July 1, 2026 • 45 mins
$1.4 trillion in LGBTQ+ purchasing power has been sitting on the table for years. Nobody's refreshed the study. Pride sponsorships are down, rainbow logos are disappearing, and CMOs who were all-in two years ago have gone quiet. The audience is still growing. The math still points straight to Gen Z. Gayle and Daryl get the real numbers from GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis and the inside operator's view from P&G's Brent Miller — 30 years of doing this work inside the most mass-market company on earth — on why this is a growth strategy, not a gamble.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, I'm Gail Trouberman.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Daryl Lee.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
And this is gay because all marketing is definitely not
created equal.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
So, Gail, as we start our next episode, I have
a number for you, one point four trillion dollars. Truly,
one point four trillion dollars. What does that number represent?
Speaker 4 (00:27):
One point for trillion is a whole lot of brand
opportunity that the gays represent.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
That is not the gay dollars.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Yeah, it is the gay dollar one point for trillion dollars.
And I believe that's even a dated number. I'm sure
it's bigger than that, because no one's done research. I'm
told in a couple of years on how big the
gay influence, audience, and spending power and potential is.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
When we talk about all these tech companies and their
trillion dollar valuations, but hey, there's this commune that has
just as big a valuation and to your point, probably
more right because that's four years ago. I mean that's
the question. The community is growing, not just an influence,
but in spending power. That doesn't feel like brands are
recognizing that or do you think that's an unfair statement?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yeah, I think we spend so much time slicing and
dicing audiences and cohorts and trying to find the epicenter
of the bullseye. And here's a massive, growing, influential, affluent
audience that I'm not seeing a lot of briefs cross
my desk and people asking to specifically target the LGBTQ
(01:37):
plus consumer. So I think it's a massive opportunity. And
let's help brands figure out how to tap into this
audience to grow, and brands.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
That do participate in communities, particularly the LGBTQ community, get credits. Right.
We know this from all consumers. But if we have
to talk about dicing, the generational dice, probably is the
right one, which is gen Z, which is the one
that everyone's chasing. React more to brands that give us
it about communities to be blunt than ones who don't. True.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
It's not just immediate fails, right, it's long term loyalty.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
It's sustainable growth.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Right. It's brand love. It's true love. It's not like
a one night stand. It's love.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
This isn't a brand book.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
This is this is real, real marriage. Yeah, marriage or
a long term partnership. We don't we don't judge by
the way we.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Can just find it, but commerces commerce com versus commerce
and who are you going to talk to.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You about this?
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Well, we've got the incredible Sarah Kate Ellis, President and
CEO of GLAD, and you know, Glad's a phenomenal organization
that's just been at the forefront of recognizing the potential
for brands and media to have an authentic and powerful
voice and representation of our audience in true ways that
(02:57):
are meaningful. We've also got Brent Millard from P and
Brent's been at the forefront with Procter and Gamble and
really I think paving the way for how brands can
connect with and be part of the LGBTQ plus consumers
life and lifestyle and live up to P andng's motto
(03:18):
of good for growth and growth for good. And I
think Brent Miller and the team at P ANDNG have
really just done incredible work with things like the Elton
John Impact Awards that they launched recently.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So he's going to share a.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Lot of advice on how you can grow and like
you said, develop sustainable growth platforms with the LGBTQ plus consumer.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I know you've worked with him, and you've worked with
P ANDNG so much in your career goal, so I
know this is going to be powerful. Frankly, it's powerful
to me because P and G is a heartland company, yes,
based in the heartland of America, with the biggest mass
brands in the country, if not the world. So if
P and G can do it well and they're not
in a cool, fun, hip, sexy category, they're in the
(04:02):
basic household categories of marketing.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Yep, So can you in exactly P and G can
do Every brand can do this well.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
So listen up.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Glad's going to tell us about the size of the
prize with the LGBTQ plus audience, and PNG is going
to show us how to go after that prize.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
All right, go get that prize. Let's get into it.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Thank you Brent Miller from PNG. Sarah Kate, thank you
so much for joining us here at gay I. Why
don't we get started the gay Dollar. Oh right, brands.
If you think about the LGBTQ plus community we were
just talking about this, right, there's an outsized sort of
sense of influence. A lot of people in the community
(04:49):
have on trying new things, buying things first, setting trends
and travel and beauty and fashion and being ahead of
the curve, and media and entertainment and music and culture
all up. When you think about the gay consumer, how
big a pie is that? How big an opportunity is
that for brands?
Speaker 5 (05:08):
You know, Gail and I have talked about this for
a long time. I think we are at that moment
where we have that equal seat at the table where
people are looking at the LGBT community as a consumer segment,
not as a niche, not as a something you do
once a year when the pride floats go down the
street and you decide you're going to put a rainbow
(05:28):
on your on the storefront window and say hey, we
like you too. Right, It's actually something that's a lot
more serious because, frankly, there's an opportunity there and you
can't take it for granted.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Seventy one percent of Americans are in favor of the
LGBTQ plus community. We need to say that again out
loud again.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
That is an incredible that big right, I'm surprised.
Speaker 6 (05:52):
Okay, it's actually over ninety percent of Americans who believe
that we should have equal rights. It's seventy one percent
of Americans agree that brands and companies should be able
to show their support for LGBTQ people during the Month
of Pride.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
The vast majority want brands to be authentically committed to
the lgbt community. If they are and just speak.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
About it, that's exactly right, and it has such brand
glow for them because they feel if you support communities,
especially marginalized communities, Americans consumers think you must take really
good care of your employees, you really care about your consumers.
So it has this additive multiplier effect to it that's amazing.
(06:39):
So this is a four year old number. Nobody's tracked
it in the past four years, which is an enormous
opportunity for any company, financial institution, research company, or any
consumer based company. The LGBTQ spending power in the United
States alone is one point four trillion dollars. Well believe
(07:00):
it's closer to five trillion dollars, and that's four years ago.
Imagine the growth that we've seen, because we've seen a
growth in our community where we're nine percent of US
adults and when you look at gen Z, it's about
twenty three percent of gen Z or LGBTQ. Those numbers
(07:21):
annually are tacking up up up. So it's not a
declining market. It's a growing market, and it has tremendous
amounts of disposable spending power.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
It's true. And yet this is a perception that Gale
and I have that brands have pulled back, that there
has been a pullback, that there has been, whether it's
conscious or unconscious, a sense of it's too dangerous. But
that's the perception. You know, we want to, as you said,
we want to be driven by truth. In fact, do
you think that as well. Have you seen in your
(07:53):
work brands pulling back, whether consciously or unconsciousness.
Speaker 6 (07:58):
I've seen probably three categories of things. I've seen corporations
who have gone quiet with the backlash on DEI, and
I don't think that's a growth strategy.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It's not proving to be.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
One.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
Two is I've seen companies who don't want to get
caught in the crossfire, so they've been really silently or
quietly still supporting the LGBTQ community because they know it's
their employees and their consumers. And then I've seen the
third category, which we've seen actual real growth in is
those that have doubled down in this space, because when
(08:33):
you think about our community and our ally community. It's
over half the population of the United States. And so
I know my mother, I'm a gay woman, my mom
is straight. My mother won't buy products from companies that
don't support me. Our allies are die hard. So it's
(08:54):
not just affecting the LGBTQ community, it's also our allies
who are putting the dollars with the companies who support
the community. And I think what we've seen though, is
that the companies who understand growth and who understand marketing
are the ones who are leaning into the community because
(09:15):
we are extra loyal. I mean, the numbers year over
year just show our loyalty to brands who support us.
Our ability to share that with other people and influence
other people about them is tremendous as well.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
How do you think about it, Brent?
Speaker 5 (09:29):
So I have I have this incredible video that was
done in two thousand, right, and that was one of
one very first trainings that ever happened to PNG about
the LGBTQ audience. And the very first line that the
guy says in the training has said, we have been
selling our products to LGBTQ people since eighteen thirty seven.
(09:51):
We just haven't talked about it untill now, right, And
so back to the matter is people have been buying
our products.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
LGBTQ. People have always been part of the equation.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Of course, right, and now as we look at that,
I mean, there is no greater acknowledgment or relationship with
people when you actually sit down and you say, you
know what, I am going to invest in you as
a consumer segment because I need to earn your trust.
And that's what we do as marketers and brand builders, right.
(10:21):
And the way we lose trust almost immediately if we
aren't representative of the community inside, with our policies, inside
with our people.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
If we are just saying we are going.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
To build market share off the backs of you, then
you have a problem with credibility here.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
They're just going to target and capture.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Right now, we want to communicate and we want to win, right,
We want to win.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
We want to deserve your money and your dollars.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Because yeah, and when someone says I trust you enough
to give my dollar or whatever it might be to
you for your product, they are saying I believe not
only in the benefit that you are giving me, right,
but you're also saying I trust you that you have
earned this from me, right, And so every time that
(11:11):
we engage in a relationship with someone, no matter what
consumer segment it is, it's about earning their trust.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
And what we've come to understand.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
And I think in a much deeper way with the
LGBT community, is that because there have been so many
people that have not supported them, or there have been
so many people that have not engaged in the conversation,
there is a higher bar that you must reach about
legitimate community support and legitimate connection, which ends up being
(11:39):
part of the value equation that an LGBTQ consumer is
looking at, right, So they're looking at does your product work?
Does your product provide a benefit that I'm looking for?
But on top of that, they're looking at are you
on my side? And on my side can mean a
lot of different things, and I think it's changed over
the years. Say you're a consumer and LGBT consumer kind
(12:01):
of looking at the wall of products, right, and you're
looking at that wall, and there's almost like this unspoken
rule that's occurred in the community, and it's like you
know which one to buy, and you know which one's
on your side, you know which one not to buy,
and therefore the way we talk, the way that we
go and have that conversation needs to reflect an understanding
(12:25):
of who they are and.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Why we are in that conversation.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
And I think one of the biggest mistakes that has
occurred within marketing when we think about the lgbt community
is people that have just showed up and said, hey,
I'm here for you if.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
You want to grow with younger audiences.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I think so much of our lifetime it's been the
ten percent ceiling. It's like, well ten percent between five
to ten, between five to ten, and people don't like it.
It's five people like it, it's ten people identify as
lgbt Q, but actually younger generations because the queer or
is a much more inclusive term in that world. It's
(13:04):
looking like twenty five percent of people identifying with the LGBTQ.
So it's still a minority. It is that that matters,
but a sizeable buying group. I think we're actually in
a turning moment in that conversation.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
And what we would say is if you look at
the continuum of the brain conversations, right, I think we're
moving away from what we would call a period of
time called spotlight on the struggle, and we're moving into
an era of what I would call assumed acceptance. As
we go to an age of assumed acceptance, what the
LGBT community saying is like, you don't have to show
(13:38):
me in a performative way anymore.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
You don't have to.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
It's not about this disruptive depiction of who I am.
I want to be welcome and I want to know that.
I want to see myself as a is a whole
human in how you're communicating with me. And so, like
what I've learned as a forty nine year old guy, right,
like a white cis gender gay man is my sexual
(14:04):
orientation because of probably the era that I grew up
in is a much larger part of my identity than
it is for somebody that's younger.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Oh true, Yeah, super interesting.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Right, Yeah, So me being gay is a lot more
forward in my mind than gen Z. Right, about twenty
five percent of gen Z identifies in some way, shape
or form as being LGBTQ. But what they don't identify
with is you throwing it in my face all the time.
They're like, why are you so focused on that? Because
(14:34):
I'm not focused on that, So why are you?
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Yeah, we say twenty three. However, those are very conservative numbers. Oh,
we know, those are very conservative. Even the nine percent
of all US American adults. We can tell just from
various different studies that we've seen as high as like
thirteen or fifteen percent, But we always go with the
most conservative number, just to be truthful and safe. And
(14:58):
it's only growing. I mean, there are numbers out there
about voting population that I think by the you're twenty thirty,
it's estimated that one out of every four voters is going.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
To be LGBTQ. Oh wow, So it's great growing.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And that means one of every full consumers exactly.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
I think a lot of brands look at this opportunity
and I think, one they're not framing it through the
lens of growth, right, you know, and in an economy
that's challenging, in a world where a lot of you know,
social and digital metrics aren't performing as well as they had,
a lot of consumers are tightening their belts. I mean,
looking for new growth audiences, I imagine is job one
(15:41):
for most marketers. And yet I get a lot of
briefs from a lot of clients, big, medium and small,
and I don't see briefs coming to me going you're
at iHeart you reach nine out of ten Americans. You know,
I'm broadcast radio alone. How can you help us find
the LGBTQ consumer because.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
We want to grow with them.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
Our communities are out there and they're easy to reach,
and we want to be reached. We want to be
spoken to, especially right now as the media landscape has
been polarized and the politics against our community have really
amped up, which is why I think you're not seeing
a lot of RFPs or requests come in specifically for
(16:23):
our community. There is such a huge opportunity for those
who want to take.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
It right now.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
You know, you could talk about the bud lights and
the targets till the cows come home, but what about
the Costcos.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
And what they did.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
When you see a brand stand up to a bully,
it excites people because nobody in America likes bullies.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
We just don't like them, and.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
We don't think that they're fair or equitable, and we're
about fairness and justice, and so when you see that,
I think people get really excited. And you saw the
growth at Costco, so I think that there's an an
enormous untapped opportunity. Now, there was a time in twenty
twenty one, twenty two, twenty three where you all, probably too,
(17:09):
did get a lot of requests to target the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
And it's not hard.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
It's not hard to get to the community. It's not
hard to become a favorite. And you say what you
do when you do what you say, and we'll stick
with you through the tough times as well.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
When you're advising clients saracate on brand safety and they're like, well,
can't go there, there's risk. What do you tell them?
What's your advice for brands?
Speaker 6 (17:35):
So, first and foremost we work with a ton of brands,
and our job is to make sure that they eliminate
all risk as much as possible. I mean, everything has
risk to it, right, But I think it's really important
to understand that if something goes wrong for them, it
goes wrong for our community, right, So it's not just
them on the line, it's us on the line, our
(17:57):
community on the line. Interesting, and so there are very
easy ways to insulate your brand from the risk that's
out there.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And I do think the risk.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
Is overblown quite frankly in the media. You know, it's
a very small percentage of the population. Fourteen percent of
the American adult population is against LGBTQ inclusion, So starting there,
you're talking about a much wider swath of people who
are for it. And I think that there are certain
(18:32):
ways to position your brand. There are certain things that
you need to do. You get out there, and the
LGBTQ community sees you as pinquashing, which means that like
you're just trying to get our money, you don't really
care about us. And when you're speaking to a marginalized community,
you do need to show that you really care and
that you've done your homework. So that's easy risk to mitigate.
(18:55):
It just does a little bit of work, but it's
not a lot. And then on the other side of
it is that you want to make sure that you're
putting your brand out there in the right way and
have the right voices to support it right out of
the gate, to build the positivity around the campaign that
you're running to drownd out any of the negative forces
(19:16):
that might come. And so we help build that before
it goes out, so that it's you build a moat
around it out of the gate. And then if you
do hit trouble, like this world is just full of trouble.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
We're all sick of cancel culture.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
Yes, I like accountability culture, and I think that's important
in this moment in time when truth is not necessarily
grounded in truth anymore. So accountability is important. But if
you are clear and concise about why you're doing what
you're doing, people fall right in line with it. It's
(19:55):
when you don't know why you're doing it, or you're
just trying to make a quick buck, people see through
and then it ends up like bud Light, Daryl.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
We are so excited, aren't we to welcome our new
partners at elf who very much like us at Bubbler,
really believe in zero distance with our community. They believe
in relationships built on real connection, you know the ones
where you show up for the wins, the setbacks, and
you have those hard, honest conversations in between. One of
(20:31):
our favorite Musclessen podcasts is Uncensored Renegades, and it's hosted
by ELF Brand's president Corey Marchisoto and John Evans, founder
of the Uncensored podcast Properties. It's a weekly human to
human conversation. It will inspire you, it will teach you
and it will definitely make you laugh listen it.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
What's your advice to brands about working with day creators,
how do they do it well?
Speaker 5 (21:01):
And what are the any lessons and watch outs? First
of all, I can't emphasize this one enough. Right, The
respect that you show to a community by investing in
getting to know them is absolutely critical, right, because yes,
we are building brands.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
We are building you know.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
That is our job as marketers, that's our job as
brand builders, that's our job as companies in serving and
growing brands and ultimately in service of our shareholders.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Right.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
But you get there by making investments in getting to
know who people are and then you bring them a
product or service or whatever that meets that need, right,
And that's a contract that you have.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
And there's no higher form.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
Of respect that when you show somebody when you say
I'm going to get to know you in the fullness
of who you are. And some of the most incredible
insights that I've seen on some of the brands is
when we've gotten down to that level of really listening
and go, oh my god, I never thought about it
that way. And Panteen's one of those. We found out
that for sixty percent of LGBTQ people. One of the
(22:04):
very first things they do when they come out of
the closets change their hairstyle.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Amazing, makes total sense. Yep.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
New identity, it is the new expression.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yeah, one of the most visible ways that you project
your identity of the world. But what's really fascinating is
that as we got deeper into that understanding, it wasn't
just about LGBTQ people. It's everyone at a major life stage.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
If you're a new mom, if you've gone through a breakup,
if you've gone through these moments graduation, right, exactly. Yeah,
And so what we actually got to was this inside
about your relationship with your hair and what your hair
actually means and how you present.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yourself to the world. Right.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
And so if you're trusting us in that moment, one
of the biggest moments of your life, then my gosh,
what an incredible what an incredible gift to You're So
what I have to do back is make sure that
I'm honoring that and communicating that with respect. I love that,
(23:07):
and that is what separates performative marketing from outstanding brand building.
And frankly, when you understand the audience is actually how
you also avoid issue. Yeah, right, because it becomes less performative. Yes,
And I think if you look at what I would
call the biggest mistakes in LGBTQ brand building, it is
(23:30):
when somebody tries too hard.
Speaker 6 (23:32):
Yeah, it's really easy if you're thinking about your consumer
and you see a misstep to go out there and say, hey,
we did this the wrong way and we miss this
and it's on me. That is one of the most
valuable currencies in our country today is authenticity and transparency,
(23:54):
because they're so little of it.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
I will tell you that there is another problem on
the other side. And I know this because we have
a lot of not a lot, but we have more
than we ever have in our lives in the industry
and the creative business have out LGBT creatives totally and people,
but clients struggle with some really basic things about how
do you cast? How do you represent? And it's hard
(24:19):
to have the honest conversation, which as well, you're just
trying to ask the question what makes someone look gay?
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Is that it?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Can you just get over that? The thing that is
interesting and I think, really, you know, MasterCard is a
client and I do love them, but things like the
true Name card, you know, product innovations, product innovations for
the community brilliant, which you couldn't have your name as
a transperson on your credit card. You had to have
your old name and a true new name, your real name,
(24:46):
and that innovation then gave MasterCard a conversation with the
LGBT community. So that to me is also though, like
let's get out of the whether. It's if we build it,
people will come. But are we building products? Are we
building financial? So it was products, So we're building healthcare products.
Every category can look at the influencers that our day
and go, are we helping them create something new in
(25:09):
the world. I love that.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I have a great example of that.
Speaker 6 (25:12):
It's slightly political, but in Kansas, overnight there was a
policy that moved through legislation that moved through literally overnight,
that took every trans person in Kansas's driver's license away.
So at five o'clock it was like that there was
no seven days, twelve days, whatever to go get a
(25:35):
new driver's license.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
The community there.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
Completely organized to make sure that every trans person got
what they needed, if it was a ride to work,
if it was food rock to them and lift offered
free rides.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Lift go list livet shout out to Lift Yes.
Speaker 6 (25:52):
Offered free rides to trans people so that they could
get where they needed to go safely.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I'm going to left from now. Yeah, here you go
on this podcast.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
I understand the need for you know, all targeting, right,
there's always the debate about privacy and respecting personal information.
And yet, like I said, I can buy you know,
a millennial mom who likes chocolate with two point five
children and works out three times a week, and et cetera.
And we have all these elaborate and very expensive ways
(26:25):
of mashing data and clean rooms to find all these
very micro niche target audiences for brands, and yet LGBTQ
we've said we can't target them as easily because of
privacy concerns. And I think part of it is brands
haven't been asking for it. You know, when brands step
(26:46):
up and go we want to reach this audience, we
will figure out the way, the tools and the systems
will figure out the ways to do that safely and
legally and appropriately. But I don't think the demand has
been there, which is a big part of this episode
of Gay I about the Gay Dollar, is to address
that question.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Oh, I think you're exactly right. The demand hasn't been there.
And I think part of the reason the demand hasn't
been there is because I think sometimes that.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
People feel that the task is overwhelming. Right.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
If we look at where growth is going to come from,
it is fully in the multicultural segment, whether it be ethnic, multicultural,
whether it be LGBTQ, wherever it might be totally yeah, right,
And so I think as everyone's looking at, oh my gosh,
I need to rethink or sharpen the way that I'm
creating relationships with our consumer base, it can seem overwhelming.
(27:35):
And because there's a lack of data on LGBTQ, I
think people have always said, oh my gosh, I have
so many jobs to be done, so many miles defeat,
I can't even take this on. I think what's interesting
is we found through our research that basically our general
market communication are fully reaching the lgbt community. Because there
(27:58):
were reflection as we talked about a.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Big percent of the population and you're doing you know,
mass reach media and you know targeting whatever it is,
you know, men, women, different geographies, et cetera. I'm sure
you're reaching you know a good swath of the audience
with the with the budgets you have in the CpG world, Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Thousand consent.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
And what I think we've been maybe waking up to
a little bit more is to make sure that that
general market media message is and it sounds so obvious
when you say it, but you have to make sure
that that is as welcoming to as many consumer segments
as possible. I need to be able to see myself.
And when you think about it that way, the responsibility
(28:39):
or the opportunity to reach an LGBTQ on it has
actually becomes a lot less daunting. No, I don't need
to create an entire different system to connect.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
Yeah, and I don't need to have you know, for
making X pieces of creative there's the gay one.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Right.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
What you're saying is we sit at all the tables
everyone sits at. We're not just at gay tables, so
you can reflect us in those ways. So simple and
yet not necessarily well understood.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
No, and that is to me has been actually the
biggest like Eureka moment, right, is the simplicity of it.
When you actually talk about LGBTQ marketing, you're actually talking
about the base fundamentals of good brand building.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
I think you're right.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
People see it as, oh my god, it's another thing
on my already crowded to do list, or it's going
to be expensive and different, and I think what you've
found through the work and the research you've been doing
is it's really not.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
It's the same production.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
It's having those insights right, it's doing your homework ahead
of time. I want to make sure we have some
time to talk about showing up authentically, understanding an audience,
and building a long term relationship.
Speaker 5 (29:47):
Well, the Impact Awards is really a celebration of the
people that are part of and around the LGBT community
that have had a substantial impact in helping to lift
us up through a lens of art and culture, and
so we celebrate their contributions and the positive impact that
they've made in the world.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
Talk to me a little bit about how that came
to be. It's such a big and exciting program, and
I'd love to hear kind of how a company like
Procter and Gamble ends up in a partnership with Elton
John that results in in starting a conversation about equality
at a massive scale.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
When COVID nineteen happened.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
We were sitting there, I think everybody was sitting there
at that world in that moment, going my gosh, what
do we do? What do we do with this? Because
we all it was one of those great moments of
equality actually because everybody was affected, right, But what we
also recognized that some communities were impacted more deeply than others.
(30:48):
And as we were looking as a company across the board,
it is like, we serve all consumer segments, so what
are we doing how can we help with the voice
that we have And we looked at the LGBT community
and thought, hush, there's really nothing happening. Take that with
a grain of salt. There was a lot happening, but
there was nothing large because the community is so diverse,
(31:10):
and we were like, how do we show up? And
we were like, oh my gosh, we actually need to
create it. We need to create a way for us
to enter into conversation. And so we actually created Can't
Cancel Pride during COVID as basically every pride in the
world was canceled, right, And so it was a response
to that to give the community visibility and to help
(31:31):
raise funds for community organizations that were decimated during COVID,
and they.
Speaker 4 (31:36):
Do all their fundraising in real life, and a lot
of it in June with galas and events and festivals,
and all of a sudden, all that sponsorship money, all
those donations, all those events that people bought tickets to
an entire revenue stream for these critically important organizations doing
the hard work on the ground for the gay community.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
All of them were just you're right.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
They were facing a really tough challenge and P and
G D your credit, I mean really stepped up there.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
Yeah, there was never a question of if we were
going to do something. It was more about what are
we going to do? And the can't cancel Pride came
about also because there were so many young people that
were at home in unaffirming homes that were missing their
connection to community right, that didn't have an outlet. And
(32:27):
so when we created that together with iHeart, we were yeah,
we were providing funds and helping to raise funds, but
we were also using the voice of advertisers and companies
and business to do what we do best, which is
reach people exactly. And in the third year of that,
we were having a conversation like, as we're getting further
(32:48):
away from COVID and how's the world's opening back up?
You know, it was important that we were thinking about
legacy and how do we continue to tell these stories,
how do we continue to create community? And in that
third year, we created the Elton John Impact Award, and
Elton was the first recipient of the ward named in
his honor. And you know, and to be clear, this
isn't something that Elton created in his own name, right,
(33:11):
it was created to honor his legacy and what he
has done and provided. And so that was part of
Can't Cancel Pride. And year one it was Elton, Year
two is Brandy Carlisle, Year three was Billy Porter. All
these juggernauts in their kind of in their respective fields.
And you know, the further that we got away from COVID,
the more we recognize that Can't Cancel Pride had its
moment in time and it was time to move on.
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Incredible fundraiser though, how much how much money did you
raise with Can't Cancel Pride through the years?
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Eighteen million?
Speaker 4 (33:42):
Unbelievable, right, that's and all that money is going to
some incredible organizations like our friends at Glad and Trevor
Project and Sage and you know, folks doing really important
work in the communities.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Yeah, And I think what it helped us understand also
is how do we find our own voice? And that's
ultimately what this has become. And so the Elton John
Impact Towards Now is a standalone event institutional. We're building
it to that from Can't Cancel Pride. But as you
listen to the stories of Laverne cox In, Orville Peck
and you know, all the range of these generational nominees
(34:19):
or honorees, you've recognize that there's stories of human lessons
that we learn.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
You know, like when.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
LaVerne's talking about Orange is the New Black was the
last audition she was going to do because she was
going to throw on the towel at forty when she
turned forty, and she talks about learning your craft, right,
And Orville talks about the importance of.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Finding community when you're young, right.
Speaker 5 (34:45):
And Chapel talks about the importance of recognizing the people
that have helped paved a path so that she can
be who she These are just amazing stories and I
think together that's where you want to be as content
creators and co companies in all these places, and as
we have made that investment, I think that's where we've
(35:05):
probably had the biggest moments of clarity and insight. And
those moments of clarity insight have then just not been
about an LGBTQ insight. They have actually helped us understand
broader insight, like the Panteen example that I talked about, Right,
it's like, oh my gosh. When we think about the
lgbt community or other diverse segments, we call like what's
(35:29):
true for them and truer?
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Right, because true and truer I love that.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
But what I think about is an investment in getting
to know who you're reaching, why you're reaching them, and
what's important to them.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Yeah, because it's a two way relationship, right, which is
I think what you've proven. I think we say the
words a lot brand relationship, brand loyalty, but we as
marketers were not always showing up in that relationship and
thinking about that segment or audience we're having a relationship
with and what is our role and our value and
(36:02):
our contribution to that audience.
Speaker 6 (36:05):
In these years where it's been the over politication of
the LGBTQ community and corporates have pulled back financially with
the LGBTQ organizations. It's hurting a lot of our organizations,
especially our smaller organizations. We've seen a declining giving across
the board in the movement. We've seen a corporate decline
(36:27):
in giving. And I think for us, there's the real
part of it and how it affects our P and
L and then there's the betrayal part of it. Like
you were with us when it was good and you
were riding that wave, but now it's not so great.
Now you know what it feels like to be LGBTQ
in America and be targeted and be nervous and be
(36:51):
scared to walk down the street. And you've walked away.
And so I think that's going to be a reckoning.
There will be a reckoning around that when we come
out of this, because we will come out of this that,
no doubt, my mind, will come out of this.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
More importantly, for marketers, economic reckoning is already happening. So
the thing that you know people are forgetting in this
over politicized moment is the fragility of the economy. That's
why we're so like, oh my god, you're talking about growth. Hallelujah.
That's the only role of marketing. There's nothing else that
marketing does except grow a business. Nothing, nothing, nothing else.
(37:27):
So if you're not growing, you're not doing your job
as a CMO. You should be out. And a lot
of companies aren't growing because they've been focusing on pleasing
political fads and look at the costco target thing like,
it's not a game. Target's in trouble. So I think
that's the thing that we have not done in the
(37:47):
culture zone. I'm confident there will be a reckoning, but hey,
you may not be around as a brand anymore to
fight your case in that cultural zone, because in the
economic zone you'll be out. There's like a winner and
loser competitive economy. We all are sort of pretending that
it's not the case, but it is. It's brutal out there.
I said this to all my clients. It's brutal, and
why would you not go for growth? I don't understand.
(38:11):
We need to make sure it's a commercial thing though, right.
So the thing, having been in media planning my whole
life as well, is like it can't be community planning
as part of your foundation exactly. Community planning is part
of your you know, your nonprofit or your you know,
the thing that you do is public relations. It has
to be intrinsic exactly the communities in your brand, in your.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
It's part of the business. It's the growth plan.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
It's not the thing over in the calms where we
do a little edge marketing for you know, our corporate positioning.
It's got to be the core part of how you
find growth. And I love putting a challenge out there
and it sounds like Glad is the place to start
if you want to figure out how to do this effectively,
how to do this safely, and how to go find
(38:54):
this growth. There's partners here who know how to do it,
who can come help too.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
You have to get new tagline, new tagline, row with Glad.
You're welcome.
Speaker 6 (39:07):
You should be in the creative business. Spend so much
money on that. And all I had to do was
come on your podcast.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Do I suppose what you're saying, which is like, just open up,
invite us in. We're ready to help, were ready to grow.
We want to build brands.
Speaker 8 (39:23):
We love brands, like it's a community that loves brands
that actually has to brand themselves a lot to sort
of create financial independence and be separate from your family
and make a life for yourself in whatever smaller big way.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
So yeah, it's an opportunity. We just need to all
help each other. Day. Gay dollar, it's real.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
We used to call it the pink dollar. Oh yeah,
that's great. Maybe it's the rainbow dollar now.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
But rainbow, the rainbow, rainbow currency, the rainbow currency, rainbow currency.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
So, Gail, it feels like it's time to do so
gay spying. It is time for I spy with my gay.
I always with a gay I. It's always better to
spy with a gay I.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
And today we have the incredible Pat O'Keefe, one of
our favorite clients, one of our favorite Bubbler Media co
collaborators and partners from ELF. I Spy with My Gay
I brings you Pat O'Keeffe from ELF.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Hi.
Speaker 9 (40:26):
My name is Patrick O'Keeffe. I am the Chief Integrated
Marketing Officer at ELF Beauty. I Spy with my Gay
I the Power of Women in Sports. We are proud
partners of the NWSL. We are so excited because we
love what they stand for. They're very inclusive culture and
(40:46):
community and very supportive of the LGBTQ plus community. As
the official sponsor of the NWSL National Women's Soccer League.
We're just really excited to be part of building another
sport community, being part of a community that is celebrating
not only you know, the sport, but also celebrating women
who play in sports. Because we know that sixty five
(41:07):
percent of women are soccer fans, so that is really
really important we're part of the conversations. Then nearly two
thirds sixty three percent of US soccer fans watch women's soccer,
and right now, I know we're focused on the men,
but in a year it's going to be the Women's
World Cup, so we're really excited to see that come
to life. And then seventy percent of women's soccer fans
(41:29):
trust women athletes, so we want to be a part
of those conversations. So as we look to a community
of people that probably are underserved, I would say there
a lot of women are underserved, and specifically in the
gay community. So and we know that there's a lot
of spirited, fun moments that we can celebrate, specifically you know,
(41:49):
the lesbian community within the sport.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
So I'm excited that ELF is a part of that.
Speaker 9 (41:55):
And as you may or may not know, but One
of our big partners, obviously is Catherine Legg who just
finished the double for Indie and for NASCAR and Billy
Jean King and what she's doing around the Billy Jean
King Cup and also what she also her and her
wife did the Unlocked for the PWHL, the Women's Hockey League,
which Alphas is one of the founding partners of. We
(42:15):
also support women's wrestling, which is another area again leaning
into a space and place where the underserved or need
to be served and we're finding our way in. We
just did a series one of our ips, which is
show Yourself, and we did it with Floge, who is
a massive, massive talent not only in the world of basketball,
(42:37):
but also she's a talented musician. She's a badass and
we are so lucky to have her in the family. Again,
it's about the underserved community and celebrating in every eye,
lip and face.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Okay, So, Darryl, what's the takeaway here?
Speaker 7 (42:52):
You know, Cal We've covered so much, But I think
the truth is talking to the gang community is not
a charity act, is not part of your COVID responsibility,
and it's.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Not a risk.
Speaker 7 (43:04):
It's not something you need to alert your PR agency
about immedity.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Immedity, it's a growth strategy. Without the gays, there is
no growth. And also it's a future proofing strategy. Right.
Speaker 7 (43:17):
It's like, it's not just the current value of the
gay community, it's stuff that's coming that younger generations are
watching the brands that are showing up and the brands
who are backing down, and they will remember.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
And we see this across brands, across institutions, across politics.
They will remember and they will vote this time with
their wallets and reward the brands that.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
I couldn't agree more. You know, targeting the LGBTQ plus audience.
It's a growth strategy. It's not DEI, it's ROI.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Oh that's a good one.
Speaker 4 (43:53):
Gay Yeah, any excuse any goss for an acronym.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
That's a good one. Well, but I think we should
make a T shirt, you know, we should. It's not
about d unites own. Everything to do with D and
I is not about D and I. It's about building
a high performance culture and a high performance team so
that you are a high performance brand and a high
performance company.
Speaker 7 (44:17):
We're going to have just keep teaching this lesson, I
think because people get confused about charity acts and wanted
to be with the cool kids. And this is a brutal,
basic business decision. It is show up for the people
who will reward you in culture and reward you in business,
and we will remember and we will return the.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Favor one hundred percent. Let's go get the gay dollar.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Let's go get it. Yes, trillions, people, brillions.
Speaker 4 (44:42):
With a te So that's why we're here at gay
I to help you go after those trillions of dollars.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Did we say trillions enough? No, trillion?
Speaker 1 (44:50):
I think we said trillions. Yeah, yeah enough, Yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (44:54):
We'll be back shortly with a new episode and more
gay eye topics to help you. Help you yeah something, Hello,
you get up.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Yeah, we'll be back.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
We'll be back shortly with another episode.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
But in the meantime, I hope it will start planning
to go after that gay dollar.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Thanks for listening to gay I. Follow the show wherever
you get your podcasts, Share this episode with a marketer, founder.
Speaker 7 (45:22):
Creative director, or just a group chat that needs a
little more gay I.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
And we want to hear what you spy with your
gay I, so send us your thoughts. Let's keep the
conversation going.
Speaker 4 (45:33):
You can follow us bubbler Media on LinkedIn, iHeartMedia, YouTube,
or wherever you socialize. Gay I is a bubbler Media
iHeart podcast production.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
If you're not in the conversation, you're not in the game.
Hi, I'm Gail Trouberman.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Daryl Lee.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
And this is gay because all marketing is definitely not
created equal.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
So, Gail, as we start our next episode, I have
a number for you, one point four trillion dollars. Truly,
one point four trillion dollars. What does that number represent?
Speaker 4 (00:27):
One point for trillion is a whole lot of brand
opportunity that the gays represent.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
That is not the gay dollars.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Yeah, it is the gay dollar one point for trillion dollars.
And I believe that's even a dated number. I'm sure
it's bigger than that, because no one's done research. I'm
told in a couple of years on how big the
gay influence, audience, and spending power and potential is.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
When we talk about all these tech companies and their
trillion dollar valuations, but hey, there's this commune that has
just as big a valuation and to your point, probably
more right because that's four years ago. I mean that's
the question. The community is growing, not just an influence,
but in spending power. That doesn't feel like brands are
recognizing that or do you think that's an unfair statement?
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yeah, I think we spend so much time slicing and
dicing audiences and cohorts and trying to find the epicenter
of the bullseye. And here's a massive, growing, influential, affluent
audience that I'm not seeing a lot of briefs cross
my desk and people asking to specifically target the LGBTQ
(01:37):
plus consumer. So I think it's a massive opportunity. And
let's help brands figure out how to tap into this
audience to grow, and brands.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
That do participate in communities, particularly the LGBTQ community, get credits. Right.
We know this from all consumers. But if we have
to talk about dicing, the generational dice, probably is the
right one, which is gen Z, which is the one
that everyone's chasing. React more to brands that give us
it about communities to be blunt than ones who don't. True.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
It's not just immediate fails, right, it's long term loyalty.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
It's sustainable growth.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Right. It's brand love. It's true love. It's not like
a one night stand. It's love.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
This isn't a brand book.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
This is this is real, real marriage. Yeah, marriage or
a long term partnership. We don't we don't judge by
the way we.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Can just find it, but commerces commerce com versus commerce
and who are you going to talk to.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
You about this?
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Well, we've got the incredible Sarah Kate Ellis, President and
CEO of GLAD, and you know, Glad's a phenomenal organization
that's just been at the forefront of recognizing the potential
for brands and media to have an authentic and powerful
voice and representation of our audience in true ways that
(02:57):
are meaningful. We've also got Brent Millard from P and
Brent's been at the forefront with Procter and Gamble and
really I think paving the way for how brands can
connect with and be part of the LGBTQ plus consumers
life and lifestyle and live up to P andng's motto
(03:18):
of good for growth and growth for good. And I
think Brent Miller and the team at P ANDNG have
really just done incredible work with things like the Elton
John Impact Awards that they launched recently.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So he's going to share a.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Lot of advice on how you can grow and like
you said, develop sustainable growth platforms with the LGBTQ plus consumer.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I know you've worked with him, and you've worked with
P ANDNG so much in your career goal, so I
know this is going to be powerful. Frankly, it's powerful
to me because P and G is a heartland company, yes,
based in the heartland of America, with the biggest mass
brands in the country, if not the world. So if
P and G can do it well and they're not
in a cool, fun, hip, sexy category, they're in the
(04:02):
basic household categories of marketing.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Yep, So can you in exactly P and G can
do Every brand can do this well.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
So listen up.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Glad's going to tell us about the size of the
prize with the LGBTQ plus audience, and PNG is going
to show us how to go after that prize.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
All right, go get that prize. Let's get into it.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Thank you Brent Miller from PNG. Sarah Kate, thank you
so much for joining us here at gay I. Why
don't we get started the gay Dollar. Oh right, brands.
If you think about the LGBTQ plus community we were
just talking about this, right, there's an outsized sort of
sense of influence. A lot of people in the community
(04:49):
have on trying new things, buying things first, setting trends
and travel and beauty and fashion and being ahead of
the curve, and media and entertainment and music and culture
all up. When you think about the gay consumer, how
big a pie is that? How big an opportunity is
that for brands?
Speaker 5 (05:08):
You know, Gail and I have talked about this for
a long time. I think we are at that moment
where we have that equal seat at the table where
people are looking at the LGBT community as a consumer segment,
not as a niche, not as a something you do
once a year when the pride floats go down the
street and you decide you're going to put a rainbow
(05:28):
on your on the storefront window and say hey, we
like you too. Right, It's actually something that's a lot
more serious because, frankly, there's an opportunity there and you
can't take it for granted.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Seventy one percent of Americans are in favor of the
LGBTQ plus community. We need to say that again out
loud again.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
That is an incredible that big right, I'm surprised.
Speaker 6 (05:52):
Okay, it's actually over ninety percent of Americans who believe
that we should have equal rights. It's seventy one percent
of Americans agree that brands and companies should be able
to show their support for LGBTQ people during the Month
of Pride.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
The vast majority want brands to be authentically committed to
the lgbt community. If they are and just speak.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
About it, that's exactly right, and it has such brand
glow for them because they feel if you support communities,
especially marginalized communities, Americans consumers think you must take really
good care of your employees, you really care about your consumers.
So it has this additive multiplier effect to it that's amazing.
(06:39):
So this is a four year old number. Nobody's tracked
it in the past four years, which is an enormous
opportunity for any company, financial institution, research company, or any
consumer based company. The LGBTQ spending power in the United
States alone is one point four trillion dollars. Well believe
(07:00):
it's closer to five trillion dollars, and that's four years ago.
Imagine the growth that we've seen, because we've seen a
growth in our community where we're nine percent of US
adults and when you look at gen Z, it's about
twenty three percent of gen Z or LGBTQ. Those numbers
(07:21):
annually are tacking up up up. So it's not a
declining market. It's a growing market, and it has tremendous
amounts of disposable spending power.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
It's true. And yet this is a perception that Gale
and I have that brands have pulled back, that there
has been a pullback, that there has been, whether it's
conscious or unconscious, a sense of it's too dangerous. But
that's the perception. You know, we want to, as you said,
we want to be driven by truth. In fact, do
you think that as well. Have you seen in your
(07:53):
work brands pulling back, whether consciously or unconsciousness.
Speaker 6 (07:58):
I've seen probably three categories of things. I've seen corporations
who have gone quiet with the backlash on DEI, and
I don't think that's a growth strategy.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It's not proving to be.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
One.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
Two is I've seen companies who don't want to get
caught in the crossfire, so they've been really silently or
quietly still supporting the LGBTQ community because they know it's
their employees and their consumers. And then I've seen the
third category, which we've seen actual real growth in is
those that have doubled down in this space, because when
(08:33):
you think about our community and our ally community. It's
over half the population of the United States. And so
I know my mother, I'm a gay woman, my mom
is straight. My mother won't buy products from companies that
don't support me. Our allies are die hard. So it's
(08:54):
not just affecting the LGBTQ community, it's also our allies
who are putting the dollars with the companies who support
the community. And I think what we've seen though, is
that the companies who understand growth and who understand marketing
are the ones who are leaning into the community because
(09:15):
we are extra loyal. I mean, the numbers year over
year just show our loyalty to brands who support us.
Our ability to share that with other people and influence
other people about them is tremendous as well.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
How do you think about it, Brent?
Speaker 5 (09:29):
So I have I have this incredible video that was
done in two thousand, right, and that was one of
one very first trainings that ever happened to PNG about
the LGBTQ audience. And the very first line that the
guy says in the training has said, we have been
selling our products to LGBTQ people since eighteen thirty seven.
(09:51):
We just haven't talked about it untill now, right, And
so back to the matter is people have been buying
our products.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
LGBTQ. People have always been part of the equation.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Of course, right, and now as we look at that,
I mean, there is no greater acknowledgment or relationship with
people when you actually sit down and you say, you
know what, I am going to invest in you as
a consumer segment because I need to earn your trust.
And that's what we do as marketers and brand builders, right.
(10:21):
And the way we lose trust almost immediately if we
aren't representative of the community inside, with our policies, inside
with our people.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
If we are just saying we are going.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
To build market share off the backs of you, then
you have a problem with credibility here.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
They're just going to target and capture.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Right now, we want to communicate and we want to win, right,
We want to win.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
We want to deserve your money and your dollars.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Because yeah, and when someone says I trust you enough
to give my dollar or whatever it might be to
you for your product, they are saying I believe not
only in the benefit that you are giving me, right,
but you're also saying I trust you that you have
earned this from me, right, And so every time that
(11:11):
we engage in a relationship with someone, no matter what
consumer segment it is, it's about earning their trust.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
And what we've come to understand.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
And I think in a much deeper way with the
LGBT community, is that because there have been so many
people that have not supported them, or there have been
so many people that have not engaged in the conversation,
there is a higher bar that you must reach about
legitimate community support and legitimate connection, which ends up being
(11:39):
part of the value equation that an LGBTQ consumer is
looking at, right, So they're looking at does your product work?
Does your product provide a benefit that I'm looking for?
But on top of that, they're looking at are you
on my side? And on my side can mean a
lot of different things, and I think it's changed over
the years. Say you're a consumer and LGBT consumer kind
(12:01):
of looking at the wall of products, right, and you're
looking at that wall, and there's almost like this unspoken
rule that's occurred in the community, and it's like you
know which one to buy, and you know which one's
on your side, you know which one not to buy,
and therefore the way we talk, the way that we
go and have that conversation needs to reflect an understanding
(12:25):
of who they are and.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Why we are in that conversation.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
And I think one of the biggest mistakes that has
occurred within marketing when we think about the lgbt community
is people that have just showed up and said, hey,
I'm here for you if.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
You want to grow with younger audiences.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I think so much of our lifetime it's been the
ten percent ceiling. It's like, well ten percent between five
to ten, between five to ten, and people don't like it.
It's five people like it, it's ten people identify as
lgbt Q, but actually younger generations because the queer or
is a much more inclusive term in that world. It's
(13:04):
looking like twenty five percent of people identifying with the LGBTQ.
So it's still a minority. It is that that matters,
but a sizeable buying group. I think we're actually in
a turning moment in that conversation.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
And what we would say is if you look at
the continuum of the brain conversations, right, I think we're
moving away from what we would call a period of
time called spotlight on the struggle, and we're moving into
an era of what I would call assumed acceptance. As
we go to an age of assumed acceptance, what the
LGBT community saying is like, you don't have to show
(13:38):
me in a performative way anymore.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
You don't have to.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
It's not about this disruptive depiction of who I am.
I want to be welcome and I want to know that.
I want to see myself as a is a whole
human in how you're communicating with me. And so, like
what I've learned as a forty nine year old guy, right,
like a white cis gender gay man is my sexual
(14:04):
orientation because of probably the era that I grew up
in is a much larger part of my identity than
it is for somebody that's younger.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Oh true, Yeah, super interesting.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Right, Yeah, So me being gay is a lot more
forward in my mind than gen Z. Right, about twenty
five percent of gen Z identifies in some way, shape
or form as being LGBTQ. But what they don't identify
with is you throwing it in my face all the time.
They're like, why are you so focused on that? Because
(14:34):
I'm not focused on that, So why are you?
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Yeah, we say twenty three. However, those are very conservative numbers. Oh,
we know, those are very conservative. Even the nine percent
of all US American adults. We can tell just from
various different studies that we've seen as high as like
thirteen or fifteen percent, But we always go with the
most conservative number, just to be truthful and safe. And
(14:58):
it's only growing. I mean, there are numbers out there
about voting population that I think by the you're twenty thirty,
it's estimated that one out of every four voters is going.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
To be LGBTQ. Oh wow, So it's great growing.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And that means one of every full consumers exactly.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
I think a lot of brands look at this opportunity
and I think, one they're not framing it through the
lens of growth, right, you know, and in an economy
that's challenging, in a world where a lot of you know,
social and digital metrics aren't performing as well as they had,
a lot of consumers are tightening their belts. I mean,
looking for new growth audiences, I imagine is job one
(15:41):
for most marketers. And yet I get a lot of
briefs from a lot of clients, big, medium and small,
and I don't see briefs coming to me going you're
at iHeart you reach nine out of ten Americans. You know,
I'm broadcast radio alone. How can you help us find
the LGBTQ consumer because.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
We want to grow with them.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
Our communities are out there and they're easy to reach,
and we want to be reached. We want to be
spoken to, especially right now as the media landscape has
been polarized and the politics against our community have really
amped up, which is why I think you're not seeing
a lot of RFPs or requests come in specifically for
(16:23):
our community. There is such a huge opportunity for those
who want to take.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
It right now.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
You know, you could talk about the bud lights and
the targets till the cows come home, but what about
the Costcos.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
And what they did.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
When you see a brand stand up to a bully,
it excites people because nobody in America likes bullies.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
We just don't like them, and.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
We don't think that they're fair or equitable, and we're
about fairness and justice, and so when you see that,
I think people get really excited. And you saw the
growth at Costco, so I think that there's an an
enormous untapped opportunity. Now, there was a time in twenty
twenty one, twenty two, twenty three where you all, probably too,
(17:09):
did get a lot of requests to target the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
And it's not hard.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
It's not hard to get to the community. It's not
hard to become a favorite. And you say what you
do when you do what you say, and we'll stick
with you through the tough times as well.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
When you're advising clients saracate on brand safety and they're like, well,
can't go there, there's risk. What do you tell them?
What's your advice for brands?
Speaker 6 (17:35):
So, first and foremost we work with a ton of brands,
and our job is to make sure that they eliminate
all risk as much as possible. I mean, everything has
risk to it, right, But I think it's really important
to understand that if something goes wrong for them, it
goes wrong for our community, right, So it's not just
them on the line, it's us on the line, our
(17:57):
community on the line. Interesting, and so there are very
easy ways to insulate your brand from the risk that's
out there.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And I do think the risk.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
Is overblown quite frankly in the media. You know, it's
a very small percentage of the population. Fourteen percent of
the American adult population is against LGBTQ inclusion, So starting there,
you're talking about a much wider swath of people who
are for it. And I think that there are certain
(18:32):
ways to position your brand. There are certain things that
you need to do. You get out there, and the
LGBTQ community sees you as pinquashing, which means that like
you're just trying to get our money, you don't really
care about us. And when you're speaking to a marginalized community,
you do need to show that you really care and
that you've done your homework. So that's easy risk to mitigate.
(18:55):
It just does a little bit of work, but it's
not a lot. And then on the other side of
it is that you want to make sure that you're
putting your brand out there in the right way and
have the right voices to support it right out of
the gate, to build the positivity around the campaign that
you're running to drownd out any of the negative forces
(19:16):
that might come. And so we help build that before
it goes out, so that it's you build a moat
around it out of the gate. And then if you
do hit trouble, like this world is just full of trouble.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
We're all sick of cancel culture.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
Yes, I like accountability culture, and I think that's important
in this moment in time when truth is not necessarily
grounded in truth anymore. So accountability is important. But if
you are clear and concise about why you're doing what
you're doing, people fall right in line with it. It's
(19:55):
when you don't know why you're doing it, or you're
just trying to make a quick buck, people see through
and then it ends up like bud Light, Daryl.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
We are so excited, aren't we to welcome our new
partners at elf who very much like us at Bubbler,
really believe in zero distance with our community. They believe
in relationships built on real connection, you know the ones
where you show up for the wins, the setbacks, and
you have those hard, honest conversations in between. One of
(20:31):
our favorite Musclessen podcasts is Uncensored Renegades, and it's hosted
by ELF Brand's president Corey Marchisoto and John Evans, founder
of the Uncensored podcast Properties. It's a weekly human to
human conversation. It will inspire you, it will teach you
and it will definitely make you laugh listen it.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
What's your advice to brands about working with day creators,
how do they do it well?
Speaker 5 (21:01):
And what are the any lessons and watch outs? First
of all, I can't emphasize this one enough. Right, The
respect that you show to a community by investing in
getting to know them is absolutely critical, right, because yes,
we are building brands.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
We are building you know.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
That is our job as marketers, that's our job as
brand builders, that's our job as companies in serving and
growing brands and ultimately in service of our shareholders.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Right.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
But you get there by making investments in getting to
know who people are and then you bring them a
product or service or whatever that meets that need, right,
And that's a contract that you have.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
And there's no higher form.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
Of respect that when you show somebody when you say
I'm going to get to know you in the fullness
of who you are. And some of the most incredible
insights that I've seen on some of the brands is
when we've gotten down to that level of really listening
and go, oh my god, I never thought about it
that way. And Panteen's one of those. We found out
that for sixty percent of LGBTQ people. One of the
(22:04):
very first things they do when they come out of
the closets change their hairstyle.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Amazing, makes total sense. Yep.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
New identity, it is the new expression.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yeah, one of the most visible ways that you project
your identity of the world. But what's really fascinating is
that as we got deeper into that understanding, it wasn't
just about LGBTQ people. It's everyone at a major life stage.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
If you're a new mom, if you've gone through a breakup,
if you've gone through these moments graduation, right, exactly. Yeah,
And so what we actually got to was this inside
about your relationship with your hair and what your hair
actually means and how you present.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yourself to the world. Right.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
And so if you're trusting us in that moment, one
of the biggest moments of your life, then my gosh,
what an incredible what an incredible gift to You're So
what I have to do back is make sure that
I'm honoring that and communicating that with respect. I love that,
(23:07):
and that is what separates performative marketing from outstanding brand building.
And frankly, when you understand the audience is actually how
you also avoid issue. Yeah, right, because it becomes less performative. Yes,
And I think if you look at what I would
call the biggest mistakes in LGBTQ brand building, it is
(23:30):
when somebody tries too hard.
Speaker 6 (23:32):
Yeah, it's really easy if you're thinking about your consumer
and you see a misstep to go out there and say, hey,
we did this the wrong way and we miss this
and it's on me. That is one of the most
valuable currencies in our country today is authenticity and transparency,
(23:54):
because they're so little of it.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
I will tell you that there is another problem on
the other side. And I know this because we have
a lot of not a lot, but we have more
than we ever have in our lives in the industry
and the creative business have out LGBT creatives totally and people,
but clients struggle with some really basic things about how
do you cast? How do you represent? And it's hard
(24:19):
to have the honest conversation, which as well, you're just
trying to ask the question what makes someone look gay?
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Is that it?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Can you just get over that? The thing that is
interesting and I think, really, you know, MasterCard is a
client and I do love them, but things like the
true Name card, you know, product innovations, product innovations for
the community brilliant, which you couldn't have your name as
a transperson on your credit card. You had to have
your old name and a true new name, your real name,
(24:46):
and that innovation then gave MasterCard a conversation with the
LGBT community. So that to me is also though, like
let's get out of the whether. It's if we build it,
people will come. But are we building products? Are we
building financial? So it was products, So we're building healthcare products.
Every category can look at the influencers that our day
and go, are we helping them create something new in
(25:09):
the world. I love that.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I have a great example of that.
Speaker 6 (25:12):
It's slightly political, but in Kansas, overnight there was a
policy that moved through legislation that moved through literally overnight,
that took every trans person in Kansas's driver's license away.
So at five o'clock it was like that there was
no seven days, twelve days, whatever to go get a
(25:35):
new driver's license.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
The community there.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
Completely organized to make sure that every trans person got
what they needed, if it was a ride to work,
if it was food rock to them and lift offered
free rides.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Lift go list livet shout out to Lift Yes.
Speaker 6 (25:52):
Offered free rides to trans people so that they could
get where they needed to go safely.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I'm going to left from now. Yeah, here you go
on this podcast.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
I understand the need for you know, all targeting, right,
there's always the debate about privacy and respecting personal information.
And yet, like I said, I can buy you know,
a millennial mom who likes chocolate with two point five
children and works out three times a week, and et cetera.
And we have all these elaborate and very expensive ways
(26:25):
of mashing data and clean rooms to find all these
very micro niche target audiences for brands, and yet LGBTQ
we've said we can't target them as easily because of
privacy concerns. And I think part of it is brands
haven't been asking for it. You know, when brands step
(26:46):
up and go we want to reach this audience, we
will figure out the way, the tools and the systems
will figure out the ways to do that safely and
legally and appropriately. But I don't think the demand has
been there, which is a big part of this episode
of Gay I about the Gay Dollar, is to address
that question.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Oh, I think you're exactly right. The demand hasn't been there.
And I think part of the reason the demand hasn't
been there is because I think sometimes that.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
People feel that the task is overwhelming. Right.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
If we look at where growth is going to come from,
it is fully in the multicultural segment, whether it be ethnic, multicultural,
whether it be LGBTQ, wherever it might be totally yeah, right,
And so I think as everyone's looking at, oh my gosh,
I need to rethink or sharpen the way that I'm
creating relationships with our consumer base, it can seem overwhelming.
(27:35):
And because there's a lack of data on LGBTQ, I
think people have always said, oh my gosh, I have
so many jobs to be done, so many miles defeat,
I can't even take this on. I think what's interesting
is we found through our research that basically our general
market communication are fully reaching the lgbt community. Because there
(27:58):
were reflection as we talked about a.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Big percent of the population and you're doing you know,
mass reach media and you know targeting whatever it is,
you know, men, women, different geographies, et cetera. I'm sure
you're reaching you know a good swath of the audience
with the with the budgets you have in the CpG world, Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Thousand consent.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
And what I think we've been maybe waking up to
a little bit more is to make sure that that
general market media message is and it sounds so obvious
when you say it, but you have to make sure
that that is as welcoming to as many consumer segments
as possible. I need to be able to see myself.
And when you think about it that way, the responsibility
(28:39):
or the opportunity to reach an LGBTQ on it has
actually becomes a lot less daunting. No, I don't need
to create an entire different system to connect.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
Yeah, and I don't need to have you know, for
making X pieces of creative there's the gay one.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Right.
Speaker 4 (28:55):
What you're saying is we sit at all the tables
everyone sits at. We're not just at gay tables, so
you can reflect us in those ways. So simple and
yet not necessarily well understood.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
No, and that is to me has been actually the
biggest like Eureka moment, right, is the simplicity of it.
When you actually talk about LGBTQ marketing, you're actually talking
about the base fundamentals of good brand building.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
I think you're right.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
People see it as, oh my god, it's another thing
on my already crowded to do list, or it's going
to be expensive and different, and I think what you've
found through the work and the research you've been doing
is it's really not.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
It's the same production.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
It's having those insights right, it's doing your homework ahead
of time. I want to make sure we have some
time to talk about showing up authentically, understanding an audience,
and building a long term relationship.
Speaker 5 (29:47):
Well, the Impact Awards is really a celebration of the
people that are part of and around the LGBT community
that have had a substantial impact in helping to lift
us up through a lens of art and culture, and
so we celebrate their contributions and the positive impact that
they've made in the world.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
Talk to me a little bit about how that came
to be. It's such a big and exciting program, and
I'd love to hear kind of how a company like
Procter and Gamble ends up in a partnership with Elton
John that results in in starting a conversation about equality
at a massive scale.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
When COVID nineteen happened.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
We were sitting there, I think everybody was sitting there
at that world in that moment, going my gosh, what
do we do? What do we do with this? Because
we all it was one of those great moments of
equality actually because everybody was affected, right, But what we
also recognized that some communities were impacted more deeply than others.
(30:48):
And as we were looking as a company across the board,
it is like, we serve all consumer segments, so what
are we doing how can we help with the voice
that we have And we looked at the LGBT community
and thought, hush, there's really nothing happening. Take that with
a grain of salt. There was a lot happening, but
there was nothing large because the community is so diverse,
(31:10):
and we were like, how do we show up? And
we were like, oh my gosh, we actually need to
create it. We need to create a way for us
to enter into conversation. And so we actually created Can't
Cancel Pride during COVID as basically every pride in the
world was canceled, right, And so it was a response
to that to give the community visibility and to help
(31:31):
raise funds for community organizations that were decimated during COVID,
and they.
Speaker 4 (31:36):
Do all their fundraising in real life, and a lot
of it in June with galas and events and festivals,
and all of a sudden, all that sponsorship money, all
those donations, all those events that people bought tickets to
an entire revenue stream for these critically important organizations doing
the hard work on the ground for the gay community.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
All of them were just you're right.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
They were facing a really tough challenge and P and
G D your credit, I mean really stepped up there.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
Yeah, there was never a question of if we were
going to do something. It was more about what are
we going to do? And the can't cancel Pride came
about also because there were so many young people that
were at home in unaffirming homes that were missing their
connection to community right, that didn't have an outlet. And
(32:27):
so when we created that together with iHeart, we were yeah,
we were providing funds and helping to raise funds, but
we were also using the voice of advertisers and companies
and business to do what we do best, which is
reach people exactly. And in the third year of that,
we were having a conversation like, as we're getting further
(32:48):
away from COVID and how's the world's opening back up?
You know, it was important that we were thinking about
legacy and how do we continue to tell these stories,
how do we continue to create community? And in that
third year, we created the Elton John Impact Award, and
Elton was the first recipient of the ward named in
his honor. And you know, and to be clear, this
isn't something that Elton created in his own name, right,
(33:11):
it was created to honor his legacy and what he
has done and provided. And so that was part of
Can't Cancel Pride. And year one it was Elton, Year
two is Brandy Carlisle, Year three was Billy Porter. All
these juggernauts in their kind of in their respective fields.
And you know, the further that we got away from COVID,
the more we recognize that Can't Cancel Pride had its
moment in time and it was time to move on.
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Incredible fundraiser though, how much how much money did you
raise with Can't Cancel Pride through the years?
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Eighteen million?
Speaker 4 (33:42):
Unbelievable, right, that's and all that money is going to
some incredible organizations like our friends at Glad and Trevor
Project and Sage and you know, folks doing really important
work in the communities.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Yeah, And I think what it helped us understand also
is how do we find our own voice? And that's
ultimately what this has become. And so the Elton John
Impact Towards Now is a standalone event institutional. We're building
it to that from Can't Cancel Pride. But as you
listen to the stories of Laverne cox In, Orville Peck
and you know, all the range of these generational nominees
(34:19):
or honorees, you've recognize that there's stories of human lessons
that we learn.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
You know, like when.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
LaVerne's talking about Orange is the New Black was the
last audition she was going to do because she was
going to throw on the towel at forty when she
turned forty, and she talks about learning your craft, right,
And Orville talks about the importance of.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Finding community when you're young, right.
Speaker 5 (34:45):
And Chapel talks about the importance of recognizing the people
that have helped paved a path so that she can
be who she These are just amazing stories and I
think together that's where you want to be as content
creators and co companies in all these places, and as
we have made that investment, I think that's where we've
(35:05):
probably had the biggest moments of clarity and insight. And
those moments of clarity insight have then just not been
about an LGBTQ insight. They have actually helped us understand
broader insight, like the Panteen example that I talked about, Right,
it's like, oh my gosh. When we think about the
lgbt community or other diverse segments, we call like what's
(35:29):
true for them and truer?
Speaker 2 (35:31):
Right, because true and truer I love that.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
But what I think about is an investment in getting
to know who you're reaching, why you're reaching them, and
what's important to them.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Yeah, because it's a two way relationship, right, which is
I think what you've proven. I think we say the
words a lot brand relationship, brand loyalty, but we as
marketers were not always showing up in that relationship and
thinking about that segment or audience we're having a relationship
with and what is our role and our value and
(36:02):
our contribution to that audience.
Speaker 6 (36:05):
In these years where it's been the over politication of
the LGBTQ community and corporates have pulled back financially with
the LGBTQ organizations. It's hurting a lot of our organizations,
especially our smaller organizations. We've seen a declining giving across
the board in the movement. We've seen a corporate decline
(36:27):
in giving. And I think for us, there's the real
part of it and how it affects our P and
L and then there's the betrayal part of it. Like
you were with us when it was good and you
were riding that wave, but now it's not so great.
Now you know what it feels like to be LGBTQ
in America and be targeted and be nervous and be
(36:51):
scared to walk down the street. And you've walked away.
And so I think that's going to be a reckoning.
There will be a reckoning around that when we come
out of this, because we will come out of this that,
no doubt, my mind, will come out of this.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
More importantly, for marketers, economic reckoning is already happening. So
the thing that you know people are forgetting in this
over politicized moment is the fragility of the economy. That's
why we're so like, oh my god, you're talking about growth. Hallelujah.
That's the only role of marketing. There's nothing else that
marketing does except grow a business. Nothing, nothing, nothing else.
(37:27):
So if you're not growing, you're not doing your job
as a CMO. You should be out. And a lot
of companies aren't growing because they've been focusing on pleasing
political fads and look at the costco target thing like,
it's not a game. Target's in trouble. So I think
that's the thing that we have not done in the
(37:47):
culture zone. I'm confident there will be a reckoning, but hey,
you may not be around as a brand anymore to
fight your case in that cultural zone, because in the
economic zone you'll be out. There's like a winner and
loser competitive economy. We all are sort of pretending that
it's not the case, but it is. It's brutal out there.
I said this to all my clients. It's brutal, and
why would you not go for growth? I don't understand.
(38:11):
We need to make sure it's a commercial thing though, right.
So the thing, having been in media planning my whole
life as well, is like it can't be community planning
as part of your foundation exactly. Community planning is part
of your you know, your nonprofit or your you know,
the thing that you do is public relations. It has
to be intrinsic exactly the communities in your brand, in your.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
It's part of the business. It's the growth plan.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
It's not the thing over in the calms where we
do a little edge marketing for you know, our corporate positioning.
It's got to be the core part of how you
find growth. And I love putting a challenge out there
and it sounds like Glad is the place to start
if you want to figure out how to do this effectively,
how to do this safely, and how to go find
(38:54):
this growth. There's partners here who know how to do it,
who can come help too.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
You have to get new tagline, new tagline, row with Glad.
You're welcome.
Speaker 6 (39:07):
You should be in the creative business. Spend so much
money on that. And all I had to do was
come on your podcast.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Do I suppose what you're saying, which is like, just open up,
invite us in. We're ready to help, were ready to grow.
We want to build brands.
Speaker 8 (39:23):
We love brands, like it's a community that loves brands
that actually has to brand themselves a lot to sort
of create financial independence and be separate from your family
and make a life for yourself in whatever smaller big way.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
So yeah, it's an opportunity. We just need to all
help each other. Day. Gay dollar, it's real.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
We used to call it the pink dollar. Oh yeah,
that's great. Maybe it's the rainbow dollar now.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
But rainbow, the rainbow, rainbow currency, the rainbow currency, rainbow currency.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
So, Gail, it feels like it's time to do so
gay spying. It is time for I spy with my gay.
I always with a gay I. It's always better to
spy with a gay I.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
And today we have the incredible Pat O'Keefe, one of
our favorite clients, one of our favorite Bubbler Media co
collaborators and partners from ELF. I Spy with My Gay
I brings you Pat O'Keeffe from ELF.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Hi.
Speaker 9 (40:26):
My name is Patrick O'Keeffe. I am the Chief Integrated
Marketing Officer at ELF Beauty. I Spy with my Gay
I the Power of Women in Sports. We are proud
partners of the NWSL. We are so excited because we
love what they stand for. They're very inclusive culture and
(40:46):
community and very supportive of the LGBTQ plus community. As
the official sponsor of the NWSL National Women's Soccer League.
We're just really excited to be part of building another
sport community, being part of a community that is celebrating
not only you know, the sport, but also celebrating women
who play in sports. Because we know that sixty five
(41:07):
percent of women are soccer fans, so that is really
really important we're part of the conversations. Then nearly two
thirds sixty three percent of US soccer fans watch women's soccer,
and right now, I know we're focused on the men,
but in a year it's going to be the Women's
World Cup, so we're really excited to see that come
to life. And then seventy percent of women's soccer fans
(41:29):
trust women athletes, so we want to be a part
of those conversations. So as we look to a community
of people that probably are underserved, I would say there
a lot of women are underserved, and specifically in the
gay community. So and we know that there's a lot
of spirited, fun moments that we can celebrate, specifically you know,
(41:49):
the lesbian community within the sport.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
So I'm excited that ELF is a part of that.
Speaker 9 (41:55):
And as you may or may not know, but One
of our big partners, obviously is Catherine Legg who just
finished the double for Indie and for NASCAR and Billy
Jean King and what she's doing around the Billy Jean
King Cup and also what she also her and her
wife did the Unlocked for the PWHL, the Women's Hockey League,
which Alphas is one of the founding partners of. We
(42:15):
also support women's wrestling, which is another area again leaning
into a space and place where the underserved or need
to be served and we're finding our way in. We
just did a series one of our ips, which is
show Yourself, and we did it with Floge, who is
a massive, massive talent not only in the world of basketball,
(42:37):
but also she's a talented musician. She's a badass and
we are so lucky to have her in the family. Again,
it's about the underserved community and celebrating in every eye,
lip and face.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Okay, So, Darryl, what's the takeaway here?
Speaker 7 (42:52):
You know, Cal We've covered so much, But I think
the truth is talking to the gang community is not
a charity act, is not part of your COVID responsibility,
and it's.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Not a risk.
Speaker 7 (43:04):
It's not something you need to alert your PR agency
about immedity.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Immedity, it's a growth strategy. Without the gays, there is
no growth. And also it's a future proofing strategy. Right.
Speaker 7 (43:17):
It's like, it's not just the current value of the
gay community, it's stuff that's coming that younger generations are
watching the brands that are showing up and the brands
who are backing down, and they will remember.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
And we see this across brands, across institutions, across politics.
They will remember and they will vote this time with
their wallets and reward the brands that.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
I couldn't agree more. You know, targeting the LGBTQ plus audience.
It's a growth strategy. It's not DEI, it's ROI.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Oh that's a good one.
Speaker 4 (43:53):
Gay Yeah, any excuse any goss for an acronym.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
That's a good one. Well, but I think we should
make a T shirt, you know, we should. It's not
about d unites own. Everything to do with D and
I is not about D and I. It's about building
a high performance culture and a high performance team so
that you are a high performance brand and a high
performance company.
Speaker 7 (44:17):
We're going to have just keep teaching this lesson, I
think because people get confused about charity acts and wanted
to be with the cool kids. And this is a brutal,
basic business decision. It is show up for the people
who will reward you in culture and reward you in business,
and we will remember and we will return the.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Favor one hundred percent. Let's go get the gay dollar.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Let's go get it. Yes, trillions, people, brillions.
Speaker 4 (44:42):
With a te So that's why we're here at gay
I to help you go after those trillions of dollars.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Did we say trillions enough? No, trillion?
Speaker 1 (44:50):
I think we said trillions. Yeah, yeah enough, Yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (44:54):
We'll be back shortly with a new episode and more
gay eye topics to help you. Help you yeah something, Hello,
you get up.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Yeah, we'll be back.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
We'll be back shortly with another episode.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
But in the meantime, I hope it will start planning
to go after that gay dollar.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Thanks for listening to gay I. Follow the show wherever
you get your podcasts, Share this episode with a marketer, founder.
Speaker 7 (45:22):
Creative director, or just a group chat that needs a
little more gay I.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
And we want to hear what you spy with your
gay I, so send us your thoughts. Let's keep the
conversation going.
Speaker 4 (45:33):
You can follow us bubbler Media on LinkedIn, iHeartMedia, YouTube,
or wherever you socialize. Gay I is a bubbler Media
iHeart podcast production.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
If you're not in the conversation, you're not in the game.
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