Gay Market News.

Shadow Over IGLTA

2012-04-26T18:17:00.000+02:00

(Image: The Economist)

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association has had a bad few months, including recent accusations of covering up attempts to profit from its own members. Now, the latest news might just take the organization from bad to worse - with a newly elected Board member bringing big ethics question marks over him to his role as an elected decision-maker for the organization.

OPINION - Gay Market News
April 27, 2012

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: IGLTA. International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. Ian Johnson. John Tanzella. Darren Cooper. Pablo De Luca. Gustavo Noguera. GNetwork360.

Poor Ethics Cast A Shadow Over IGLTA

Years ago I learned a lesson that has stood Out Now in good stead over the years. I was reading an article from an Ethics Center that asked - 'What are ethics'? It suggested that your own personal test of what is 'ethical' conduct should be measured by how you would feel if your own actions became public - if for example the decisions you took this week were on the front of next week's newspaper.

How would you feel then about the decisions you took? If you would be comfortable with others learning of them, then you can be said to have made an ethical decision. If however, you would be uncomfortable that your decisions became public knowledge then maybe you need to rethink your decision as it is one that is likely going to fall outside your own sense of ethics - and the principles of ethics as perceived by those who read about what you did.

Unfortunately, the management and Board of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) has just stepped into a position which - when others consider the decisions taken - calls into question at the very least the ethics of one of the new members of their Board.

In context, the situation that brings the organization to this point is one that sadly reflects very poorly upon the current direction of the IGLTA - and has even led some to now question the future of the organization.

Shame For IGLTA

It is often said that we are judged by the company that we keep.

If that is true then April 15, 2012 should be marked as a sad day for members of the International Gay and Lesbian TraveI Association.

The IGLTA has found itself mired in controversy in recent times.

During the past twelve months three Board members (out of a total of just eight) resigned. One of these resigned just this past February - over an alleged failure by the Board to uphold its own Professional Code of Conduct. A great loss was IGLTA's Director of Global Business Development, a highly regarded professional who was much admired in the global tourism industry, and was the longest serving staff member - before he chose to leave the organization last October. This followed an already high level of staff departures for a small organization in the months before that.

In recent weeks there have been allegations of attempts by IGLTA's management to shut down discussions in social media about the organization trying to charge its own members $95 for a free report from the UNWTO (which quotes data from Out Now's groundbreaking Global LGBT2020 Study). That report is available for free online - but when some IGLTA personnel linked to the free report using social media, they were reportedly instructed by IGLTA management to remove the link.

The IGLTA probably hoped to have a good news week on their hands with the launch of a redesign of their website, however comments about the new site suggest users are finding the new layout causes confusion about who the website is actually aimed at - which doesn't help the important goal of trying to maximize the opportunities IGLTA members have to connect with other members to increase business.

Instead though, the latest news out of the IGLTA last week was the election to the IGLTA Board of an Argentinean 'businessman' - one who has been the subject of theft allegations - along with various other allegations of professional misconduct.

Don't Lie To Me Argentina

In a recent issue of The Economist appeared the headline - 'Don't Lie To Me Argentina'- when, for the first time ever, it was decided the magazine would no longer cover the Argentina government's own published statistics - as the 'official' data put out by them was considered to simply not be credible.

Put simply, The Economist thought the Argentineans were lying. This might perhaps suggest a wider problem with a culturally roughshod approach when it comes to business ethics - something Out Now (publishers of Gay Market News) witnessed in the questionable conduct of a business headed by the newly elected IGLTA Board member from Argentina - Mr Pablo De Luca.

Mr De Luca - who runs an outfit called GNetwork360 - was involved in a number of thefts of Out Now property in 2010 and 2011, including research data, monies owed and intellectual property.

Details have been posted in full online - and were made available to the IGLTA Board in 2011 - but if you need a simple to understand 'reality check' about the character in question, it is quick and easy to just compare this text written by Out Now for a seminar presented by Out Now's CEO at a GNetwork360 event in 2010 with identically worded text which was later submitted by Mr De Luca as his company's own work for a presentation he proposed to make in 2011 (screenshot taken 25 August 2011).

Stealing another business's written work might at first seem trivial to some perhaps, but stop and think what it says about the character of an individual in business - one who thinks this is an acceptable way to conduct themselves in business.

Theft and lack of business ethics are dangerous business habits to try to deal with. That possibly may not augur so well then for the immediate future of IGLTA's stewardship under Mr De Luca's control as their latest Board member.

The position of IGLTA management

Ian Johnson - CEO of Out Now - had a conversation with John Tanzella - CEO of IGLTA - about these theft issues related to GNetwork360 when the two met at the March 2012 ITB convention in Berlin.

Out Now, which had been a member of IGLTA, lodged an official complaint asking the IGLTA Board to uphold their own Professional Code of Conduct - which every member agrees to abide by - in relation to numerous documented breaches of the Code by Mr De Luca and his related business entities.

Mr Tanzella's reply to Mr. Johnson asked why this matter was even brought to the attention of the IGLTA in the first place: "I don't understand why you would bring this dispute to the IGLTA? Why not pursue it through the courts?"

Mr Johnson replied: "Because your IGLTA Professional Code of Conduct invited me as an IGLTA member to complain to the Board over exactly this kind of conduct. There is no pre-requisite for a legal judgment before the Code is meant to be applied. The Board ought to have convened a hearing of these issues as is expressly meant to happen under your Association's By-Laws." Mr Johnson went on to say: "Your problem John is not really with me, or even with GNetwork360 - your real problem is with your own Code of Conduct. You tell members they are protected when they pay their annual dues to become IGLTA members but if a member asks you to uphold ethics violations by another member, it is my experience that you fail to do so. You really ought not publish those supposed protections of the Code of Conduct if, when asked, you and your Board show you are willing to fail to follow due process as set down in your own rules."

Mr Tanzella then asked: "I don't understand why didn't you just talk with me about this?"

Mr Johnson's response was telling: "Because when the IGLTA Board decided not to uphold the Professional Code of Conduct violations committed by GNetwork360, your Association's only response was to have your lawyers send a letter warning Out Now from exercising any right of reply to you, your staff or the Board. We were threatened with legal costs if we dared question the Board's decision. It was a little difficult then to talk with you about any of this, since we were expressly told we were not to do so. Surely you can see that John?"

No Future

Out Now has now reached the decision - as a result of what has now become an ongoing litany of poor professional practices on the part of IGLTA's management and its Board - that this is no longer a trade Association we can afford to associate our business with.

The recent election of Mr De Luca to the Board of IGLTA serves simply to reinforce the wisdom of that decision.

Unfortunately IGLTA is no longer a trade association with the kind of approach to professional ethics that Out Now requires of it if we are to be members.

Accordingly we have not renewed our membership in 2012 and do not see it as likely that we would again choose to be members of this organization.

Not alone

Sadly for IGLTA, it is not just Out Now with firsthand experience of questionable business practices at the hands of Mr De Luca and his business interests.

Gay Market News spoke to a number of LGBT business owners in the Latin America region who provided their own firsthand accounts of what they claim are business practices that veer far from those usually accepted in the practice of global business.

Various actions of Mr De Luca and his associated businesses - GNetwork360 and GMaps360 - over recent years have been strongly criticized by those Gay Market News spoke with.

One recent example cited was a failed gay boat cruise that Mr De Luca and his business were responsible for marketing that eventually sailed with no more than a handful of tickets sold to LGBT travelers. This venture was reported as receiving government funds from the Argentinian Tourism Ministry but it reportedly left the other partners in the venture out-of-pocket. These actions are typical of the 'business practice' that we have heard stories of regarding Mr De Luca and GNetwork360.

Those IGLTA members - and former members - from Latin America that Gay Market News spoke with reacted universally with disappointment at Mr De Luca's standing for election to the IGLTA Board. It is a sentiment that Out Now Consulting echoes.

"Is it any surprise that the IGLTA is losing the support of its members when the Board and management's actions show that these members can no longer be certain the IGLTA will hold up its own published code of ethics," added Darren Cooper, Senior Out Now Consultant and former IGLTA Board member.

'Death roll'?

This comment from a lesbian business woman who said she used to be a member summed up the essence of much of the feedback we were given:

"The IGLTA downhill spiral (death roll?) goes agonizingly on. Wish their directions were ones I found supportable but bad decision compounded upon bad decision is now simply too much to be bothered with."

There have also been questions raised about the bona fides of a supposed not-for-profit organization called Argentina's Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce headed by Mr De Luca and his life and business partner Gustavo Noguera. Questions include allegations made that this Argentinean 'association' holds no regular meetings, has no regular elections for officeholders and in large part functions as a means to channel funds from the Argentina Tourism Ministry into the for-profit businesses run by Mr De Luca and Mr Noguera.

All of which seems rather 'smelly' to the say the least.

With practices like these surrounding Mr De Luca from Argentina, the IGLTA might have been wise to have taken a leaf from the pages of The Economist in this matter and considered whether being governed by a person with such questioned 'form' is a smart move for a travel trade association so completely reliant upon the goodwill of its own members - each of whom pays not insubstantial amounts of money as annual dues.

The members certainly deserve better than the likes of Mr De Luca on the Board. But if any IGLTA members hope they might have significant recourse to the Board on this under the organization's Professional Code of Conduct, sadly Out Now's own experience in this regard suggests they may want to think again.

At a time when the IGLTA really needed to step up to try to recover from its recent UNWTO report fiasco - and following tepid user response to their website redesign - the appointment of Mr De Luca to their Board does not look likely to help them.

Such a shame for IGLTA to find itself keeping what so many appear to consider to be such poor company.

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If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

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To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Helsinki GayComfort Workshops

2012-03-27T11:19:00.027+02:00

Helsinki, Finland played host to a power-packed program of education last week for their local industry - with GayComfort being a central part of two specialist workshops. Delegates discovered from the region's industry experts what is coming next in the world of LGBT tourism marketing.

Gay Market News
March 27, 2012

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: GayComfort. SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Love is in the air. Stockholm. Klaus K Hotel. Helsinki, Finland. Hilton Hotel Slussen Stockholm. Darren Cooper. Ian Johnson. LGBT friendly. Gay friendly hotels. Out Now. LGBT marketing. Lesbian and gay tourism. LGBT travel marketing.

Helsinki Gay Friendly Workshops - Industry Leaders Speak in Finland

The past few years has seen a number of new destinations commence LGBT marketing work in an effort to better understand and meet the needs of the lesbian and gay travel markets.

Helsinki in Finland has been one of the standout new entrants in the field. This is largely due to their serious commitment to 'get it right'.

The professionals working at Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau have taken the time and trouble to use the best industry standards in their approach.

GayComfort

Central to the steps taken by Helsinki is to make sure they 'deliver on the promise' their advertising makes to LGBT consumers.

That means making sure that tourism industry staff have the skills they need to understand - and meet - the travel concerns of their gay and lesbian guests.

The industry global standard training course is Out Now's best-in-class GayComfort training - which featured prominently in the presentations of most speakers at the Helsinki Gay Friendly Workshops.

This innovative online training makes sure that staff get past media stereotypes to make sure their empathy and service delivery is well attuned to the tourism needs of their gay customers.

Learning what to say - and what not to say - play important parts in the GayComfort training. Practical advice and a list of strategic Do's and Don'ts help staff to grasp how gay travellers are the same, and how they may differ from other customers.

A knowledge quiz rounds out the training and reinforces the learning of the program.

Delegates in Helsinki undertook a GayComfort Intensive seminar - to workshop various aspects of maximizing service delivery for the gay and lesbian consumer market.

Partners in the program - such as Helsinki - receive their own dedicated page on the program's consumer information site: GayComfort.me.

Industry leadership

The Helsinki tourist industry training workshops took place over two days - 22nd March for local hotels, tourist offices and tourist attractions; and on 23rd March a special GayComfort workshop was presented by Out Now for staff working in the Helsinki Tourist Information Centre.

Regional LGBT marketing tourism industry leaders attended to present on 22 March.

Delegates were welcomed by Hanna Muonivaara, Marketing Manager from Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau - the hosts of the event.

They learned about the ongoing commitment of Helsinki to LGBT marketing and the practical steps taken to ensure the destination builds upon successful foundations established over the past couple of years. (Editor's note: Out Now is responsible for the 2010 'Frontiers' creative marketing LGBT launch campaign for Helsinki, and Helsinki is also a partner destination in the GayComfort program.

The host hotel for the event was Klaus K - a leading member of the Design Hotels group, and one that deserves the name. Owner of the Klaus K - Mia Cederberg-Skvorc - welcomed the event to the hotel, which takes its design inspiration from the Finnish legends contained in the Kalevala stories.

Christina Guggenberger of Stockholm Visitors Board explained how Stockholm has taken a leading role in the development of LGBT tourism during the past several years.

Guggenberger showed how the effective engagement with partners - through the Stockholm Gay and Lesbian Network - has proved to be most productive in developing gay and lesbian tourism marketing, and included mention of the highly successful 'Stockholm's Leading Ladies' UK online lesbian marketing campaign of 2011. (Disclosure: Campaign devised for Stockholm Visitors Board by Out Now.)

Hilton Hotel Slussen in Stockholm is one of the GayComfort certified properties (Stockholm is also a GayComfort program destination partner) - and delegates learned from manager Henrik Friskopp how the hotel has succeeded in growing its gay and lesbian market business through an ongoing and consistent approach.

The extremely successful SAS Scandinavian Airlines campaign 'Love Is In The Air' was showcased by its creator and PR Director for SAS - Anders Lindström.

Lindström explained to delegates how a gay male couple from Germany and a lesbian couple from Poland were winners of the first gay and lesbian weddings in the air, which were held over Swedish airspace on a scheduled SAS flight to New York in December 2010.

The 2010 'Love Is In The Air' campaign was the airline's first social media campaign - and it literally redefined what social media means in the LGBT market, with delegates in Helsinki pleased to be able to learn from the campaign's originator how - and why - this campaign proved to be such an enormous success for SAS Scandinavian Airlines.

Darren Cooper - Senior Consultant with Out Now - presented market data for Helsinki from the LGBT2020 research program and Ian Johnson - CEO of Out Now - presented a GayComfort workshop as well as an overview of past LGBT marketing as experienced by his company as a market leader for the past 20 years. Johnson set out for delegates the likely next stages in the tourism industry's ongoing development of leading LGBT marketing globally.

Cooper and Johnson presented at a closed-workshop on 23 March to the staff at the Helsinki Visitor Information Centre on the importance of GayComfort training - and its implications for staff as they put in place global best-practices on LGBT service delivery.

Out Now also filmed new video last week - for the new 2012 creative campaign now being developed to promote and extend Helsinki's impacts, as a truly gay-comfortable and welcoming destination, into key markets globally.

Helsinki looks to be ideally placed to grow its gay and lesbian tourism numbers - and to further expand its reach into the global LGBT market.

-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

American Express LGBT Expo Support

2012-03-26T10:18:00.018+02:00

One of the world's largest companies has announced their support for the most important LGBT marketing event in Latin America - the 2nd International Expo & Business LGBT, being held this September in Cancun, Mexico.

Ian Johnson
March 26, 2012

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: American Express. Amex. LatAm. Latin America. Out Now. LGBT marketing. Lesbian and gay tourism. LGBT travel marketing.

American Express Gets Onboard Latin America's Leading LGBT Marketing Event

Marketing to gay and lesbian people is no longer a new phenomenon, but it is still new in a number of regions around the world.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Latin America - where awareness in the LGBT market potential has grown strongly in recent years.

As this LGBT2020 research data from Argentina and also LGBT2020 data from Mexico reveals - this is a market with a strong potential for a broad range of marketers.

The International Expo & Business LGBT is taking place September 6 - 9, 2012 in Cancun, Mexico.

Market leadership

One brand to lead the market in the region is American Express.

The company has a dedicated LGBT microsite and an in-house LGBT resource group that focuses on Latin America. The person who played a large part in establishing this infrastructure at the company has just been announced as the latest speaker at the forthcoming second edition of Latin America's most important LGBT marketing event.

Mr Fernando Velázquez is a Director at American Express responsible for Global Field Effectiveness in Latin America and Global Corporate Payments.

He has a major role within the organization and especially in relation to the company's ongoing outreach in terms of LGBT customers and staff. He has been responsible for developing and implementing commercial strategies at board level, as well as marketing and customer service.

Three years ago, along with a number of fellow-employees from the LGBT community, Velázquez decided to create the LGBT Employee Network at American Express Mexico, which was established in February 2010.

Since then until now, he has been the Network's leader and has overseen the development and implementation of a number of activities to benefit Amex employees within the Network, as well as help assist the ongoing transformation of the workplace and build connections for American Express into the LGBT market.

Mr Velázquez is one of the region's LGBT leaders and joins an impressively growing collection of industry-leading marketers and community members taking part in this years International Expo & Business LGBT.

Speakers are also confirmed from Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Bureau - who have been behind a number of strong LGBT tourism marketing initiatives over the years and Out Now - the world's leading LGBT marketing organization.

Out Now is Premier Sponsor and Cancun OVC (Conventions and Visitors Bureau) and GayComfort are also partners in the event.

Discounts for Early Bird registrations are now open - for delegates, exhibitors and sponsors. Early Bird discounts close March 31, 2012.

-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

IGLTA - The Benefits Of Membership?

2012-03-19T12:20:00.029+01:00

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association has been questioned about why they are seeking to charge their own members $95 to obtain an LGBT market report which they co-sponsored, and which is apparently available free-of-charge to any member of the general public.

Ian Johnson
March 19, 2012

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: IGLTA. Facebook. International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. UNWTO. Lesbian and gay tourism. LGBT travel marketing.

IGLTA: "The Benefits Of Membership?"

ARTICLE UPDATE - MARCH 20, 2012: Gay Market News was informed today by a member of IGLTA's own personnel that IGLTA management had instructed personnel to remove online links to the UNWTO free PDF report - the printed version of which IGLTA wants to charge its own members $95 to obtain.

Last month, a member of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), Mr Rick Hurlbut, wondered aloud on Facebook why IGLTA members like him were being asked to pay $95 for a copy of a report which is available as a free PDF download on the United Nations World Tourism Organization affiliates website.

Mr Hurlbut told Gay Market News he had spotted this PDF download online, while reviewing the UNWTO affiliates pages for himself.

Rick runs a number of Groups on Facebook - and so posed this question in a Facebook posting on his "GLBT Travel & Tourism" page at the start of February 2012:

"IGLTA members should question why the association is charging for a report which appears to be available for free."

Last Friday, the CEO of IGLTA - Mr John Tanzella - responded that Rick was not engaging in an "accurate public discussion" on the matter. Mr Tanzella wrote:

"Hi Rick, sorry you didn't check with IGLTA first to get the answer on this. The difference is that we are selling the 40 page PRINTED brochure, not an online pdf. IGLTA pays $3K usd yearly to be a member of the UN WTO (it's not free) so our membership is at the global table. The document was very expensive to print in Spain, then ship the boxes to Florida. Then we have to pay to mail these to potentially 88 countries around the world (our membership). Hope this helps you understand that this is not a profit center for iglta, it will barely cover costs of printing and shipping. Thank you."

In a follow-up remark last week Mr Tanzella wrote:

"Rick, contacting IGLTA in advance would have resulted in an accurate public discussion. You would have been been [sic] advised that the pdf version is a propitiatory [sic] platform of the UN, not of IGLTA. We co-sponsored the study and had to take on the cost of printing 1,000 of the 40-page documents then ship the many boxes from Spain to Florida. Then the cost to ship these to members in potentially 88 countries is highly expensive. Thank you."

Well, interestingly the facts seem to support Mr Hurlbut's raising of his original concerns.

Another - now lapsed - former IGLTA member called Roy Heale added perhaps the most prescient comments in the whole sorry saga when he wrote last week on Facebook:

"The benefits of membership?"

Seems rather a fair question to be asked.

Here is my opinion on the facts as we know them.

I think John Tanzella's response almost entirely misses the point of Rick Hurlbut's initial complaint.

Rick was mainly asking whether IGLTA had informed their membership they could download the UNWTO travel report as a PDF for free. In fact any member of the public can do so. It is indeed fully available - right now - for free public download via the UNWTO affiliates public web page.

If IGLTA members are able to access the UN report at no charge elsewhere, then why shouldn't they? If IGLTA knows this to be possible but prefers to try to charge their own members $95 for the report, why should the resulting disillusionment among members towards IGLTA management's approach cause any great surprise?

I have heard other IGLTA members raise this same issue in conversations in recent weeks - so I know Rick Hurlbut is by no means alone in his concerns.

I think this discussion quite sadly reflects something bigger that is going on, and that is that there has for some years now been a gradual decoupling of IGLTA management from the interests of its own traditional LGBT business-owning membership base. As an organisation, if you lose the continuing support of your core constituency - which in the case of the IGLTA means their LGBT business-owning original base - it is quite possible to risk losing your very reason to exist as a result.

The IGLTA is a member-based trade association. As such, all monies spent are actually funds that the management of the association manages only on trust - on behalf of its own members.

When members see IGLTA management take decisions (for example, such as joining UNWTO - paid for out of members' own funds; and then choosing to publish this report) members see these as actions undertaken by an organization which they, the members, believe is meant to be always 'working' on their behalf, namely - using members' own monies to advance members' interests.

For members to find they are now asked to pay extra for the outcomes of these actions is something some members do not like - especially when they then discover it involves paying IGLTA $95 for a report which any member of the public can freely obtain - at no charge - elsewhere.

No individual member of course actually 'voted' for any of these actions. They were decisions taken by IGLTA management - supposedly made as decisions taken solely to advance the interests of IGLTA members.

One obvious question arises: why were printing and any other costs for this report not already fully covered - for example by one-off corporate sponsorship/s of all costs of the report project - long before any decision was greenlighted by IGLTA management to print that many copies of a 40 page document? (Actually, NYC and Company are credited in the fine print at the front of the report "for sponsoring the printing of this report", so the stated need to have to charge IGLTA members $95 to obtain a printed copy of the report looks even less compelling.)

The complete costs of this exercise ought to have been fully budgeted for well in advance by IGLTA management before they decided to proceed with the project, much less agreed to publish 1000 copies of such a document. If the organisation could not afford to print these, then they ought never have been printed - much less then being shipped halfway across the world. (Are there no printers in Florida near IGLTA HQ that could do the job?)

In any case, the decision to go ahead and publish, then to ship, so many copies (1000) of a printed version of this UN report - if made by IGLTA management on the basis that unless IGLTA now manages to sell a certain minimum number of copies, then the association will actually lose members' funds as a result of the whole project - starts to look like poor project management.

No minimum sale of such reports could ever safely be assumed with any certainty from the outset, and even more so now - given that this report has for weeks been freely available to any member of the public, to receive direct from the UNWTO, at no charge - without any requirement to be an IGLTA member.

Another question could be: in this day of customised digital printing, why risk members' funds at all on a purely speculative hope that IGLTA might actually sell so many copies?

Modern print-on-demand services allow for physical copies of reports to be printed only when actually ordered and paid for, and then shipped out individually - priced suitably to cover all resulting costs. That approach to printing copies of the report could have been done at zero risk to the association, and with no resulting loss of members' own funds.

So it certainly seems arguable then that better forward-planning by IGLTA management could have prevented this whole situation ever arising in the first place.

Finally, while IGLTA management might think - as John Tanzella claims - that membership of UNWTO somehow benefits IGLTA members with their own seat "at the global table", a question must then be raised in response to such a statement: how?

In practical terms, what tangible benefits have any individual members actually received from this decision by management of IGLTA to join the UNWTO? None that I can see - unless you count being asked to pay $95 for a free UNWTO report that many members feel ought to be included as part of their membership - not something they are asked to pay again for.

There is a feeling that somehow joining UNWTO may be perceived to manufacture prestige (which might possibly be true for IGLTA's management) - but with no tangible benefits at all actually flowing to individual IGLTA members, each of whom presumably made the decision to spend their funds to join the association hoping to receive actual and tangible benefit to their own business's bottom line as a result.

IGLTA management is meant to be answerable to and report to the membership - and to be directly accountable to the concerns expressed by members like Rick Hurlbut. It is not good enough to try to close down such a conversation by suggesting he was not being "accurate" in this discussion.

One thing is certain - Rick is, from what I can observe, usually quite meticulous on detail - and I cannot actually spot any inaccurate statements made by him on this issue. None.

The report was, and is, freely available to members of the public at no charge via the UNWTO website - and IGLTA was, and is, trying to charge its own members $95 to receive a copy of the same document. It also reportedly appears to be trying to keep knowledge of the availability of a free online download of that document secret from its own members.

So we are left with a report, that had some or all of its printing costs paid for by a corporate sponsor, that IGLTA management knows is actually available for anyone to access free of charge elsewhere, which IGLTA management apparently would prefer members did not know can actually be downloaded at no cost - as they seemingly would rather have IGLTA members pay $95 to IGLTA HQ to obtain a copy.

That is not a good look.

To close back on the bigger picture, the growing membership ennui with the IGLTA is perhaps best illustrated by the following remark - made just after Rick Hurlbut first raised his concerns about IGLTA's approach - by (now lapsed, former IGLTA member) Roy Heale on Facebook, about this whole sorry issue:

"The benefits of membership?".

Seems rather a fair question to be asked.

-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

IGLTA Board Member Resigns

2012-03-02T12:17:00.012+01:00

A Board member of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) has announced their resignation.

Gay Market News
March 2, 2012

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: IGLTA. Out Now. International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. GNetwork360. Lesbian and gay tourism. LGBT travel marketing.

Board member of IGLTA announces their resignation

Mr Darren Cooper (pictured), who works as a Senior Consultant at Out Now (publishers of Gay Market News), has announced that he resigned his position as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the IGLTA on 3 February 2012. The resignation was described by him as being a "point of principle, related to both my personal and professional integrity."

Mr Cooper's resignation was made in relation to a decision reached by the IGLTA Board back in October 2011. That decision is discussed here on the Out Now website, and followed a request made by an IGLTA member - Out Now's CEO Ian Johnson - in September 2011, for the Board to enforce its own By-Laws to discipline another member acting outside the published IGLTA Professional Code of Conduct.

It was Out Now's contention in its Notice to IGLTA that the actions of GNetwork360 were in clear breach of both the letter and the spirit of the IGLTA Code of Conduct, and that under the organisation's By-Laws, the IGLTA Board ought to have enforced the provision of expulsion against GNetwork360 for breaching the Code.

Mr Cooper, as an Out Now employee, was not involved at any time in the decision that was made by the Board in October 2011 - that this complaint by Out Now was not to be upheld.

Out Now CEO Ian Johnson said he had only recently taken the decision to upload the material submitted to the IGLTA Board that formed the subject of the complaint made.

"We were shocked by the conduct of GNetwork360 and as soon as we discovered their conduct and what they were capable of in business, we immediately severed all business dealings with them," said Johnson. "That type of behaviour has no place in professional life and certainly not in any business we could ever associate with."

The conduct complained of related to several thefts by GNetwork360 of Out Now intellectual property assets - including this text written by Out Now for a 2010 marketing seminar, which was appropriated by GNetwork360 practically word-for-word for another event at which they intended to present, over a year after Out Now had originally written it.

Mr Cooper said he contemplated his actions for some months after the IGLTA Board failed to uphold its own By-Laws before deciding at the start of February 2012 that he felt he had no choice but to resign as a member of this Board.

"I was unable to support the Board in their decision not to uphold the IGLTA Professional Code of Conduct which form part of the published By-Laws," Cooper said. "This was in relation to a complaint that was brought by one of the IGLTA's members against another member, GNetwork360. I was, quite rightly, not part of this decision, or the discussions around it as I offered to exclude myself from any and all discussions because of my working association with the complaining member, Out Now - so I was unaware at the time, and still remain unaware, as to any individual discussions by each Board member regarding the complaint against GNetwork360."

Cooper was at pains to stress that the decision he had reached was one he had come to over some time and of his own accord. "This decision was one that I made personally and independently of any other person or any organisation," Cooper said.

Johnson said his decision to publish the substance of the matters complained of to the IGLTA Board was one he made only after Mr Cooper had resigned from the IGLTA Board.

"Darren enjoys Out Now's complete support in any business decision he takes," Johnson said. "He is a most valued and trusted member of our global team, and when he came to me at the end of January and told me what he wanted to do we made clear to him that Out Now would support him both professionally and personally no matter what decision he made on this matter."

Cooper added that he felt that the decision by his fellow Board members of the IGLTA left him with no choice but to resign.

"The decision by the IGLTA Board not to uphold their own By-Laws, which I firmly believe the actions of GNetwork360 clearly contravene is one that I cannot support, and that is why I took the decision to stand down from my position on the Board," Cooper said. "As an Association I believe we have an unquestionable duty to IGLTA members to uphold our own Professional Code of Conduct and our published By-Laws and the failure of this Board to act on such serious allegations is a failure in our responsibility to not just one, but to all of our members."

Johnson said he found it unusual that the IGLTA Board has not to date informed its members that Cooper has resigned.

"When other Board members have resigned, the membership was informed by way of email notice of this, but so far as I am aware that has not happened on this occasion," Johnson said. "Maybe they were less than comfortable with the reasons behind Darren's decision to go."

Johnson added that he found it worrying that one of the Principals of GNetwork360 is now running for the new Board elections at IGLTA. "Out Now has worked hard for twenty years to cement our position as the leading LGBT marketing organization in the world," Johnson said. "As soon as we discovered the nature of GNetwork360's business practices we severed all relations with them immediately. The IGLTA Board had an opportunity to do the same last year but decided not to enforce their own Professional Code of Conduct. As a result they might be about to discover firsthand for themselves just why Out Now chose to distance itself from the business tactics of GNetwork360. If it was not so tragic it would almost be funny."

Here is Darren Cooper's Statement to Gay Market News in full -

Having recently resigned from my positions as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the IGLTA, and also from my position as a Director on the Board, I would like to state, in my own words, the reason why I took the decision to do so.

My decision to resign is one that I did not take lightly. However, this decision is one that relates to my personal and professional integrity, and therefore, on careful reflection and careful reviewing of what I believe are irrefutable facts, I feel that this course of action was the only one that allowed me to keep this integrity intact. This decision was one that I made personally and independently of any other person or any organisation.

I was unable to support the Board in their decision not to uphold the IGLTA Professional Code of Conduct which form part of the published By-Laws. This was in relation to a complaint that was brought by one of the IGLTA's members against another member, GNetwork360. I was, quite rightly, not part of this decision, or the discussions around it as I offered to exclude myself from any and all discussions because of my working association with the complaining member, Out Now - so I was unaware at the time, and still remain unaware, as to any individual discussions by each Board member regarding the complaint against GNetwork360.

I was however party to the evidence that Out Now presented to the IGLTA Board, which outlined the very serious grievances that were brought against GNetwork360. I have no doubt that this evidence, which is outlined, and is also available in full at the following link http://www.outnowconsulting.com/latinamerica/gnetwork360 clearly demonstrates that GNetwork360 were in clear breach of the IGLTA's By-Laws regarding the Professional Code of Conduct. Having reviewed this evidence I can come to no other conclusion than that this is the case.

The decision by the IGLTA Board not to uphold their own By-Laws, which I firmly believe the actions of GNetwork360 clearly contravene is one that I cannot support, and that is why I took the decision to stand down from my position on the Board.

As an Association I believe we have an unquestionable duty to our members to uphold our own Professional Code of Conduct and our published By-Laws and the failure of this Board to act on such serious allegations is a failure in our responsibility to not just one, but to all of our members.

Out Now at ITB

2012-03-02T11:49:00.008+01:00

For the eleventh consecutive year, Out Now Global is attending the ITB travel trade show in Berlin for meetings and presentations.

Ian Johnson
March 2, 2012

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: Germany. Berlin. International Tourismus Bourse ITB. Out Now. Travel trade shows. Lesbian and gay tourism. LGBT travel marketing.

World's leading LGBT marketing organisation attends ITB travel trade show in Berlin

In 2002, Out Now had just celebrated our tenth anniversary by opening our first office in Europe.

It was also the first year that we attended the huge travel trade show called ITB in Berlin.

In three days I walked up to many bemused exhibitors and introduced our business and asked if they were interested in better understanding and implementing what we then termed "gay marketing".

I still have the relatively few business cards that resulted from a mammoth cold-call effort on our part. To say that the global tourism industry was yet to successfully equate "gay" with "travel" is an understatement and I now comfortably reflect on the fact that the response to our overtures was so lukewarm simply because we were a few years ahead of our time.

2012 and beyond

So much has changed since my first tentative steps with Out Now back in 2002 at ITB in Berlin.

Now, our meetings and presentations schedule is usually more than fully booked and we rush from meeting to meeting at this event trying to present to all those many tourism brands that now seek to work with us.

This is a great experience and one that usefully replaces my regular gym workouts for the three days of B2B networking and business that we now cram into this annual trade show.

Next week ITB is back again, and - as has become usual - Out Now is attending.

Our schedule is now technically 'full' (and then some) but we have started to add some new meeting availabilities as we split our team into individual members to cover more meetings.

So - if you are attending ITB in Berlin next week and would like to meet with Out Now to discuss ways to grow your 'gay tourism' revenues, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Ian Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Out Now Global. Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Gay Cruise Sinks

2011-12-23T22:33:00.024+01:00

One of the success stories of LGBT tourism during the past two decades has been the growth of gay-oriented cruises, on ships large and small. But projected sales for Argentina's first gay cruise - planned to sail this past week - sank without trace. What is to blame? Poor product? Poor marketing? Or something else?

Ian Johnson - and via Newswires
December 23, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: Argentina. Latin America. Gay crucero. Buenos Aires. Thesys. GNetwork360. Gay marketing. Cruises. Atlantis Events.

DECEMBER 24, 2011 - EDITORIAL UPDATE: Following publication of this article on December 23, a number of EGO cruise website pages - which we had linked to substantiating various points made - appear to have been removed. For readers' background reference, Gay Market News has now included here in this article a number of screenshots showing the referred-to content, which were taken prior to its removal.

Planned 'Ego' Gay Cruise Fails To Sail Gay

Successfully establishing Out Now as an LGBT marketing agency in Australia two decades ago, and then taking it global, has taught me one very important lesson: what looks easy to others can often be fiendishly difficult to achieve in practice.

Marketing success that can appear effortless to outsiders usually has one bedrock ingredient - consistent, hard work.

I have also learned by observation that many of the worst kinds of failures in the area of marketing to gays and lesbians tend to happen when the organizers of such initiatives start to believe their own publicity.

That seems to have happened this past week when a much discussed 'first ever gay cruise in Latin America' - planned by organizers to sail with around 2,000 gay passengers failed to depart as planned - when sales of tickets to gay paying passengers topped "barely" 100 berths.

That level of sales could perhaps be described as evidence of a monumental marketing failure. Selling only 5% of projected estimates must be an extremely poor sales result in anybody's books.

But what can have gone so terribly wrong that doomed efforts to market staterooms on the MSC Opera as a gay cruise in Argentina?

Poor product?

The EGO cruise was heavily promoted by the organizers via PR on their own EGO website - (screenshot links also available here and here for reference) and also in extensive media coverage that the planned venture garnered in mainstream and LGBT media.

The organizers were listed on the EGO website as being tour operators Thesys and Eurovips and a company called GNetwork360.

In reviewing the planned product for the EGO cruise, Out Now was quite amazed by how 'derivative' the planned venture appeared to be. Atlantis Events - a long established gay targeted cruise operator from the United States has been a successful business model, one which the organizers of the Buenos Aires cruise appeared willing to emulate closely.

Entertainment, party themes and many other aspects of the planned offering were very similar indeed to the much more established offerings of the Atlantis operation.

There are many in the world of gay marketing who argue that the standard fare of gay cruises these past years has become too repetitive and lacking in innovation. The EGO venture - although new to the region - seemed determined to tread a well-worn product path opened up by Atlantis, RSVP - and similar gay targeted cruises.

Poor marketing?

The event had three listed organisers - one of whom GNetwork360 was described as "Gay marketing agency" on the EGO cruise's own website (as seen in this screenshot - included here for reference).

Out Now previously had to distance itself from the operations of GNetwork360 - due to their poor business practices.

It would probably be fair to say that if one were to judge the results of this venture on the very poor sales results achieved, then the marketing applied to achieve such poor sales could only be described as "poor" - at best.

José María Jaroslavsky, director of Thesys - speaking to the BBC - confirmed the poor sales of "barely 100 tickets" out of a projected 2,000 which his company had expected would be sold and, according to BBC reporting, he "recognized that the failure of his project could have been due in part to failures in the promotion or marketing of the event." ("Jaroslavsky reconoció que el fracaso de su proyecto pudo haberse debido en parte a fallas en la promoción o el mercadeo del evento.")

Major financial loss reported

BBC World is reporting that the loss caused by the failure of the EGO gay cruise to sell sufficient tickets may exceed USD$1 million.

Considering the venture reportedly enjoyed the backing of the Argentina Ministry of Tourism, apparently channeled through an outfit calling itself the 'Argentina Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce' (Camara de Comercio Gay Lesbica de Argentina), this alleged loss is even more perturbing. ("Con el auspicio de la Cámara de Comercio Gay Lésbica de Argentina, y el apoyo del Ministerio de Turismo de la Nación... todo indica que EGO será un exito y un proyecto innovador en el sector turístico regional que llegó para quedarse.")

This 'Chamber of Commerce' has the same principals as the Gnetwork360 operation - who were touted as "organizers" of the EGO gay cruise.

Such a relationship - between private businessmen who stand to gain a profit should the venture succeed, and a not-for-profit 'association' whose remit is supposed to be about helping LGBT entrepreneurs and business people establish successful business ventures - perhaps starts to seem rather 'close' if government funds are allegedly involved. We have not yet been able to independently confirm these details, but several sources in Argentina told Gay Market News that there have previously been a number of concerns expressed - allegedly about some aspects of the 'Chamber's' practices - by those involved in gay and lesbian business development in Argentina.

Leonardo Freidemberg of la Federación Argentina de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales y Trans (FALGBT) believes the failure of the EGO gay cruise venture was primarily down to poor economic issues. "No es un problema cultural, seguramente el fracaso de ese proyecto tuvo que ver con cuestiones económicas..." - Leonardo Freidemberg, que coordina asuntos de turismo dentro de la Federación Argentina de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales y Trans (FALGBT).

Lessons to be learned

Whatever the cause of the failure of the planned EGO 'first ever gay cruise in Latin America' to set sail, the venture's failure has so far attracted much less media attention than the original press announcements made by the organisers back in February 2011.

It seems clear that this case, once again, affirms to marketers that if you choose to believe your own company's PR too often - and fail to put in the hard work that true marketing success demands - you too may find yourself sunk.

Such a shame for the region that what should have been a great new LGBT travel venture appears - based on sales results - to have been so very poorly marketed.

Argentina is a great country that deserves so much better.

Ian Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Out Now Global. Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

No Such Thing As Gay Marriage

2011-12-07T16:11:00.007+01:00

Countries such as Canada and Argentina have joined early adopters such as the Netherlands and Belgium in legislating for Marriage Equality for all citizens. Could Australia be about to join them? Latest 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' research data sheds some interesting light on the issues.

via Newswires
December 7, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: Honeymoons. Gay marriage equality. Lesbian marriage equality. Marriage equality. GLBT rights. Equality. Out Now. Gay Krant. Henk Krol. Penny Wong. LGBT. Lesbian travel. Strategic research on gay and lesbian marriage markets.

Equality for all?

In 2002 I was lunching with one of the key instigators of the then new Netherlands laws which allowed two men or two women to marry - just like their heterosexual counterparts. Henk Krol is the publisher of Gay Krant - one of Out Now's global media partners - and something he said to me that day stayed with me.

When I mentioned to Henk how pleased he must be to have seen success in the Netherlands becoming the first country in the world to open up marriage to all its citizens, I used the then current phrase "gay marriage".

Henk then handed me two leaflets - one in Dutch ('Er is geen homohuwelijk in Nederland') and the other in English ('There is no such thing as gay marriage in the Netherlands'). That seemed odd coming from one of the people that could genuinely take much credit for this groundbreaking step back in 2001.

But Henk smiled and said "That's right Ian. There is no such thing as 'gay marriage' in the Netherlands. There is just one marriage. One system for all, equally."

This was a lightning bolt of clarity for me - as it is often the case that in framing an argument boundaries can be set in the wrong places.

For so-called 'gay marriage' actually has nothing to do with being gay, or being different. It actually has everything to do with being the same - and being truly equal - to all other citizens in one's country.

ALP Conference

Last weekend I had cause to reflect upon Henk's wise words of almost a decade ago, as the governing Australian Labor Party (ALP) held its Party Conference - and one of the hottest ticket items on the agenda was whether Australia is ready to step up to vote for full equality, for all its citizens.

In a debate championed by out lesbian ALP Senator Penny Wong, (pictured at left) the Conference after much debate resolved to adopt Marriage Equality (which is often still reported as 'gay marriage') as ALP party policy, with a conscience vote to be arranged in the Federal Parliament some time in 2012.

There is a lot of ground to cover between now and then before Australia actually will see the hoped for reforms granting full marriage equality for all Australians - including those who happen to be lesbian or gay.

That fact was borne out in a comment made by Ms Wong last week when she wrote: "Equality should be a matter of policy for the ALP, not a matter of conscience."

To that I say - "Hear! Hear!"

In the meantime, this release from Out Now Global's groundbreaking LGBT2020 international research program helps to shed some light on the numbers of Australians likely to be affected by such a law change Down Under.

More Than 300,000 Lesbian and Gay Australians Want To Marry

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (OUTNOW) -- The world's largest research study into the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people today released new findings which show the number of lesbian and gay Australians that want to marry.

The research study called LGBT2020 (www.LGBT2020.com) is undertaken by the international specialist LGBT agency Out Now - which was originally based in Australia and is now headquartered in The Netherlands.

According to this research study, most gay and lesbian Australians (56%) are currently in a relationship, with 42% living with their same-gender partner and a further 14% being in a relationship but not currently living together with their partner.

Confining its analysis to only those respondents currently in a relationship - the LGBT2020 research data released today reveals that 63% of those not yet living together hope to get married if that option becomes available to them. For those already living together, 57% of respondents would like to marry.

In releasing the findings, Ian Johnson, Founder and CEO of Out Now said that the new data helps focus people's minds on what is really at stake in discussions regarding the so-called "gay marriage" debate in Australia.

"It is a somewhat sobering fact to contemplate that almost 350,000 people in Australia are in relationships and would like to get married, but marriage as a legal option is not open to them," says Johnson. "To be lesbian or gay in 2011 is just one aspect of an individual's life and it seems hard to justify legal discrimination against such a large number of Australian people."

According to the latest Out Now research, Australia is currently home to 1.1 million lesbian and gay adults (aged 16 and older). Of these 594,000 are currently in a relationship, and of these the majority would like to get married. 347,000 Australian gays and lesbians are currently in a relationship and hope to marry.

"The numbers suggest that those currently being discriminated against by Australia's laws against Marriage Equality are somewhat higher than previously estimated," says Johnson. "Our latest analysis looked specifically at those people currently in relationships that want to marry. When you add in those who are currently single, the number hoping to get married jumps to more than 600,000. As an Australian living in The Netherlands it bothers me that so many people I meet assume Australia is the kind of progressive country that would have already modernised its marriage laws, when in reality it is now lagging ten years behind my adopted country. To think I could marry here, but not at home, seems very outdated to me."

In total, 58.4% of Australian gay and lesbian Australian research respondents in the LGBT2020 study say they want to get married - which accounts for 623,000 Australians who hope to marry either now - or in the future. 6% of all research respondents (an estimated 32,000 couples in the total Australian gay and lesbian population) indicated they have already entered into some form of civil union, marriage or other type of commitment ceremony.

STATUS	Hope to marry	Do not intend to ever enter Civil/Registered Partnership, or marriage	Have already	Other
Single	61.1%	30.6%	0.6%	7.8%
With partner, live separately	62.6%	29.5%	0.5%	7.4%
With partner, live together	57.0%	26.2%	12.1%	4.7%
ALL	58.4%	28.5%	6.0%	7.0%

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Out Now is a global LGBT marketing agency that has for two decades been relied upon by the world's leading organisations to better understand the lives and concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Clients include IBM, Toyota, Lufthansa, Qantas, German National Tourist Office, Barclays Bank, National Australia Bank, Lloyds TSB Banking Group and Citibank. Out Now was established in 1992 in Australia and is now headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' is a ten year program of research and is the world's most comprehensive LGBT research project. Research is currently underway in ten languages in 25 countries, and sample sizes now exceed 50,000 respondents globally. The Australian sample comprises 1,654 respondents. Respondents were obtained from a diverse range of sources including social media, online media, employee resource groups and community organisations - as well as Australian LGBT media including Sydney Star Observer, QNews and Southern Star.

More information is available at http://www.LGBT2020.com and http://www.OutNowConsulting.com

Total Australian gay and lesbian population estimate is based upon Out Now analysis - utilising research data from Yankelovich MONITOR study (1993) on sexuality and published population statistics, and assumes that a total of 6% of adults in Australia are lesbians or gay men.

An original copy of this media release can be found on Out Now's website at:
longlink: http://www.outnowconsulting.com/latest-updates/press-centre/more-than-300000-lesbian-and-gay-australians-want-to-marry
shortlink: http://bit.ly/t55MGX

Ian Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Out Now Global. Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Latin America LGBT Market Open For Business

2011-11-17T02:32:00.009+01:00

The launch next week of the premier LGBT marketing event for the Latin American region means that more businesses will learn the importance - and nuances - of doing business with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in markets right across this fast growing region.

via Newswires
November 17, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: International Expo & Business LGBT, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Latin America. Travel. Out Now. Marketing. Tourism. LGBT. Lesbian travel. Strategic research on gay and lesbian travel markets. Mexico. Gay marketing. Advertising. Gay marketing. Lesbian market.

Premier LGBT Tourism Marketing Event Set To Launch in Puerto Vallarta

November 16, 2011 - PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico: The growth of many major markets in the Latin America region has been part of an increasing acceleration of marketing initiatives designed to attract the attention - and business - of the millions of people who comprise lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities in markets across Latin America.

The International Expo & Business LGBT, Puerto Vallarta 2011 event features some of the world's leading specialist LGBT marketers, and is set to focus on the immense growth potential for travel and tourism in the gay markets of the Latin America region.

There is a growing amount of LGBT tourism marketing efforts in countries such as Brazil - which has taken a leading role in the development of tourism for the Latin America region for the past three years.

Now, a new event sees Mexico stake its claim for increasing levels of LGBT tourism into this fast growing economy.

With its close proximity to the key US market - and its abundance of strong, well priced tourism product - Mexico is making a push to get their key tourism centres onto the LGBT tourism wish-list in the coming years.

Next week delegates attending the International Expo & Business LGBT event in Puerto Vallarta will learn what's next in the growth of LGBT tourism in the region

Members of the LGBT Expo Team preparing today for next week's International Expo & Business LGBT event in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The event's CEO is Mr Ruben Sandoval, (pictured on the left, in picture at right) who told Gay Market News: "The LGBT consumer has been largely ignored in Latin America until now," Mr. Sandoval says.

"One of the key objectives with our event in Mexico is to place the growth of LGBT tourism into both a regional and a global context," Sandoval continues. "By doing this we are able to help business in our region better understand how to meet the large untapped market demand that gay and lesbian travel represents right across the Latin America region. We invite all those interested in achieving better insight to inform the delivery of better developed products, services and communications for the LGBT market to join us next week in Puerto Vallarta."

Registrations are still open online now at the Expo 2011 website.

One of those presenting the CEO of Out Now Global - a specialist LGBT marketing agency with two decades of expertise in gay market research and marketing strategies. Founder and CEO of Out Now, Ian Johnson, says he is looking forward to presenting new LGBT market research specifically on the growth opportunities of the Latin America region.

"Out Now has spent twenty years working in lesbian and gay markets around the world," Johnson says. "We are delighted to be presenting the latest Out Now market research on LGBT people living in countries across the Latin America region. This is a very valuable consumer market."

"We will be presenting a wealth of new LGBT market research data looking at tourism trends across the Latin America region - with a particular focus on the competing destinations within Mexico - namely Cancun, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta," Johnson said.

Latin America has increasingly become a focus for the development of LGBT targeted products, services and marketing communications as more and more brands discover the strategic benefits of addressing the consumer needs of their LGBT customers.

"International Expo & Business LGBT will be making several exciting announcements next week that will see this event extend its reach across the region and enhance our abilities to make connections between LGBT people and the businesses that choose to support them," said Mr Sandoval.

"Business in the 21st Century needs to be on the right side of this conversation and those that choose to support their LGBT customers will increasingly discover that they have made a wise strategic business decision," added Johnson.

The International Expo & Business LGBT will be held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from November 20 - 23, 2011. A series of conference presentations will be included as well as trade shows and business networking events throughout the program.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The objective of the International Expo & Business LGBT, Puerto Vallarta is to be a showcase and business platform for buyers and sellers who drive national and international products and services to the LGBT community.

This important event will be host business exchanges with the opportunity of having 24 appointments over two days between buyers and sellers nationally and internationally to discuss sale and trade opportunities.

In addition, during this conference there will be seminars for those interested in learning about the tastes and buying tendencies of the LGBT community and new market trends.

Out Now Global undertakes the world's largest LGBT market research program - the 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' which in 2011 is underway in ten languages across 25 countries, including seven in the Latin America region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay). Data from Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and Argentina is to be presented by Out Now during the Expo in Puerto Vallarta.

Visit www.LGBT2020.com

Mexico is home to 4.8 million gay and lesbian adults earning USD$67 billion annually (based on Out Now research using 1993 Yankelovich MONITOR estimates). Brazil is home to 8.7 million gay adults, earning $95.8 billion annually. Argentina is home to 1.8 million gay and lesbian adults earning USD$27 billion annually.

Ian Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Out Now Global. Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

USD$67 Billion: Mexico Gay Market Revealed

2011-10-13T13:00:00.014+02:00

New research released today reveals that Latin America is set to be one of the growth regions in the development of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) markets.

via Newswires
October 13, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: Latin America. Travel. Out Now. LGBT. Tourism. Mexico. Gay marketing. Advertising. Gay marketing. Lesbian market.

Mexico's Gay Market Revealed: Worth USD$67 Billion Annual Income

OCTOBER 13, 2011 - PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico: New research released today reveals that Latin America is set to be one of the growth regions in the development of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) markets.

The lesbian and gay consumer market has long been one of the most significant niche markets in a number of regions, including the US and Europe. A new event in Mexico next month is set to focus attention on the large-scale market opportunities that better targeted marketing towards the country's 4.8 million gay and lesbian people can deliver to a broad range of companies and organizations.

The International Expo & Business LGBT, Puerto Vallarta 2011 event features some of the world's leading specialist LGBT marketers, and is set to focus on the immense growth potential for travel and tourism in the gay markets of the Latin America region.

Rubén Sandoval, CEO of the event says that this is a new opportunity to learn much about the development of LGBT marketing in other markets.

"The LGBT consumer has been largely ignored in Latin America until now," Mr. Sandoval says. "One of the key objectives with our event in Mexico is to place the growth of LGBT tourism into both a regional and a global context. By doing this we are able to help business in our region better understand how to meet the large untapped market demand that gay and lesbian travel represents right across the Latin America region."

Presenters include the CEO of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) as well as marketing experts from around the world.

One of these is Out Now Global - a specialist LGBT marketing agency with two decades of expertise in gay market research and marketing strategies.

Founder and CEO of Out Now, Ian Johnson, says he is looking forward to presenting new LGBT market research specifically on the growth opportunities of the Latin America region.

"Out Now has spent twenty years working in lesbian and gay markets around the world," Johnson says. "We are delighted to be presenting the latest Out Now market research on LGBT people living in countries across the Latin America region. This is a very valuable consumer market."

Out Now's research shows that Mexico alone accounts for USD$67 billion annual income - more than twice the amount earned in the next largest market, Argentina (2010: USD$27 billion). The Out Now research shows that Brazil is the largest valued market in the region accounting for annual income of more than USD$95 billion each year.

Johnson will be presenting new market research data at the Expo on November 21, 2011. All delegates attending the event will receive a detailed analysis of Out Now research from the Mexican market.

The International Expo & Business LGBT will be held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from November 20 - 23, 2011. A series of conference presentations will be included as well as trade shows and business networking events throughout the program.

Some of the most important brands in the region are already scheduled to send delegates to the event.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The objective of the International Expo & Business LGBT, Puerto Vallarta is to be a showcase and business platform for buyers and sellers who drive national and international products and services to the LGBT community.

Among the industry professionals are service providers such as airlines, hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, car rental agencies, travel operators, travel agents and tourism boards, CVB's, and leading companies currently serving the global LGBT community as well as companies interested in leveraging the business opportunities of the LGBT market.

This important event will be host business exchanges with the opportunity of having 24 appointments over two days between buyers and sellers nationally and internationally to discuss sale and trade opportunities.

In addition, during this conference there will be seminars for those interested in learning about the tastes and buying tendencies of the LGBT community and new market trends.

Out Now Global undertakes the world's largest LGBT market research program - the 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' which in 2011 is underway in ten languages across 25 countries, including seven in the Latin America region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay). Data from Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and Argentina is to be presented by Out Now during the Expo in Puerto Vallarta.

Visit www.LGBT2020.com

Mexico is home to 4.8 million gay and lesbian adults earning USD$67 billion annually (based on Out Now research using 1993 Yankelovich MONITOR estimates). Brazil is home to 8.7 million gay adults, earning $95.8 billion annually. Argentina is home to 1.8 million gay and lesbian adults earning USD$27 billion annually.

Ian Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Out Now Global. Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

El Mercado Gay de México

2011-10-13T12:42:00.011+02:00

Una nueva investigación publicada hoy revela que América Latina está destinada a ser una de las regiones de crecimiento y desarrollo en los mercados de la comunidad lésbica, gay, bisexual y transgénero (LGBT).

Ian Johnson, Out Now
October 13, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: Travel. Out Now. LGBT. Tourism. Mexico. Gay marketing. Advertising. Gay marketing. Lesbian market.

El Mercado Gay de México se estima con un valor de USD $67 mil millones de ingreso anual.

13 de octubre 2011 - PUERTO VALLARTA, México: Una nueva investigación publicada hoy revela que América Latina está destinada a ser una de las regiones de crecimiento y desarrollo en los mercados de la comunidad lésbica, gay, bisexual y transgénero (LGBT).

El mercado de consumidores gays y lesbianas ha sido por mucho tiempo uno de los nichos de mercado más importante en una serie de regiones, incluyendo los EE.UU. y Europa. El próximo mes en México un nuevo evento será llevado a cabo para enfocar la atención a una amplia gama de empresas y organizaciones mexicanas y extranjeras en las oportunidades de mercado de gran escala donde con un marketing mejor dirigido puede llegar a ofrecer a las 4,8 millones de personas gays y lesbianas del país.

La Internacional Expo & Business LGBT Puerto Vallarta 2011 cuenta con algunos de los conferencistas especializados en marketing LGBT más importantes del mundo, y se han enfocado en el inmenso y potencial crecimiento de viaje y turismo en el mercado gay de la región de Latinoamérica.

Rubén Sandoval, director general del evento, dice que esta es una nueva oportunidad de aprender mucho sobre el desarrollo del marketing LGBT en otros mercados.

"El consumidor LGBT ha sido ampliamente ignorado en América Latina hasta ahora", dice el señor Sandoval. "Uno de nuestros principales objetivos con nuestro evento en México es colocar el crecimiento de Turismo LGBT en tanto a nivel regional y en un contexto global. De esta manera podemos ayudar a las empresas de nuestra región a entender mejor cómo atender la gran demanda del mercado sin explotar que los viajes de gays y lesbianas representan en toda la región de América Latina. "

Dentro de los presentadores se encuentra el director general de la Organización Internacional de Viajes para Gays y Lesbianas (IGLTA), así como expertos en marketing de todo el mundo.

Uno de ellos es Out Now Global - una agencia especializada en marketing de LGBT con dos décadas de experiencia en investigación de mercados y estrategias de marketing gay.

Ian Johnson CEO y Fundador de Out Now dice que está a la espera de la presentación de una nueva investigación de mercado LGBT específicamente en el crecimiento de oportunidades en la región de América latina.

“Out Now ha pasado veinte años trabajando con el mercado gay y lesbico de todo el mundo,” Ian Johnson dice: “Estamos muy gustosos de presentar lo último de Out Now, una investigación de mercado sobre las personas LGBT que viven en países de la región de América Latina. Se trata de un mercado de consumo muy valioso”

Las investigaciones de Out Now muestran que México representa por sí solo USD $ 67 mil millones de ingresos anuales - más del doble de la cantidad ganada en el mercado más grande, Argentina (2010: USD $ 27 mil millones). La investigación Out Now muestra que Brasil es el mayor mercado de valores en la región, que representa ingresos anuales de más de USD $ 95 mil millones cada año.

Johnson estará presentando nuevos datos de investigación de mercado en la Expo el 21 de noviembre de 2011. Todos los delegados que asistan al evento recibirán un análisis detallado de la investigación del mercado mexicano.
La International Expo & Business LGBT se llevará a cabo el 20, 21, 22,23 de noviembre del 2011 en Puerto Vallarta, México. Incluyendo una serie de conferencias, ferias y eventos de redes empresariales en todo el programa. Algunas de las marcas más importantes de la región ya están programadas para enviar delegados al evento.

INFORMACIÓN ADICIONAL:

El objetivo de La International Expo & Business LGBT, Puerto Vallarta es ser un escaparate y una plataforma de negocios para compradores y vendedores para que conduzcan sus productos y servicios nacionales e internacionales a la comunidad LGBT.

Entre los profesionales de la industria están proveedores de servicios tales como líneas aéreas, hoteles, restaurantes, cruceros, alquiler de autos, operadores de viajes, agencias de viajes y oficinas de turismo, turismo, y empresas líderes al servicio de la comunidad mundial LGBT, en la actualidad así como las empresas interesadas en aprovechar las oportunidades de negocio del mercado LGBT.

Este importante evento será anfitrión de intercambios empresariales con la oportunidad de tener 24 citas en dos días entre compradores y vendedores a nivel nacional e internacional para discutir la venta y las oportunidades comerciales.

Además, durante la Expo, habrá seminarios para aquellos interesados en aprender acerca de los gustos y tendencias de compra de la comunidad LGBT y las nuevas tendencias del mercado.

Out Now Global compromete el programa de investigación más amplio del mercado LGBT global más grande del mundo. 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study', que en el 2011 está en marcha en diez idiomas en 25 países, incluyendo siete en la región de América Latina (Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Ecuador, México, Perú, Uruguay). Los datos de Brasil, Uruguay, México y Argentina se presentarán por Out Now, durante la Expo de Puerto Vallarta.

Visit www.LGBT2020.com

México cuenta con 4,8 millones de adultos gays y lesbianas que ganan USD $ 67 mil millones al año (basado en la investigación Out Now utilizando Yankelovich MONITOR 1993 estimaciones). Brasil es el hogar a 8,7 millones de adultos gay, ganando $ 95,8 mil millones al año. Argentina es el hogar de 1,8 millones de adultos gays y lesbianas que ganan USD $ 27 mil millones al año.

Ian Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Out Now Global. Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

New Vienna US + UK LGBT Campaign Launches

2011-10-06T12:38:00.013+02:00

Vienna is a destination that has so much to offer travelers. This week Out Now is proud to announce the launch of their newest marketing and promotional campaign for the city – with the roll-out in the US and UK markets of the new 'Taste Vienna' LGBT market strategy. Darren Cooper explores the background to this new gay market campaign.

Darren Cooper, Out Now
October 6, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: Travel. Out Now. LGBT. Tourism. Vienna. Gay marketing. Advertising. Gay marketing. Lesbian market.

The Taste of Vienna

This week sees the launch of Vienna’s new LGBT taste of Vienna campaign that is taking place for eight weeks in both the UK and US markets.

This new LGBT marketing initiative for Vienna Tourism is all about ‘taste’, a concept that is as synonymous with LGBT people as it is with the city of Vienna itself.

Of course taste means many things to many people - but it particularly resonates in a city that is as steeped in history, culture, cuisine and the arts as Austria’s cosmopolitan capital city.

Recent information from Out Now’s LGBT2020 research provided important and interesting data on the leisure activities that LGBT are interested in pursuing when they themselves are on vacation. While LGBT nightlife and ‘the scene’ were of course important factors that LGBT people want to enjoy when on holiday, they weren’t the number one choice for LGBT people while on holiday.

Local history, culture, museums, art galleries, theatre and the great outdoors also scored high on the list of preferred activities, but number one? - Well, that was cuisine.

This is great news for a destination such as Vienna of course. As well as being one of the world’s premier destinations for music, culture, history, the arts and of course sang-froid, Vienna is also the only city to have a style of cuisine - 'Viennese' - named after it.

Add to that a thriving and innovative LGBT scene, and you can see why Vienna and the LGBT tourism market is such a good fit.

Good Taste is Everything

But how to communicate this in a new an interesting way to the LGBT communities of the United States and the United Kingdom?

The answer - ‘Taste’ - because what better place is there to exhibit your own good taste, than a city that combines all of the attributes that you have been looking for? The answer in this campaign is simple: Vienna.

Along with an extensive media component in both the UK and the US, Out Now decided to promote this new campaign in leading LGBT restaurants in New York and Los Angeles.

Mike Wilke, Out Now’s Senior Consultant in the US, approached several suitable venues in both cities to discover their appetite (pun partly intended) to participate in this campaign.

“Finding enthusiastic partner venues was key to the success of this promotion, and luckily we found just that with East of Eighth in New York and Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood” said Wilke, who is based in New York City.

“These venues immediately grasped the fun that they could have with this promotion, while acknowledging the undoubted good taste that their own patrons already have of course,” Wilke continued.

Out Now supplied interesting menu options for the restaurants to put on their menu with a national media campaign and regional advertising in both cities is inviting LGBT people in both cities to visit so that they could sample a taste of Vienna for themselves.

In the UK print and online media is driving traffic to the online web pages for the 'Taste Vienna' campaign.

So far this novel and unique promotion is proving a great success – and it is all done with the best possible taste, of course.

To find out more you can visit the campaign websites at www.vienna.info/taste and www.vienna.info/uktaste and join the GayFriendlyVienna Facebook page - all of which have a host of information for cultured and cultivated homosexual men and women.

Darren Cooper is a Senior Consultant with Out Now Global. Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Southwest Airlines Lesbian Ejection Seat

2011-09-29T11:35:00.009+02:00

US carrier Southwest Airlines just threw two women off one of their planes. Lesbian actor Leisha Hailey and her partner were behaving like a couple when onboard - and were asked to leave. Darren Cooper explores what this means for an airline that has otherwise been trying to 'fly the gay-friendly skies'.

Darren Cooper, Out Now
September 29, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.--Topics: Homophobia. Out Now. Airlines. Discrimination. GayComfort. Training. LGBT2020. Gay marketing. Lesbian market.

Double Standards Provoke Profanity

This week a high profile lesbian couple were thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight after tempers flared - following the couple acting like, well, a couple.

Leisha Hailey, who is best known for playing Alice Pieszecki in the lesbian drama The L-Word, and her partner Camila Grey were asked to leave a plane before departure after complaint(s) about their ‘excessive behaviour’ from a fellow passenger or passengers. (Southwest are yet to release full details of the incident).

The behaviour complained of? -- They kissed each other in the plane before take-off.

This incident raises many major issues for companies that are looking to gain credibility with the LGBT community - of which there are a growing number, including Southwest. As the airline’s LGBT microsite proudly states it is the ‘official airline of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA), and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)’ after all.   Despite Southwests undoubted activities with regard to LGBT outreach, staff and supplier diversity initiatives and LGBT community involvement, as a customer focused business this means nothing if LGBT customers don’t get the respect that they deserve.

In fact it’s worse than that - it looks like blatant profiteering of the LGBT community to make a fast buck, not a good look at all!

I don’t think that anyone could disagree that the couple in question had every right to get upset about being told to stop being affectionate with each other. Especially on an airline that so proudly and prominently publishes it’s queers credentials online for everyone to see.

The fact that fellow passenger/s were upset is also not that surprising is it? By the way I am by no means condoning their obvious homophobia, but sadly prejudice still exists and this incident, along with many more serious and disturbing acts sadly proves it.

So, who was really at fault here? Well certainly not Leisha and Camila. All they were doing was being themselves on an airline that actively encouraged them to book with them, and further more gave them assurances that they would be as well looked after as any other passenger.

Then there are the passenger/s who complained. In a country that espouses the right to free speech I’d have to say that they were well within their rights (although I don’t agree with them) to complain if they want to.

And then there are the staff that acted on this complaint. Well, I suspect that they were just trying to do their jobs and were caught in the cross fire. Bullies are almost always cowards and it seems that the unfortunate staff were asked to do the dirty work so that the bigots could remain anonymous.

So, who is at fault here then? Well, sadly I would have to point the finger firmly at Southwest.

By not preparing staff to deal with a situation that was almost certainly going to happen, Southwest unfortunately dropped the ball here. By providing sufficient training the flight attendant could have easily, and discreetly dealt with this well before it became an issue.

“Yes sir/madam, we also have gay and lesbian couples that fly with us, in fact we are the official airline of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).”

In my opinion this would have been a far more effective way to deal with a non-situation, instead of making one.

Come on Southwest, you say that you are on our side!

I would also say that unfortunately - if Southwest aren’t prepared to tell everyone about their LGBT outreach, then it simply isn’t worth doing. I fully endorse their support of GLAAD, GSA and the NGLCC but do they? I would urge them to post their message of support on the homepage of their mainstream site, and quickly. Please don’t hide us away like a dirty little secret, what’s the problem here?

It is all very well courting the LGBT market with advertising and support, I don’t think that there would be many LGBT people who wouldn’t welcome more of this from the corporate sector are there?

But if this activity is not backed up with proper training for the staff that deliver the actual service, then, as we see from this instance then it can all fall down rather dramatically.

LGBT consumers are becoming jaded with advertising that speaks to us, but has no mechanism to back it up at the point of delivery. This incident could have been easily avoided if staff were empowered with even the most basic knowledge and training about LGBT people and Southwest’s supposed commitment to equality.

Southwest actively encourages gay and lesbian people to fly with them, so perhaps they should be letting their mainstream customers (who will after all have to share a plane with us) in on the secret too.

Darren Cooper is a Senior Consultant with Out Now Global. Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Argentina - LGBT Market Research - Los resultados del mayor estudio global de mercado LGBT

2011-07-15T13:33:00.006+02:00

Out Now Global has announced the release of the largest ever global LGBT market study results for Argentina. To celebrate the first anniversary of marriage equality there, the full data report is available now - at no charge. Local Argentina media reports.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
July 15, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: LGBT2020. Gay marketing. Lesbian market. Estudio LGBT. Out Now Global LGBT market research results for Argentina released.

The world's largest ever global LGBT research study has just released the first market research data for the Argentina market.

The Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study contains a wealth of new market research data findings on the 1.9 million gays and lesbians living in Argentina, who account for USD$27.9 billion annual income.

To celebrate the first anniversary of marriage equality in Argentina, Out Now has announced that until the end of this month, the full LGBT2020 data report for Argentina is available to download now - at no charge. To request your copy, visit www.BetterLGBTMarketing.com - where you will also find a range of free data summary reports, for an additional 17 countries.

LATIN AMERICAN MEDIA INTEREST IS HIGH

The release of the findings has generated a lot of media buzz.

Here is a report from Latin America media about the LGBT2020 Argentina research:

Los resultados del mayor estudio global de mercado LGBT

Los resultados del mayor estudio global de mercado LGBT, con proyección al año 2020, se están presentando, en Buenos Aires. Los datos locales delinean a los argentinos LGBT como potenciales turistas internacionales que, sin embargo, no terminan de salir del closet.

El Estudio Out Now Global LGBT2020 está liderado por Out Now, consultora internacional de marketing LGBT, y sus datos relevan la situación de siete países de América Latina, entre los que por primera vez se encuentra Argentina.

Los valores no dejan de sorprendernos. Según estimaciones de Out Now, la población LGBT de Argentina representa alrededor del 6% de la población adulta y está formada por 1,9 millones de consumidores gays y lesbianas, que en 2010 aportaron 27,9 mil millones de dólares en ingresos, convirtiendo al argentino en uno de los mercados más lucrativos de América Latina.

En este contexto, el potencial del mercado turístico saliente (Outbound) de Argentina es muy fuerte: el 68% de los argentinos LGBT tienen un pasaporte válido, siete de cada diez personas encuestadas (69%) trata de visitar sólo los alojamientos LGBT-friendlies, y el 61% ha indicado que ha tomado al menos un vuelo por motivos de ocio en los últimos 12 meses. New York, París, España, Río de Janeiro y Sidney se cuentan entre los destinos más visitados por los turistas argentinos.

Sin embargo, continúa siendo difícil para los argentinos poder expresarse abiertamente acerca de su sexualidad. Al respecto, el 65% de la población LGBT no está “out” en su lugar de trabajo, en tanto que un 33% piensa que intentarlo impactaría negativamente sobre sus carreras. Además, el 22% de los argentinos LGBT ha sufrido algún tipo de acoso en su lugar de trabajo en 2010, y a un 11% se le ha negado bienes o servicios debido a su orientación sexual.

La familia es otro ámbito en el cual estas dificultades se manifestaron durante el estudio. Mientras que el 68% de los entrevistados argentinos expresaron sus intenciones de aprovechar los beneficios de la nueva Ley de Matrimonio Igualitario, sólo un 52% ha salido del clóset en su ámbito familiar, por lo que cabe plantearse la imposibilidad de los contrayentes para invitar a sus propias familias a su boda. Además, el 60% de los entrevistados expresaron su deseo de convertirse en padres en el futuro.

Acerca del Estudio Out Now Global LGBT2020

El Estudio Out Now Global LGBT2020 es un programa de diez años de investigación que cubrirá más de 25 países en 10 idiomas en todo el mundo y toda la región de América Latina. En 2010, participaron casi 40.000 entrevistados de todo el mundo. El estudio releva viajes y turismo LGBT, hábitos de vida, gastos de consumo, ingresos, gastos, la discriminación y las preferencias en entretenimiento.

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

The Gay Beatle

2011-06-20T01:45:00.012+02:00

The world loves The Beatles and their music. But many people do not realize that the Fab Four have a very strong gay legacy - and a gay fifth 'member'.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
June 20, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: Music. Beatles. Gay 1960s. Billy Preston.

Five years ago this month - one of the world's great musicians died.

What most people do not know though, is that Billy Preston (1946 - 2006), who was described as being the "Fifth Beatle" by John Lennon in the late 1960s, was gay.

He gave an interview to BBC just before his death in 2006 confirming this - and Keith Richards' latest book Life - includes confirmation of this important musical fact.

It is so important to remember the many people who are gay - that make up the gay legacy.

Here is Billy Preston working with Ringo Starr & Clarence Clemons - who died just this past weekend:

And this is Billy Preston with one of his chart topping hits:

And here is the man in 1969, centre stage - at The Beatles last ever live performance:

This is probably our favorite - the almost Beatles reunion, including Dhani Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and Billy Preston on lead vocals for George Harrison's song My Sweet Lord:

Magic.

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Largest Ever LGBT Travel Research - News Media Reports

2011-05-11T16:21:00.017+02:00

Release of the most comprehensive gay and lesbian market tourism data ever undertaken around the world has created a lot of attention today from mainstream media. The 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' today released the first of a series of groundbreaking new research reports on LGBT lives, in 18 countries around the world.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
May 11, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: ELGBT tourism. Gay marketing, lesbian travel. Gay advertising. Gay market research. LGBT research statistics. Gay. LGBT. GLBT. Lesbian. Singing. Song competition. Out Now. LGBT2020. LGBT 2020. Research. Market research. Gay and lesbian. Market study. Marketing.

The world's media is reporting today on the release of the world's largest ever LGBT tourism research statistics.

First release of findings from the Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study centre on travel and tourism.

The study is unique in the world - as it is the only LGBT market research of its kind that samples across six continents, in eighteen countries and in ten languages.

Separate reports appear today in The Independent newspaper in the UK, Metro in France, and RTL in Belgium.

Out Now will be releasing further LGBT2020 research data reports throughout the coming months on a varied range of topics that affect gay and lesbian lives around the world - as well as analysing how the T and the B part of LGBT fit in todays world.

More information can be found at LGBT2020.com.

Today's report in The Independent says that: "The Big Apple beat famously gay-friendly destinations including Rio de Janiero and San Francisco to take the top place in the Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study, a sampling of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people in ten languages from 18 countries."

The newspaper went on to write:

New York tops gay holiday wishlist

New York is the world's favorite gay vacation destination, according to new figures released May 10.

The study, which asked LGBT travelers where they would most like to visit in the next three years, saw Sydney placed second, Rio de Janiero third, Paris fourth and San Francisco fifth.

London was placed sixth despite being a firm favorite of LGBT travelers from Europe, North America and Australia, with Out Now Consulting noting that the huge desire for South Americans to see Paris helped it to beat the British capital to become Europe's top LGBT destination.

It also helped France push past Spain and England to become the second-most popular country for gay tourists globally, just behind the United States in top spot.

In today's Metro, where the story is the lead item in their travel ("Voyages") section, the paper reports:

New York, destination rêvée des gays

New York est la destination préférée des gays, Paris se classe quatrième. Et selon de derniers chiffres de l'étude Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study publiés le 10 mai, la France s'installe à la deuxième place des pays les plus populaires dans le monde.

La Grosse Pomme devance les destinations considérées comme les plus gay-friendly du monde, dont Rio de Janeiro et San Francisco, pour prendre la tête des destinations favorites de la communauté LGBT (gays, lesbiennes, bisexuels et transgenres), selon l'étude Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study, menée auprès de populations LGBT, en dix langues et dans 18 pays.

Le sondage, qui demandait aux voyageurs LGBT de nommer la ville et le pays qu'ils aimeraient le plus visiter dans les trois ans à venir, a placé Sydney en seconde place, Rio de Janeiro en troisième, Paris en quatrième et San Francisco en cinquième.

Londres occupe la sixième position, bien qu'elle soit une des destinations favorites des voyageurs LGBT d'Europe, d'Amérique du Nord et d'Australie. Le cabinet d'étude Out Now Consulting précise que c'est l'immense désir des Américains du Sud de visiter Paris qui a porté la capitale française au devant de Londres, devenant ainsi la première destination LGBT d'Europe.

Cette avance a également aidé la France à devancer l'Espagne et l'Angleterre pour devenir le deuxième pays le plus populaire auprès des touristes gays, juste derrière les Etats-Unis.

Full details of the study can be found at LGBT2020.com - and for details on how to obtain copies of the LGBT2020 research, contact Out Now.

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Just How Gay Is Eurovision?

2011-05-06T11:30:00.000+02:00

People have for a long time considered the Eurovision Song Contest to be a gay hotbed of camp competitive musical kitsch. Now, new research shows which countries' LGBT communities are the most ardent supporters of Eurovision. The results contain colorful surprises - a lot like Eurovision itself.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
May 6, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: Eurovision Song Contest. Gay. LGBT. GLBT. Lesbian. Singing. Song competition. Out Now. LGBT2020. LGBT 2020. Research. Market research. Gay and lesbian. Market study. Marketing.

One of the events most popular with global gay communities is taking place this week.

MEDIA RELEASE

Just How Gay Is Eurovision?

- New Study: Global homo-league table of Eurovision's most ardent gay fans released.
- Ireland tops the gay leader-board.

LONDON, UK (OUTNOW) -- MAY 6, 2011 -- A new research study called LGBT2020 from Out Now - the global gay and lesbian marketing and research company - reveals for the first time the gay impact of Eurovision in 19 diverse countries, spread right across the world.

The most ardent gay supporters of Eurovision hail from Ireland - where a much higher proportion of gays and lesbians than in any other country say they always tune in to catch the Eurovision Song Contest.

Thanks to this latest research from Out Now Global, we now know which countries give a big gay 'douze points' to Eurovision, and which gay communities look set to stay firmly in the 'null points' camp - when Eurovision kicks off on 10 May 2011.

With comparative data-sets from 19 countries, the 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' gives the first researched insight as to the support for the competitively camp Eurovision Song Contest from amongst lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities right around the globe.

The research shows a few upsets: LGBT people in Japan for example are more than twice as likely to watch than LGBT people from five times winner France!

Despite a recent run of bad form for the UK in the contest - including a score of zero in 2003 - support remains high for the competition with over 1 in 5 LGBT Brits saying that they will watch this year's event.

Australia also makes a surprise non-EU entry into the Top Ten - in at number 6, with 14% of the LGBT population Down Under rating Eurovision as 'must-see' TV.

Top of the gay Eurovision league though is also the competition's most prolific winner - Ireland, who have won an impressive 7 times - with an astonishing 24% of the LGBT community saying they will tune in next weekend to watch the event.

From humble beginnings in 1956, with just seven countries competing, the Eurovision Song Contest has now grown into the largest celebration of camp and kitsch on the planet! This year the German city of Düsseldorf will be hosting the event, and the entries from 43 countries will battle it out for the prestigious title of Eurovision champion.

Those familiar with Eurovision know that it has been responsible for songs that really do range from the sublime - to the ridiculous. But of course it isn't just the music that makes this contest so entertaining and popular with a global audience of up to 600 million people.

Tactical voting, outrageous costumes, bizarre behaviour, regional cliques and pithy commentary have all made Eurovision a must-see event for many LGBT communities from right across the world - and now we know just which nations are home to the biggest gay fans of the campest show on Earth.

A full list of the results about Eurovision Song Contest from the survey are listed below.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
The 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' is a ten year program of research and is the world's most comprehensive LGBT research project.

In 2011 the study is sampling gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in 10 languages from 25 countries on 6 continents on many aspects of their lives. From LGBT travel and tourism patterns, lifestyle habits, consumer expenditure, incomes, spending, harassment, discrimination, employment and entertainment preferences - the LGBT2020 project is a groundbreaking project from Out Now.

In 2010 almost 40,000 respondents from around the world participated in the LGBT2020 study.

More information is available at LGBT2020.com and OutNowConsulting.com.

Country / % of LGBT respondents who watch Eurovision
Argentina 3%
Australia 14%
Austria 21%
Brazil 3%
Canada 4%
Chile 1%
Germany 19%
Ecuador 4%
Eire - Ireland 24%
España - Spain 15%
France 5%
Japan 12%
Mexico 4%
Netherlands 13%
Peru 5%
Poland 12%
UK 21%
USA 2%
Uruguay 5%

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ian Johnson, CEO, Out Now Global
info(at)outnowconsulting.com

MORE INFORMATION ON EUROVISION SONG CONTEST:
Eurovision has launched the careers (and of course sunk a few too) of some of the most successful pop acts of all time. The most famous of course being ABBA, who were catapulted to fame, and fortune, in 1974 as Sweden's entry with their song "Waterloo". ABBA's career spanned a decade from 1972 to '82 when they sold more than 375 million albums world-wide.

Another artist who used Eurovision as a platform for world-wide success was French Canadian singer, Céline Dion, Switzerland's winning entry in 1988 with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi".

Some more memorable acts from Eurovision past include - ("Poupée de cire, poupée de son", Luxembourg 1965), Dana ("All Kinds of Everything", Ireland 1970), Vicky Leandros ("Après toi", Luxembourg 1972), Brotherhood of Man ("Save Your Kisses for Me", United Kingdom 1976), Marie Myriam ("L'oiseau et l'enfant", France 1977), Johnny Logan (who won twice for Ireland; with "What's Another Year?" in 1980, and "Hold Me Now" in 1987), Bucks Fizz ("Making Your Mind Up", United Kingdom 1981), Nicole ("Ein Bißchen Frieden", Germany 1982), and Herreys ("Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley", Sweden 1984).

The Eurovision Song Contest also launched into the global spotlight Israel's Dana International - one of the most famous transexual celebrities in the world. Her winning entry 'Diva' was performed at the 1998 competition, hosted at the Birmingham Indoor Arena in the UK. Being the first openly transexual contestant ever to perform in the contest she received much media attention and won in the year that featured mass tele-voting for the very first time.

###ENDS###

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

John Snow Soho - Homophobes Home Base

2011-04-23T00:43:00.009+02:00

Last week two gay men were kicked out of the John Snow pub in London's Soho - for kissing. Out Now will provide a full report shortly, but in the meantime, we had to respond.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
April 23, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: Homophobia. Lesbian marketing. Gay. Gay marketing. Johns Snow pub. LGBT tourism initiatives. Out Now Global. Soho. John Snow pub in London throws out gay couple for kissing.

NEWS ALERT

Last week two men were kicked out of a London pub for kissing.

Out Now thinks this is unacceptable.

We will report more in the coming days, but for now we wanted to make this statement.

SO MANY: including Ian Johnson, Darren Cooper of Out Now - along with thousands of others, including families, our work colleagues & friends, have a message for the proprietors - and Samuel Smith brewery owners of the JOHN SNOW Pub, current home of the homophobes in London's Soho: LET US IN AS EQUALS otherwise we will simply KISS YOU OUT OF BUSINESS.

The following video is deliberately designed to disturb the unworthy people managing the John Snow.

Gay people do not need you to like us. We just deserve and demand RESPECT.

And to those with a sensitivity - such as my darling mother who I know reads every report here, do NOT click on the link below.

The rest of you - enjoy!

(PS - Mum - if you click below, as I expect you will, you cannot say you were not warned. x)

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Stockholm's Leading Ladies - Sweden's New LGBT Lesbian Tourism Market Campaign

2011-04-05T17:37:00.008+02:00

One of the world's smartest destinations has launched a new lesbian-specific tourism campaign. We think this new Swedish initiative is a great example of 'next level thinking' and sets a new standard for the global travel market.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
April 5, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: Lesbians. Lesbian marketing. Stockholm. Sweden. Swedish tourism marketing. LGBT travel initiatives. Out Now Global. Stockholm Visitors Board launches new Swedish lesbian targeted competition and marketing campaign. Stockholm's leading ladies.

Putting the L into LGBT

Out Now has a long history and we have increasingly seen the need to do better at putting lesbian marketing at the forefront of all our work.

Thankfully our clients 'get it' - and one of the most innovative clients we work with is Stockholm Visitors Board and their Stockholm Gay and Lesbian Network.

This week a great new lesbian specific campaign Out Now devised for Stockholm has launched. Here is the inside info on the Stockholm Leading Ladies campaign for Stockholm, Sweden.

New Swedish LGBT Tourism Campaign Puts The L Into LGBT - Stockholm’s Leading Ladies

April 5, 2011 - Stockholm, SWEDEN -- DIVA magazine in the UK has recently called Stockholm one of the world’s most exciting cities for lesbian travel, and to celebrate its über cool gay girl scene, and the fit, fashionable and fabulous lesbians who make it, Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network is launching an innovative new media campaign and competition.

Eight Stockholm lesbians - including a DJ and a flying rap singer - have been handpicked to showcase their diverse interests and favorite things to do in the city. From an outdoors adventure, to a shopping extravaganza - their lesbian Stockholm top tips, showcased online at www.visitstockholm.com/gay-lesbian offer some unique insights into the sophisticated, cultural and eclectic things to do in the city.

But that’s not all. UK lesbians are invited to vote for the lady, and her perfect Stockholm weekend, that most appeals to them - and by doing so will stand a chance of winning a perfect Stockholm weekend of their own. The lucky winner and a friend will be whisked off to the city where they’ll be put up in stylish accommodation in the heart of Stockholm’s thriving cultural scene. Free flight tickets courtesy of SAS, 3 nights stay at the Hilton Hotel in Stockholm plus dinner at lesbian restaurant - Momma.

Peter Lindqvist, CEO of Stockholm Visitors Board said the campaign was an exciting one for them. "Stockholm is one of the world’s most beautiful cities and we are fast becoming recognised as a global leader in extending an authentic welcome to all our lesbian and gay guests," said Mr Lindqvist. "This year we thought it would be nice to build a fun engaging competition especially for women and we are really looking forward to welcoming the lucky winners to our city".

The campaign has been developed for Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network by Out Now - a global LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) market consulting specialist.

"Lesbians are one of the travel industry’s most neglected valuable tourism segments," said Ian Johnson, Out Now’s CEO. "That is why Out Now works with some of the world’s leading lesbian consultants to make sure this significant group of customers are not left out. Too often campaigns target gay men and ignore lesbians, which makes no sense for either the advertisers nor their lesbian guests. Lesbian women have money to spend and travel frequently, so this new campaign by Stockholm is one that demonstrates a fresh, smart and modern approach. Letting Stockholm women share their weekend leisure ideas with UK lesbians builds empathy - and destination awareness - for one of Europe’s most stunning destinations".

This innovative campaign from a leading tourist board is set to put Stockholm firmly on the map for gay women and give the winner one ’L’ of a weekend in this Swedish lesbian hotspot.

Stockholm is a GayComfort Certified destination www.gaycomfort.com - investing resource in training tourism staff to deliver high quality customer service that is sensitive to the needs of its LGBT guests.

MORE INFORMATION:

Stockholm’s Leading Ladies is an online campaign designed especially for lesbian travellers from the UK. It runs from April 4 until May 31. Details can be found online at www.visitstockholm.com/gay-lesbian . Partners in the campaign include leading lesbian media supporters from across the UK and SAS Scandinavian Airlines. The campaign is undertaken by Stockholm Visitors Board which has supported its LGBT visitors with campaigns and outreach for a number of years, and was the first tourism office to include a lesbian-specific microsite on their own web page.

GayComfort (TM) is an online training, certification and marketing program developed and managed by Out Now Global www.outnowconsulting.com .

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

LGBT2020 - Lesbian Futures

2011-02-21T10:06:00.017+01:00

The world for LGBT people in 2020 is going to be vastly different from today. Out Now's LGBT2020 program helps our clients make sure they are in the best strategic position by the turn of the next decade. Today, Lotte Jeffs - in the final instalment of her three part interview - talks about what life is going to be like for lesbians in 2020. Lesbian futures look set to be most interesting.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
February 21, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: Lesbians. Lesbian marketing. Out Now Global LGBT2020 strategy. Strategic vision for the future to look forward to for lesbians in the year 2020. Lotte Jeffs talks with Darren Cooper about LGBT futures as they seem likely to be for women around the world in today's interview on lesbian futures in 2020.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." -- John Lennon, et al..

Out Now set out on our path towards LGBT discovery way back in 1992 when the notions of 'Diversity and Inclusion' or 'gay and lesbian marketing' were rarely - if ever - heard.

We have personally witnessed - and been fortunate to have participated directly in the evolution of - much of the change that has come to pass these past two decades.

One thing Out Now is certain of is this - the world in 2020 will look very different for lesbians and gay men than it does even today.

The rate of change will continue to increase and the resistance to LGBT acceptance will fall away - as respect for the equality of LGBT people continues to increasingly become the norm of developed societies.

Lesbian Futures in LGBT2020

Today, in Part 3 of Darren Cooper's interview with Lotte Jeffs - Out Now Global Lesbian Specialist - we discover what one of the world's leading lesbian thinkers has to tell us about how lesbians lives are at work, what travel options they look to - and how they may find their lives different in the future.

You can also catch-up on Part 1 of Darren's interview with Lotte: LGBT Starts With The Letter L and Part 2 is Putting The L Into LGBT.

Lesbian lives at work, as wives, on holidays, as parents - and in 2020

Lotte Jeffs has worked as a specialist over the past decade in understanding the lives and concerns of lesbian women - and has a lot of lesbian insights to share with us.

How do you feel the situation is for lesbians in the workplace?

I have no problem being out at work however I would not like to say that this is the overall case.

A lot of women do struggle to come out at work especially in The City (financial industries). We are dealing with double discrimination. It is hard enough being a woman in many high-powered, male-dominated professions to then risk hitting that glass ceiling again by coming out at work as gay. I can understand why a lot of women are reluctant to do that.

That is something we are confident will change in the coming years.

Do you think it would help if there were more lesbian role models in business?

Yes, I do. There are definitely a few who are inspirational that make the pages of DIVA magazine or the Independent newspaper's 'Pink List' - but not enough of them.

The role models tend to come more from the world of entertainment at the moment than they do from business.

You can be working in a large organisation such as a bank where there is a gay or lesbian staff group (ERG - Employee Resource Group) and someone quite senior in the company is part of the group. That can be quite an encouraging thing for a younger lesbian working in that company.

Do you think the lesbian market are becoming more adventurous in the places they will take their holidays?

Lesbians are not reluctant to go to places that do not have especially good gay scenes, or even to places that do not have particularly good records on gay rights. When lesbians decide where they want to go on holidays it is the destination that appeals more than its gay credentials. Obviously if a destination can be a great, amazing and beautiful place - and has a great gay scene, that is promoted well - then that is going to be amazingly appealing.

At the moment we are not used to it - lesbians are not used to destinations marketing themselves and their gay scene well to the lesbian tourism market, but that is not to say that if some more (destinations) did so that we wouldn't respond to that really well and like it.

How do you think things will be for lesbians in 2020?

We will see lesbians on TV and in other media more, and for good positive reasons.

I came out at 16, when 'Queer As Folk' was bringing young gay guys into the eye of the media, then 5 years later 'The L Word' completely transformed the lesbian community and gave us something to grab hold of as this archetype of a life that many were able to aspire to being a part of.

'The L Word' has had an incredible impact on society, and things have changed a lot - and they are going to change a lot more again in the next ten years.

Seeing lesbian mums will be a big change, seeing out people in politics, on the news, in dramas on TV - will all be much more seen as 'normal' and less of a big deal when it happens, and hopefully companies will start noticing lesbians and marketing to them and perhaps we'll see massive billboards from Barclays Bank with two women holding hands. That will be great.

Lotte Jeffs works for Out Now as a Global Lesbian Specialist. Her insights can be read here at Gay Market News - and you can work directly with Lotte and the Out Now team to tap into lesbian marketing research and strategy insights by contacting Out Now.

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Putting the L in LGBT

2011-02-18T09:45:00.016+01:00

Out Now helps leading organizations get their LGBT marketing strategies right. One area where we know more needs to be done is in the area of better understanding and meeting the needs of lesbians. Lotte Jeffs - an Out Now Global Lesbian Specialist - explains what companies get wrong, and what the top three lesbian community trends in the next decade will be: at least one of which may surprise you.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
February 18, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: Communications for lesbians. Lotte Jeffs. Out Now Global lesbian specialist. Marketing to lesbians. LGBT. Lesbians. Lesbian marketing. Lesbians. Gay men. Trans people. Transgender men. Transgender women. Lesbian and gay marketing. Bisexuality. Does LGBT really give equal emphasis to lesbian marketing? LGBT starts with the letter L.

Lotte Jeffs knows much more than a thing or two about what lesbians want.

Out Now is pleased to welcome Lotte to our team as an Out Now Global Lesbian Specialist.

Lotte's work in the past decade has seen her working with and understanding the needs of lesbians as staff, as customers - and as friends.

Lotte came out when she was 16 and has lived much of the social and market change that has made lesbian lives today so much more open and better than ever before, at least in a number of places around the world.

But there is much more to be done.

Yesterday we learned what companies are getting right - and wrong - when attempting to understand how to market to lesbians.

In this second part of Darren Cooper's interview with Lotte Jeffs, we discover what specific steps companies need to improve on, and what are the top three trends for the lesbian community likely to be in the next few years?

--- At least one of these may well surprise you...

What top trends can we expect in marketing to lesbians?

Are there any specific steps that you think companies can do to start better targeting their products towards lesbians?

I think for a start they need to get lesbians involved. I think that in the past it has always been a lot of straight guys, or gay guys, or straight women making an attempt to market to lesbians. If you want to discover what lesbians want, ask a lesbian! That is where Out Now comes in and its global network of consultants and lesbians such as myself who can help companies market better to the lesbian audience.

The other thing is to see lesbians as a different audience and not just bulk them in together with gay men.

Are there things that might alienate the lesbian market?

If a company tries to attract the lesbian market but does it in a cynical or ill-thought through way, that will do far more damage than good.

Lesbians are very media-savvy. Lesbians watch a lot of films, television and are big consumers of culture products. We know if someone is taking the piss in advertising. Also using highly sexualized imagery can be quite wrong - and may be perceived by many women as trying to appeal more to straight men than to lesbian women.

Also, if a company was outwardly appearing to appeal to the gay market but in all of their imagery and advertising campaigns it was only featuring men that would also put lesbians off.

Within the lesbian community, are we seeing more people becoming parents? Is it becoming more of a trend?

Absolutely. It has never felt more possible. I am certain that over the next ten years lesbian parenting is going to be big, big news - and create a new growth market in the same way that gay weddings created a new market.

Young lesbians my age are certainly considering having kids much more than perhaps they were when it was seen as more taboo. I hope that by the time I have a child, that child will be in a school where he had friends - or she had friends - who are also the children of gay parents. I think that this is definitely on its way and we will be seeing more and more of it in the next few years.

Perhaps you can give us an idea of the top three trends for lesbians in the next ten years? What do you see next as the big things in the lesbian community?

If I was to pick the top three trends for the lesbian community in the next ten years - I would say they would be getting married, starting a family and getting a divorce.

A slightly less glib answer might include things like social networking, real-world networking, more prevalence in the media, especially on TV.

Marriage, parenting and divorce though are definitely going to be big news.

Part 3 of the Lotte Jeffs interview will appear in Gay Market News on Monday.

Don't miss out on Part 1 of Darren's interview with Lotte: LGBT Starts With The Letter L and Part 3 is LGBT2020 - Lesbian Futures.

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

LGBT Starts With The Letter L

2011-02-17T15:33:00.014+01:00

The term 'LGBT marketing' is often used to describe what has traditionally been spoken of as targeting a "gay market". But how many organizations and companies really put much effort into marketing to other than gay men? How much effort for example is put into the 'L' in LGBT? Out Now investigates, and uncovers the true current state-of-play in the world of marketing to lesbians.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
February 17, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: LGBT. Lesbians. Lesbian marketing. Lotte Jeffs. Out Now Global. Lesbians. Gay men. Trans people. Transgender men. Transgender women. Lesbian and gay marketing. Bisexuality. Does LGBT really give equal emphasis to lesbian marketing? LGBT starts with the letter L.

In the words of that old Sound of Music classic, 'let's start at the very beginning'.

Out Now has played a firsthand role in the evolution of what is now known as LGBT marketing for two decades.

LGBT Starts With The Letter L

'LGBT' of course places lesbians at the beginning of its alphabet soup acronym.

Yet it has been our experience that for too many organizations and brands, the LGBT acronym is often used as little more than convenient shorthand as to what 'ought' to be said - and not as a modus operandi for informing best practices in the workplace and in the marketplace.

At Out Now we like to 'think different' about the world as we constantly evolve our agency - and our clients' business results - through application of our 'Next Level Thinking' approach.

One way we have done that is to appoint one of the world's leading lesbian thinkers and creative people to our growing team of lesbian and gay consultants.

Lotte Jeffs is known to many as a Guardian newspaper columnist, travel editor of DIVA magazine, and now adds Out Now Global Lesbian Specialist to her substantial résumé. Here is just a slice from Lotte's impressive bio:

Lotte Jeffs is Travel Editor of DIVA magazine as well as working for British Airways' inflight magazine and writing freelance for various publications, including The Guardian. She's passionate about travel: from stylish city breaks to beach holidays, to great British 'staycations'. One thing she doesn't do is 'rough it' and Lotte considers herself to be a hotel Connoisseur, having stayed in everything from lesbian B & Bs to boutique hotels to quirky apartments and brash five-star super chains around the world. When it comes to getting a room Lotte knows what she wants in terms of service, style and attention to detail - and she's not afraid to ask!

Darren Cooper recently sat down and interviewed Lotte Jeffs to talk about her thoughts on where lesbian and gay marketing is at.

Here is the first of three installments of that interview - setting out the way the lesbian part of LGBT marketing looks, and where Lotte predicts things are headed in terms of lesbian marketing. There are quite a few insights - and a few surprises.

Where Lesbian Marketing Is At Right Now

How well do you think most companies market to lesbians?

The honest answer is not very well really. When most marketers think about marketing to gay people they often focus on men and forget that lesbians are a market in their own right.

I think one of the problems is that there are not that many lesbians who are out working in the kinds of companies that are deciding to target the gay and lesbian market and that is part of the problem.

But hopefully due to companies like Out Now - which I am working with - more companies will learn to see the 'L' in LGBT as a separate entity.

When you see advertisers target their ads towards the lesbian community, does that have an impact?

I think it can when it is done well, but it can also have a big negative impact if it is not done well.

One that stands out in my mind recently is an advertisement targeting lesbians from Las Vegas that just had two women's toes poking out from under the duvet - it was really well done, and would not alienate gay men or straight people as well. Not tacky. It was like a little 'wink' to the lesbian community.

I think that keeping things quite stylish and subtle is the way forward.

Do you think the lesbian market has much discretionary income?

Absolutely. Many lesbians are in loving long-term relationships, which doubles their household income.

It's a fallacy that lesbians are only just kind of cat-loving women who stay at home and don't go out and don't ever go on holiday and care so much about the earth that they won't spend any money. That is not true at all.

Many lesbians are professionals, that are high spending - and a great market to start thinking about targeting.

Part 2 of the Lotte Jeffs interview will appear in Gay Market News tomorrow.

Don't miss out on Part 2 of Darren's interview with Lotte: Putting The L Into LGBT and Part 3 is LGBT2020 - Lesbian Futures.

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

A 'Gay BLT' - To Go

2011-02-11T10:42:00.016+01:00

The term used to describe what was once known simply as 'the gay community' has evolved steadily over the years. This is seen by most as a good thing as it includes many who are otherwise not contemplated. But is there a danger it all gets to be too easy to just recite a verbatim acronym as a 'tick-box' facade of real inclusion?

Ian Johnson, Out Now
February 11, 2011

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: Out Now Global. Lesbians. Gay men. Trans people. Transgender men. Transgender women. Lesbian and gay marekting. Bisexuality. LGBT. GLBT.

Is the whole alphabet soup of acronyms used to describe our communities at risk of becoming a glib shorthand - as meaningless to many in society as ordering up a "Gay BLT to go?"

Out Now has worked in the area now known as LGBT marketing for two decades.

During that time we have witnessed the evolution of what we did from its initial description as "gay marketing" to become "gay and lesbian marketing" to become "GBLT marketing" (for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) - to now be most usually known as "LGBT marketing".

This is a good thing on many levels - as it strives to achieve enhanced visibility for those members of this collective grouping who might otherwise be invisible.

Lesbians make up an estimated half of the "gay and lesbian community" for example.

But is there a risk that what is now routinely used by many as a sign that "I get it" - namely, the 'correct' use of the phrase "LGBT" to describe us collectively - is morphing into little more than a glib throwaway line, reflecting the speaker's desire to portray themselves as credible to an audience?

How often does the phrase really take accurate account of the issues faced by bisexual people for example?

In our business, we have grown used now to hearing often the letters L, G, B and T used as a perhaps 'clunky' acronym to describe - in a single phrase - the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities living diverse lives all around the world.

'Make mine a Gay BLT'

I often remark in presentations that if I say just "lesbian and gay" or "gay" that my audience can take it as read that I likely could have said LGBT - or as some countries prefer: 'GLBT'.

I may even sometimes go so far as to joke that my favourite meal is a "Gay Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato" - otherwise known as a GBLT.

But I am only half in jest when saying this. It seems to me that for many who now manage to dexterously wrap their mouths around one of the world's lumpier acronyms with such alacrity, the time taken by them to ever contemplate the vast significance contained within those four conjoined letters is as short as the time it takes them to actually recite these letters ad-infinitum.

Or, less than the time it takes to order a sandwich.

At Out Now we believe that for far too many organisations, the use of "LGBT" as a mandatory insider's buzzword has now become a cursory recitation of an acronym they know that they are "supposed" to say.

For many the term is used with little thought to the diversity contained within it. The T for example has always intrigued me, as to be trans is primarily about gender in this acronym, rather than sexuality - as the L, G and the B of the LGBT community sandwich are.

Think before you speak. Then think some more. Then think again later.

So before you next find yourself blandly reciting out "LGBT" like a pro - take a minute or two and try and picture the millions of lives around the world that live behind each one of those letters.

Think about the lesbian Mums getting to grips with 3am feeds of their newborn.

The gay bears planning their next US convention. The Mexican lesbian and gay choir groups.

The trans woman who is used to the stares from the fellow riders on the bus to work. How about the young man working in the dealing room at a major international bank in The City in London - who is getting tired of the whispered rumors about him by the other traders.

The many thousands of lesbians, gay men, bisexual people and trans people getting ready to celebrate in Sydney's annual "Gay and Lesbian" Mardi Gras.

Or the gay men who face the death penalty in Iran if caught being true to their nature.

Maybe think about the lesbian high school student in Chicago who can't quite decide whether being black, female or gay is her bigger issue to deal with right now.

Think about the millions of lesbians and gay men living in China expected to marry - many of whom are now meeting online and marrying each other to keep up required social appearances.

These - and so many millions more - stories go to make up the almost incomprehensible diversity that lives within those four little letters we recite so freely: 'L, G, B and T'.

Take a moment when you can to ponder the power and complexities that comprise so many people's daily lives living in every country on earth.

Amazing.

Far more powerful, and worth a lot more contemplation, than the mere seconds it takes most marketers, Diversity Specialists and media types to write or say 'LGBT' today - and too often with nothing more than a 'tick-box' awareness of having said 'the right phrase'.

At Out Now we believe that these issues are worth far deeper thinking on, and certainly more pondering than the time it takes to order a "Gay BLT".

Next time you find yourself about to utter the LGBT acronym, take a moment and think about how much significance lives within those four little letters.

It can be quite powerful - and humbling - to do, and - at the very least - you can remind yourself what a diverse range of different lives all around the world are contained within but four letters.

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Mexico - Latin America LGBT Market Research Released

2010-11-25T21:26:00.006+01:00

Latin America represents a large potential growth market for LGBT tourism. Today in Mexico City the Ciudad de México hosts an LGBT tourism conference. Latest research data explains why.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
November 25, 2010

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: Out Now Global. WTM. London World Travel Market. Mexico. Brazil. LGBT. Lesbian and gay tourism. LGBT travel marketing. Gay tourism market. Latest LGBT research on Latin America reveals large market potential for tourism and other segments.

LGBT tourism takes centre stage today and tomorrow in Mexico City, and latest research data just released from Out Now reveals why.

Out Now has just released some key results from the world's largest ever LGBT market study - conducted by Out Now in 10 languages across 23 countries.

The Latin American region represents a very large - and untapped – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) marketing opportunity for the travel and tourism industry, reveals research released today.

Findings from the 2010 Out Now Global LGBT Study, reveal Latin America is home to more than 25 million LGBT people. This group of people represent a valuable multi-billion value market opportunity for a broad range of companies, including tourism brands, destinations and a diverse range of industries.

Undertaken by Out Now Global - the leading LGBT marketing strategy and research agency - the new research surveys LGBT people living across the Latin American region on a wide range of topics, including spending habits, education, parenting, relationships, age, income, travel, lifestyle, workplace discrimination and harassment issues.

The study has uncovered vast untapped market opportunities relevant to a large number of companies. In tourism, the research reveals significant tourism spends made by millions of LGBT consumers living in countries in the region.

The Out Now study shows that in 2010, LGBT consumers living in Argentina spent a total of USD$4 billion on leisure travel expenditures. In Mexico, 5 million LGBT customers spent USD$8 billion on tourism spending, while in Brazil local LGBT consumers spend more than USD$20 billion on leisure travel annually.

Founder and CEO of Out Now Global, Ian Johnson, said the new study reveals a wealth of data about Latin America, as well as 16 other major markets across the world.

"Out Now is really pleased to be bringing the first global LGBT research project to so many countries around the world," said Johnson. "We are especially pleased to be revealing the results of the first large scale study of the Latin American region - one of the world's growth hotspots and until now a region where LGBT customers were largely ignored by the tourism industry and other companies. This new Out Now research is set to change all that."

"One country in the research that particularly stands out is Brazil," Johnson added. "Not only is Brazil the clear number one destination in the Latin American region for inbound LGBT travellers from countries including the US, UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands - it is also the largest LGBT outbound tourism market in the region, with Brazilian LGBT people spending more than USD$20 billion every year on travel and tourism expenditures."

The study's wealth of new research data is being released at next month's World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry. 

WTM Chairman Fiona Jeffery said: "This new Out Now Global research is a truly groundbreaking study. Never before has there been a study of such reach and depth of gay and lesbian consumers, and we are delighted Out Now has chosen to premiere such a significant new body of research study at WTM.

Johnson added: "LGBT consumers around the world are increasingly the focus of attention from global marketers. After years of being ignored, this is a largely welcome development, however the response of consumers to any corporate overtures will depend very much on how companies conduct themselves in their marketing efforts. Those companies that seek only to exploit a profit opportunity, without taking the trouble to understand LGBT consumers as people, are unlikely to succeed."

Out Now has two decades of experience in understanding and meeting the needs of LGBT customers around the world.
-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.

Stephen Colbert Restoring Fear: So Gay

2010-10-30T16:08:00.015+02:00

Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart take to the Washington DC streets today to both Restore Sanity and Fear to US political debate. See what happens when Republican Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina suffers his own fear-filled moment - at the hands of the 2008 Out Now "So Gay" UK London Tube subway advertising campaign.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
October 30, 2010

If you would like Out Now to help you take your marketing to the leading-edge of sales results, please do get in touch.

Topics: South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. US Republican Party. Jon Stewart. Stephen Colbert. Colbert Nation. The Daily Show. So Gay advertising. London, UK. Out Now Global. July 2008 Out Now Tube advertising campaign - South Carolina is so gay..

Today a major event is taking place in Washington DC to simultaneously 'Restore Fear' and 'Restore Sanity' to the US political discourse.

I travel a lot for work and visit the United States often for business. This year the US is in the worst conditions - socially and politically - that I have ever seen in the more than 20 years I have been visiting the USA.

The society is so polarized to dangerous levels, and the media reflects that. Red and blue. Right and left. Democrat and Republican. Tea Party and Coffee Party. MSNBC and Fox.

TV news in the US has now largely blurred into 'infotainment' - serving primarily to reinforce the viewers' own existing predispositions, and even prejudices. Marketing and promotions triumph over facts and reliability.

Where does all this leave the hapless US citizenry?

US satirists Jon Stewart of the Comedy Central TV program, The Daily Show; and his colleague at the network Stephen Colbert of Colbert Nation; are today hosting a rally in Washington DC to take a left-of-center position - what many Americans call a 'liberal' stance - in reaction to recent rallies around the US and in Washington DC hosted by right wing TV commentators and members of the so-called 'Tea Party' movement.

In keeping with their grounding in satire, Stewart and Colbert have tag-teamed their Washington event to simultaneously seek to 'restore sanity' to US political discourse at the same time as they ironically poke holes in the politics of fear.

At Out Now we had our own brush with the US politics of fear in 2008, when a subway poster advertising campaign we ran for a client on the London Tube system caused a noisy political stink.

Out Now's "So Gay" advertising campaign promoted six US destinations, five cities (Washington DC, Las Vegas, Atlanta, New Orleans, Boston) and one US state (South Carolina).

That provoked nothing but positive response from most of the project partners.

Except one. South Carolina.

When Governor Mark Sanford, the Republican governor of South Carolina heard of the campaign he figured that his constituents would not like to see their tax-payer dollars used to promote the state to LGBT travelers and so criticized the campaign and refused to pay his London suppliers who booked the ad with us.

Maybe Governor Sanford thinks homophobia is an asset when it comes to appealing to voters in a conservative state. The official line was that South Carolina is a "family friendly" state, and that this meant they do not want to target the LGBT tourism market - which is a multi-billion valued market worldwide.

As I made the point on a BBC World Service radio interview broadcast in the US at the time, many lesbians and gay men are already parents who are looking for 'family-friendly' destinations to visit.

Ironically, Governor Mark Sanford was discovered several months later to have been cheating on his wife - and failing to be with his kids on Fathers Day - as he visited his mistress in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mr Family Friendly? Too funny.

As we see whether the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert mission to 'Restore Sanity and/or Fear' rally today in Washington DC does anything at all to really restore balance and moderation to the tone of the current political conversation in the USA, we thought we would share Colbert's take on our Out Now 'So Gay' campaign - and the response of South Carolina's Governor Sanford.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

South Carolina is So Gay

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

2010 Election

March to Keep Fear Alive

The 2008 Out Now 'So Gay' advertising campaign was described by Adweek in the US as 'The year's most talked about tourism ads."

-----------------------------------------------------

If you want to get your LGBT marketing and gay travel market research knowledge policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now Global LGBT market research, or learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with the recognized market leaders Out Now.

---------------

Out Now has been involved in lesbian and gay marketing research, corporate strategy and LGBT community development since 1992 -- when the company was first established in Australia.

The agency has grown to now include specialist LGBT consultants working with Out Now in markets across the world.

AdWeek referred to one of Out Now's gay advertising campaigns as "the year's most talked about tourism ads." Out Now Consulting is a leading global gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include Barclays, IBM, Toyota, Citibank, German National Tourist Office, Visit Britain, Lufthansa and Time Inc. Magazines. Out Now won the "Outstanding Interactive" category in New York at the 'Images in Advertising' awards for an online campaign for their client Lufthansa.

-------------------
To learn how to get lesbian and gay marketing strategy right -- rely on gay marketing expert strategic advice from Out Now -- the leading experienced global strategic gay marketing, research and communications agency.