? The month that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community took a while to take root, but June has become the main time when marketers pull out their rainbow branding and feature LGBTQ+ people in their adsโall in an effort to connect with these consumers. With spending power that investment research firm LGBT Capital estimates at $3.7 trillion globally, LGBTQ+ consumers know their worth and expect representation in content and advertisements throughout the year that reflect it. Attempts to cash in on Pride arenโt only easy to spot, theyโre especially jarring for LGBTQ+ people, who still experience discrimination and run the risk of losing their human rights as a result of proposed legislations. Showing solidarity and support in June is great, but thereโs still a lot to be done year-round to advance equality for LGBTQ+ people.
Merek yang terlibat dalam "kapitalisme pelangi" tanpa secara konsisten menunjukkan nilai atau dukungan nyata terhadap komunitas LGBTQ+ akan diawasi oleh konsumen LGBTQ+ dan sekutunya. Dukungan terhadap komunitas lebih dari sekadar pernyataan atau parade. Dengan lebih dari 50% konsumen mengharapkan perusahaan tempat mereka membeli produk untuk mendukung tujuan yang mereka pedulikan, mereka mencari tindakan, advokasi, dan inklusi yang lebih berkelanjutan. Tanpa dukungan otentik tersebut, membangun kesadaran merek dan memenangkan bisnis dari konsumen dan sekutu LGBTQ+ akan menjadi tantangan tersendiri di pasar yang terus berkembang ini.
Merek-merek yang terlibat dalam "kapitalisme pelangi" tanpa secara konsisten menunjukkan nilai atau dukungan nyata terhadap komunitas LGBTQ+ sedang dalam pengawasan. Dengan lebih dari 50% konsumen mengharapkan perusahaan tempat mereka membeli produk untuk mendukung tujuan yang mereka pedulikan, mereka mencari tindakan, advokasi, dan inklusi yang lebih berkelanjutan.
LGBTQ+ consumers are looking to brands to expand their inclusive messaging throughout the year, and these efforts are a key way that advertisers can build ongoing connections with this community. Outside of Pride Month, Nielsen Ad Intel data shows that ads with representation of LGBTQ+ people are hard to find on TV. In fact, just one week of primetime advertisements in June 2021 aired a more diverse selection of ad categories featuring or targeting LGBTQ+ consumers than the entire month of February. Naturally, brands are rushing to celebrate during the month of June, but if that is the only time theyโre engaging or representing LGBTQ+ people, they may be missing the mark. The lack of LGBTQ+ inclusive ads at other times throughout the year shows thereโs room for improvement.
Mengingat kurangnya iklan inklusif LGBTQ+ di luar bulan Juni, ada peluang yang signifikan bagi merek untuk meningkatkan representasi orang LGBTQ+ dalam iklan mereka tanpa harus bersaing dengan semua kampanye yang berfokus pada Pride lainnya. Berdasarkan data Nielsen Ad Intel untuk Februari 2021, misalnya, hanya 1% dari hampir 10.000 iklan unik yang ditayangkan di televisi linier primetime yang memiliki representasi LGBTQ+ (orang, topik, tema, dll.) dalam materi iklan. Meskipun persentasenya rendah, hal ini menjadi lebih mengejutkan ketika Anda mempertimbangkan bahwa banyak merek yang menjadi sponsor perusahaan untuk perayaan Bulan Pride tidak memiliki representasi LGBTQ+ dalam iklan TV primetime bulan Februari. Faktanya, hanya dua dari 48 merek yang menayangkan 1.000 iklan atau lebih di bulan Februari yang menyertakan representasi LGBTQ+. Ketika tema LGBTQ hadir dalam iklan, merek-merek yang diwakili sebagian besar berada di kategori farmasi, mewakili 16% dari total volume iklan inklusif.
The progress made since the historic Stonewall Riots that inspired Pride to the mainstream parades and marches of today are changes worthy of celebration. But the fight continues, and media has a critical role to playโfrom more nuanced targeting to increasingly diverse storytelling on TV. As many content creators across television embrace this opportunity for representation, itโs no surprise that two of the top advertisers (based on number of unique ads) featuring LGBTQ+ representation in February were streaming services.ย
Bagaimana cara pengiklan menghindari pendekatan yang tidak sesuai dengan selera untuk melibatkan konsumen dan sekutu LGBTQ+?
Start with a commitment to ongoing and long-term interactions with the LGBTQ+ communityโnot just promotions during June. Todayโs savvy consumers are even more wary of superficial brand behavior after a year that upended the status quo. Brand messaging once a year wonโt be enough if you really want your brand to break through. Working with media thatโs focused on the community, like Revry, is one way to maintain engagement year round.
"Di Revry, kami tidak hanya melihat nilai dari komunitas LGBTQ+ sepanjang tahun, kami menjalaninya. Kami tahu dampaknya bagi pemirsa dan konsumen yang mencari representasi yang akurat dan bernuansa dalam Konten. Dan kami tahu nilai yang diberikan oleh pemirsa kami kepada merek-merek yang berinvestasi untuk menyasar komunitas kami dengan rasa hormat dan kemanusiaan."
Damian Pelliccione, salah satu pendiri dan CEO Revry
Ensure that your brand messaging is authentic to what matters to LGBTQ+ peopleโlike equality, community wellbeing, culture and policy. In a recent GLAAD study, senior management at ad agencies supported featuring LGBTQ+ people in campaigns, but felt that their teams lacked the expertise and knowledge to get the representation โright,โ a disconnect that may be driving reluctance to expand LGBTQ+ inclusive brand messaging. Agencies and advertisers can work to close this gap by engaging with organizations like GLAAD and empowering LGBTQ+ business resource groups in their companies to educate their colleagues.
Next, build diversity into your business strategy. Brands must understand that intersectional diversity isnโt a special summer event, itโs our new normal. Not only is Generation Z the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in the U.S., one in six adults in the Gen Z age group identify as a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Nielsen data shows young people expect the media and brands they engage with to embrace a standard of representation and inclusion true to their lived experience. In Nielsenโs recent Attitudes on Representation on TV survey, half of the respondents aged 18-24 said they were more likely to watch content featuring someone from their identity group and more likely to purchase from brands that advertise in that inclusive content.
Traditional television content and ads arenโt the only place LGBTQ+ audiences are looking for authentic representation. Brands should also work to deepen digital connectionsโitโs where LGBTQ+ people have created lasting allies and a borderless sense of community. Streaming and sharing video content makes digital engagement a must for connecting your brand to LGBTQ+ consumers. LGBTQ+ usage of YouTube alone outpaces the general population by more than a third and these consumers are more likely to be heavy social media usersโparticularly for visually driven ad-supported platforms like Instagram. There are LGBTQ+ people in every community every day of the year, and your ad strategy should reflect that.
