Marketing to the Gay Community

Originally posted Oct 3, 2006

Read the full article here.

In the ever-striating competition between big business competitors, many larger firms are looking for the next “un-tapped” market to sink their teeth in. This race for the best product is one of the reasons why the United States’ economy is so successful.

This is what we call competition and it drives most markets of today. It all started when Henry Ford invented the assembly line and soon after, many other adopted this new technology. The cell phone craze is another example.

Many cell hone companies are fighting for exposure because Mexico is a county that has yet been touched by the cell phone boom. Another market that is just beginning to be explored, and the one that we will talk about in this article, is the over criticized and under estimated gay and lesbian market.

One morning, driving in his car on his way to work, David Morganlander heard an ad aimed at gay man looking for a date. After hearing that commercial, it did not take Mr. Morganlander too long to decide that the time was right for national advertisers to target gays and lesbians on a larger scale.

Larger than they ever had before! In just six quick and easy months, Mr. Morganlander was president of marketing firm Qtopia Media. Mr. Morganlander’s newly formed company was designed to help other companies and their advertising agencies reach out to gay and lesbian potential customers and consumers.

By creating this firm, he joins an ever-growing roster of companies serving an increasingly large group of advertisers keen to reach the gay and lesbian audience. Like in the previous example of cell phones, the reason for advertisers' interest is the annual buying power of the approximately 15 million-strong gay and lesbian population.

This incredible number adds up to $485 billion, according to marketing firm Witeck-Combs Communications. In a suburb of Chicago, Ill., Oak Park real estate agent Donna Karpavicius decided to specialize in marketing to gays and lesbians.

Read the full article here.