Gay Market News. Gay Marketing is Out Now.

TV Sitcom Son Comes Out as Gay

2010-07-25T00:08:00.012+02:00

On one of the longest running sitcoms on BBC TV a recurring character has come out as gay.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
July 24, 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: TV. BBC TV. Coming out. Sitcoms. Gay characters on TV sitcoms. Son Michael comes out on BBC TV's 'My Family' comedy sitcom.

The progress of lesbian and gay characters becoming acceptable on TV continues.

The BBC TV program My Family is now in its tenth season. The show is one of the annual staples of the BBC comedy line-up.

Viewers have watched the story of a white, upper middle-class family evolve over the course of a decade - with some regular characters being written in and others leaving.

The program charts the story of Ben and Susan Harper and their family. It airs at 9pm on Friday evenings.

Their son - Michael - was introduced to viewers as a child at school, and his is one of the few characters to have been written into every season since the show's premiere in 2000.

Viewers have watched Michael grow from a small boy into a man.

Last week they watched and learned something new about this popular character - Michael is gay.

Clever treatment

The episode was well-written and acted.

In keeping with the usual family-fare comedy tone of the program, this episode made maximum impact by presenting Michael's coming out not as a major issue to be lauded - but rather as a fresh storyline with comedic implications to be explored, presented and laughed at.

The dialogue of the episode reflects this:

Michael: Mum I'm happier than I've ever been. I've been seeing a guy called Scott Marsh. A solicitor, he's 25, good looking. Lives with his dad, we met at a pub and just started talking. I feel at peace with myself. For the first time I can be honest and be myself with the world.

(Michael's Sister) Janie - Aren't gay people supposed to be stylish?

There was a nice mix of support (Janie: "Little brother. I am so proud of you.") included with comedy and mix-ups as per all other My Family episodes.

New writing team

When father Ben, a dentist, outs Michael's boyfriend to his father - who is one of Ben's patients, the usual rhythm of the show is preserved.

This plot development is one that is the result of a new writing team brought in this year to freshen the show.

What I found most refreshing was the comfortable way in which 'Middle-England' took this issue in its stride, without undue fuss. Twenty years ago when a gay character appeared in BBC TV's soap Eastenders the UK media took umbrage. This was very different.

Says a lot about how well UK society in 2010 has now progressed to acceptance and respect for gay people. Nice.

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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 in markets across 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.

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

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.

GLBT Business Leaders Meet in Poland

2010-07-19T20:50:00.009+02:00

A landmark business conference just took place in Eastern Europe. And its legacy is likely to be felt in many positive ways by LGBT people for years to come.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
July 19, 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: Diversity and Inclusion. D and I. Equality and Diversity. E and D. LGBT market. GLBT staff equality. Eastern Europe. LGBT equal rights. Europride. 3rd International Gay and Lesbian Business Leaders Forum closes after successful two day conference in Warsaw, Poland.

Poland has just played host to a groundbreaking LGBT business leadership event.

The 3rd International LGBT Business Leaders Forum has just closed - and I was fortunate to attend this historic event.

Delegates and speakers were present from all over the world.

Of particular importance was the fact that so many delegates and speakers were from the Eastern region of Europe. Russia was also represented.

What left an indelible impression on me was the universality of the LGBT experience.

Out Now has long said that "gay" is a global brand. You can be lesbian or gay and find yourself in a totally foreign culture - yet the 'otherness' of being LGBT unites you with a common bond with those locals with whom you may share little except a sexuality.

(L: Selisse Berry, Executive Director, Out and Equal - with Ian Johnson, CEO, Out Now.)

But what a powerful uniting factor gay sexuality is.

Make sure this much is clear though - I use the word sexuality with no connotation of sexual relations (thanks Bill Clinton for such a handy description) whatsoever. (I also use the word "gay" in its most inclusionary way to mean all the diverse members of our LGBT communities worldwide.)

Rather, sexuality in this context is about much more than who we are naturally oriented to sleep with.

Issues such as violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion and many other lifestyle and social issues cut across language, gender and cultural barriers for members of the LGBT community.

As I mentioned to delegates during today's closing session - these very issues and many more are to be answered by the 2010 Out Now Global LGBT Study - in more than 20 countries around the world.

This new Out now research will be profoundly helpful to have a global and international benchmark for so many of the uniting issues that bind this disparate group we routinely refer to as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender "community".

The main message takeout I bring with me as I leave this Business Leaders Forum in Warsaw is the strength of the shared experience that so many gays and lesbians know as an undeniable truth of their lives.

That common bond is something far more unifying than money, language, business, politics or borders.

It is all about humanity.
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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 in markets across 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.

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

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.

Delta Flies Higher

2010-06-29T10:55:00.006+02:00

Delta Air Lines takes a new step in the gay market that is subtle, but very powerful. And effective.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
June 29, 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: Delta Air Lines. LGBT market. Gay tourism. GLBT travel market. Tourism marketing. Gay and lesbian travel. Aviation industry targets gay market. Pride month in USA.

Progress happens all around us and usually in small steps.

This month though, leading global airline company - Delta Air Lines - has taken a fresh and inclusionary step to extend their ongoing gay marketing initiatives.

Those of us flying Delta this month will discover that nestled amongst the radio channels of inflight entertainment, is their Pride music channel - offering a selection of music and highlighting the importance of this month to gays and lesbians around the world.

It is worth noting this as ten years ago, or even five, this would not have happened.

Now Delta has a gay and lesbian travel microsite as well as in-house staff association.

The fact that a brand like Delta is able to tell the world that GLBT people are regular Delta customers - like all others - is a major innovation.

It is an inclusionary step that is at once powerful - and highly effective as a message to their lesbian and gay travelers. It shows all Delta passengers that gay and lesbian people are worthy of respect as valued Delta customers.

To top it off - the airline notes they are pleased to sponsor various Pride events across the USA.

Here's what the airline had to say when we interviewed them this week, and this is along the lines of what passengers in all Delta flights are reading in their June inflight programs:

World-renowned DJ Manny Lehman, a top-circuit party-headlining DJ, has produced Billboard charging remixes from Madonna, Janet Jackson, Cher and many more. Lehman also executive-produced the megahit and dance-floor anthem "Finally" from CeCe Peniston. Here he spins his latest remixes of sure-to-be-enjoyed hits at Pride celebrations across the country. Delta is proud to be an official sponsor of Pride celebrations in Atlanta, New York City and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Enjoy this exclusive DJ Mix, found only on the Delta Pride channel.

Great job Delta.

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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 in markets across 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.

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

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.

The I in IGLTA

2010-06-07T18:54:00.010+02:00

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) brings its Annual Convention to Antwerp in Belgium this month, and new developments continue to strengthen the 'I' in IGLTA.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
June 7, 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: IGLTA. Out Now, LGBT travel and gay tourism marketing. Ian Johnson. Darren Cooper. Antwerp, Belgium. IGLTA Annual Convention comes to Antwerp, Belgium in June 2010.

It is great to watch an organization grow and improve as it goes.

That is the way I feel about IGLTA - the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association.

From humble beginnings back in 1983, the group has grown from 25 largely US-based travel agents to an international body, with more than 1,500 members in over 60 countries.

The IGLTA is the world's leading travel trade association committed to growing and enhancing its members' gay and lesbian tourism business through education, promotion and networking. LGBT travellers can search, contact and utilize IGLTA members around the world for all their travel needs.

Antwerp 2010

I have three ‘must attend’ tourism conferences in my diary each year. The IGLTA Annual Convention is the only LGBT-organized symposium in that list. Nothing else even remotely comes close in the area of LGBT travel marketing when it comes to networking, business and educational opportunities.

I am pleased to be presenting an educational session at the conference - providing delegates with an overview of the new Out Now Global 2010 LGBT Market Study - the world's largest ever LGBT market research project - and revealing a sneak peak at the initial Europe LGBT tourism findings being revealed by this landmark gay market research project.

As Out Now has grown to become a global specialist LGBT marketing agency with local consultants in key LGBT tourism markets all around the world, IGLTA’s convention has only continued to grow in relevance and importance to our global business.

We schedule client meetings, sign new accounts and meet new business leads – all thanks to IGLTA and their highly effective annual convention. We are looking forward to attending Antwerp this year a great deal.

Get out the vote

In line with the international nature of the IGLTA, this year's Antwerp convention sees a record number of non-US based nominees standing for the IGLTA Board of Directors.

This is the sign of a healthy organization and it is great to see such a multitude of talent standing for the four Board positions up for election in 2010.

I must confess a slight personal bias here.

Out Now's Senior UK Consultant - Darren Cooper - is standing for election to the IGLTA Board this year.

If IGLTA members are minded to elect Darren Cooper to that role they will be fortunate indeed - and will discover, as I have, that he is one of the most skilled LGBT tourism professionals in the world.

No matter who wins election to the Board - the candidates, from all over the world, are all strong - the IGLTA conference in Antwerp looks like being a show to remember.

The IGLTA Annual Convention takes place at the Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel, Antwerp, Belgium, from June 23-June 27, 2010.
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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 in markets across 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.

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

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.

McDonald's Gay Advertising in French Market

2010-06-03T18:22:00.007+02:00

McDonald's steps up with a new mainstream advertising campaign for the French market showing a gay teenage boy as an included part of its brand vision.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
June 3, 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: McDonald's. Mainstream advertising. France. French gay marketing. LGBT market in Europe. Diversity and Inclusion. McDonald's launches a new inclusion ad campaign in the French market which features a gay French teenager and his Dad eating at McDonald's.

Progress happens in the most unexpected of places sometimes.

McDonald's is a major corporation that relies for its profits on being distinctly mass market.

The brand has in recent years sought to redefine itself as being more adult-targeted, and more environmentally aware, than were traditionally the perceptions of the brand in the market in the past.

Now, we can add 'Diversity and Inclusion' champions to the various descriptions one can make of the McDonald's brand.

The company's latest TV campaign in France's fast-food market shows a French teenager and his Dad eating there.

The twist in the advertisement's tail is that the boy is not who his Dad thinks he is.

Here is the new McDonald's gay themed ad:

At Gay Market News we perceive a bigger picture thought: McDonald's is in the business of growing its business, and the decision to run this ad is one that would have been made at the highest levels of their corporation.

It is encouraging - to say the least - that the principles of diversity and inclusion are clearly seen by this maven of consumerism to be commodities with which to sell to the mainstream market.

Their decision is a business one that is meant to increase total sales, and visibility and acceptance of 'us' gets to be part of the mainstream picture in the process.

There have been many people today talking about how they did not usually think much of McDonald's - but the brand's decision to take a public position on support for LGBT people has won the support of customers that traditionally would have given the brand's outlets a wide berth.

My partner hates McDonald's with a passion - but even he told me today how much he respects the brand for doing this.

Full marks to McDonald's for taking a leading stance on the importance of true acceptance of diversity and inclusion.

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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 in markets across 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.

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

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.

Gay Business Conference

2010-05-31T14:05:00.008+02:00

Next month a new LGBT marketing initiative is coming to London - the 1st Gay Business Conference.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
May 31, 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. 2010 Gay Business Conference. London. Axel Hotels. LGBT market. GLBTmarketing. Lesbian market research. Gay advertising. LGBT business conference one month away - set to include global LGBT marketing thought-leaders.

My work is about to take on a distinct travel-based hue, with speaking engagements in various countries at various LGBT market events.

July looks particularly thrilling with eight country changes over four weeks. No rest for some it seems.

I thought we should profile a few of the events I am presenting at next month though. Those include the IGLTA Annual Convention in Antwerp - more on that later.

One month from this week, it is a new event in London that will be centre stage.

Here is some information about that.

Gay Business Conference

On June 29, 2010 - the Central Hall, Westminster will play host to a gathering of leading LGBT marketing expertise at the 1st annual Gay Business Conference to be held in London.

The conference website provides interesting background.

The 1-day GAY BUSINESS CONFERENCE in London is for representatives from brands, services, businesses, organisations and professionals of all types ('mainstream' and 'gay') in the UK, Europe and worldwide, to facilitate the exchange of information and expertise in marketing and selling to, and doing business with, clients and consumers who identify as gay or bisexual.

There are a range of speakers attending including Kim Watson of Millivres, Europe's largest LGBT publishing house - and Juan P. Juliá - founder of the world's leading gay hotels brand - Axel Hotels.

I am fortunate to be sharing the schedule with such thought-leading LGBT marketers.

My presentation is entitled: With Everyone Out Now, Just Who is the 'Gay' Customer?

Here is the session description from the conference website:

Ian Johnson, Founder, Out Now Global - fresh from providing specialist marketing and customer service consultancy to companies worldwide, Ian has promised an exclusive early release of findings from the '2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study’ at the Conference and will draw on his considerable marketing and market research background with Out Now Consulting to help delegates understand their gay customers better and to plan to sell to them more effectively.

Hopefully if you are in London that day you can join us at the conference. If so, please be sure to say hi to me as a Gay Market News reader. It's always nice to know someone is out there.

Find out more about the Gay Business Conference. A one day event to be held at Central Hall, Westminster, London, UK. June 29, 2010.
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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 in markets across 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.

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

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.

Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders Forum

2010-05-24T09:37:00.011+02:00

Last week a landmark event took place in Budapest, Hungary - a conference that focused on LGBT diversity and marketing issues.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
May 24, 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. 2010 LGBT Hungary Business Leaders Forum. IBM. Gay and lesbian diversity. GLBT marketing and diversity. Out Now Global 2010 LGBT Market Study. Hungarian Business Leaders Forum HBLF first LGBT event held last week in Budapest, Hungary.

I am very lucky that my business life takes me to so many interesting places and delivers such a wide variety of work to undertake.

Last week I found myself in Hungary at the invitation of the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum (HBLF) - to moderate a workshop on LGBT marketing.

This session was in the broader context of the two day 1st Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders Forum which took place on May 20-21, 2010.

There was an impressive array of leaders from the political and business spheres.

Borbala Czako - the UK Ambassador to Hungary, and HBLF President - gave a warm welcome to delegates, and also hosted a function at the British Embassy for invited guests. It proved to be a great opportunity for us to mingle and network together.

The IBM Country General Manager of Hungary, Peter Paal, delivered an informative presentation where he explained that when the in-house LGBT staff group - EAGLE - was established several years ago in Hungary, he was pleased to be their sponsor within IBM. This, he said, made it very clear to all staff that the equal treatment of LGBT staff is considered a non-negotiable business imperative at IBM.

Andreas Citak, Managing Director for Global GLBT Marketing at IBM was a member of several panels during the forum, and he made an excellent point that when it comes to LGBT diversity and inclusion, IBM has been doing it longer than most. Sexual orientation equality was recognised by IBM as part of the firm's corporate policies over 25 years ago, way back in 1984 - when this was a leading-edge thing for any major global corporation to commit to.

IBM were co-organizers and principal sponsors of the forum.

Other sponsors included Vodafone and Morgan Stanley.

David Legg - Managing Director of Morgan Stanley - made a presentation that I personally found both enlightened and enlightening. He chose a powerful reference point where he related how were his 6 year old son to be gay - he would want that he be judged not for his sexuality, but for what he does with his life. At Morgan Stanley he related to the delegates that many LGBT people are members of their UK staff association, but that those who prefer not to join any staff groups are obviously free not to do so. But even for this group, he said, they often remark to him how pleased they are that Morgan Stanley makes the statement of inclusion that is inherent in an effectively operated LGBT in-house staff group.

One of the more dynamic presentations was made by Debbie Laybourn - Group Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Vodafone. Her presentation included an award-winning video - of which Debbie was one of the creators - highlighting the practical impacts that inclusion of diversity seeks to address when implemented by a corporation.

LGBT Business Development and Marketing

This session included a range of topics and speakers.

As moderator, I introduced the session looking at the history of LGBT marketing as experienced firsthand by myself at Out Now, specializing in this field since 1992.

We discussed various Out Now work with corporates during that time in areas such as communications, strategy, training - including the GayComfort online training program, and research - such as the newly launched Out Now Global 2010 LGBT Market Study.

It was fun to reveal that one of the new models appearing in Out Now's advertising for our client TUI, in their LGBT travel Freedom Collection by Thomson - is Attila - a Budapest local.

We discussed a slide that showed that respondents to 2008 Out Now LGBT market research for Millivres in the UK revealed that only 32 percent of them said that gays and lesbians are currently treated "very well" at their work. That implies that more than two in three LGBT workers in the UK experience varying levels of problems at work related to their sexual orientations.

In another slide we saw that Out Now research in the UK also reveals that eight in ten respondents believe that being out to everyone in their workplace poses a real risk of holding back their own career advancement.

These figures reveal that there remains a sizable gap to be bridged for many workers between the very important Diversity and Inclusion policies that are increasingly in place at corporations around the world, and the day-to-day reality of workplace discrimination that remains in place affecting the lives of LGBT people at work on a daily basis.

The LGBT business development and marketing session included informative presentations from Andreas of IBM, and Peter Varga of NESsT - who are setting up Galeforce Capital to build bridges between corporate philanthropy and social enterprises in various developing markets around the world.

Richard Zahoranschi of Eurogames 2012 - which is being held in Budapest - gave a presentation that revealed the expected economic impact of 10,000 visitors during Eurogames is likely to exceed 24 million euros benefit to the Hungarian economy.

The 1st Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders Forum was an outstanding success. More than 150 delegates attended both days of the conference, and this event was a landmark one for the whole Central and Eastern European region.

Perhaps my favorite statement during the event was one made by Adrian Balaci - a longtime Hungarian LGBT activist - who said that what he hoped would follow from this groundbreaking event was that the "Wall of Inclusion" for LGBT people at work would now be dragged eastward from Vienna - where it is currently perceived to stop. A graphic way to illustrate the imperative - and scale - of the task at hand.

It was an honor to be invited to, and participate in, this landmark event - the first of its kind in the region.

This event showed to me yet again the significant importance of LGBT diversity and marketing - and the real and positive potential that these things have to enhance people's lives.

A very affirming work function indeed.

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

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 in markets across 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.

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

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 GLBT Study Gets Even Bigger - US and Canada Included

2010-03-31T17:16:00.005+02:00

The world's largest LGBT market research study just got even bigger.
16 countries: 1.1 Billion people. 52 Million gays and lesbians.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
March 31, 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. 2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study. Gay Ad Networks. Mark Elderkin. Out Now and Gay Ad Networks announce the expansion of the world's largest LGBT market study into Canada and the US.

Out Now and Gay Ad Network Bring The World's Largest Gay and Lesbian Market Research Study to the USA and Canada.

New York, NY, USA /Out Now/ Gay Ad Network -- March 31, 2010 -- It was announced today that the '2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study', the world's largest market research study into the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) consumers, is expanding to include both the USA and Canadian markets. Gay Ad Network has been selected as the exclusive partner to bring the market study to the US and Canadian markets.

The '2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study' also covers fourteen other countries in Europe and Latin America - including key markets such as Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico and the UK. With the addition of the USA and Canada, the research will now be sampling across a population with 1.1 billion people, including an estimated 52 million LGBT consumers.

"We are pleased to be the exclusive partner for Out Now's 2010 GLBT Market Study in the USA and Canadian markets," said Mark Elderkin, Founder and CEO of Gay Ad Network. "Global corporations will soon be able to evaluate their gay market opportunities on a global scale."

Ian Johnson, Founder and CEO of Out Now said he is delighted to partner with Gay Ad Network to bring the research study to the USA and Canada. "We were often being asked why the study did not include North America," Johnson says. "As a result of our partnership with Gay Ad Network, we will have access to over 6 million gay and lesbian consumers across 250 online media properties. Out Now is pleased to bring our new LGBT market research to these 16 countries where 1.1 billion people live - 52 million of them being LGBT people."

In Latin America, Out Now is partnering with GNetwork360 - the leading LGBT business networking organization in that region. The project is being well supported by many companies and organizations including Berlin Tourism Marketing, Delta Air Lines, Key West, Vienna and Helsinki Tourism CVBs and the German National Tourist Office.

"This study will reveal a wealth of important information about LGBT people - and their lives - across more countries around the world than any study ever has before," Johnson added.

Out Now will release the USA and Canadian - as well as other countries - reports from the research later this year.

ABOUT OUT NOW:
Out Now Global is a leading lesbian and gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include leading brands such as Barclays, Citibank, IBM, Toyota, Volvo, Time Inc. Magazines, VisitSweden and German National Tourist Office. Services include research, strategy, communications and training.

ABOUT GAY AD NETWORK:
Gay Ad Network is the category leading gay media network, reaching over six million unique users per month. The company provides online advertising services to national brands and local businesses targeting the gay market.

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 in markets across 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.

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

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.

Key West Joins LGBT Research Study

2010-03-29T09:32:00.004+02:00

The world's largest LGBT market research study is continuing to grow. The first US destination sponsor has just been announced.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
March 29, 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. GNetwork360. LGBT market research. Gay and lesbian tourism and gay travel marketing. GLBT market research study. Key West and The Florida Keys. First US destination joins the Out Now Global Gnetwork360 market research study .

Major US destination partners in largest ever LGBT market research study.

NEW YORK, USA /OUT NOW/ -- One of the world’s premier gay and lesbian resorts, The Florida Keys & Key West has become the first North American destination to partner with Out Now Consulting in their ground-breaking LGBT research study.

The largest-ever gay market research study of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people will take place in 14 countries in Latin America and Europe providing much needed data for such forward thinking destinations wishing to capitalize on the potentially lucrative ‘Pink Market’.

The announcement of The Florida Keys & Key West as a partner has been warmly welcomed by Out Now Consulting.

“Many will already associate the Florida Keys and Key West as being the quintessential gay and lesbian holiday destination. This solid reputation has been achieved through years of hard work in positioning their location as a friendly and welcoming destination for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender holiday makers”, said Out Now’s UK Consultant, Darren Cooper.

“Key West have only maintained their reputation as a premier global holiday destination for the LGBT community through refining their offering for this key market segment. Their participation in this ground-breaking study reinforces The Florida Keys & Key West’s commitment to providing the best value and experiences for their LGBT customers. Out Now’s report will deliver a detailed insight, country-by-country, showing Key West and our other partners their best strategic positioning in the gay and lesbian market - based on respondents’ consumer preferences”.

The ’2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study’ will cover 14 countries across Latin America and Europe - including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom – an area that is home to some 35 million LGBT people.

The sheer scope and size of this study was one of the deciding factors for the participation of The Florida Keys & Key West.

“We were extremely excited to hear about this landmark gay market tourism study encompassing so many, as yet un-surveyed countries”, said Jessica Bennett, Director of Market Research for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council which represents the Florida Keys & Key West.

“As a destination we constantly strive to understand and deliver what our customers are looking for from their vacation experience. To do this we need to hear exactly what LGBT consumers are looking for and position ourselves accordingly. The results of this gay market study will help us not only to position our brand more effectively, but also to refine our marketing to focus on the key areas that will deliver the best results for us, and the tourists who visit the Florida Keys in the long term".

Study sponsors include a number of travel and tourism companies, and organizations.

For the European arm: German National Tourist Office, Berlin Tourism Marketing, and the city of Helsinki, Finland.

Delta Air Lines is one of the sponsors of the study’s Latin American sample, which Out Now Global is undertaking in collaboration with Latin American LGBT networking organization GNetwork360.

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 in markets across the world.

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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.

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

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.

LGBT Travel Marketing - Out Now

2010-03-09T08:42:00.012+01:00

It was announced this week at the travel industry event ITB in Berlin that the world's largest ever LGBT marketing travel research study is launching, with the results to be presented by Out Now at London WTM this November.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
March 9, 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: ITB, WTM, Lesbian and gay travel marketing, LGBT tourism marketing, travel marketing, Gay market research, Out Now announces world's largest LGBT marketing travel market research this week in Berlin at ITB. results to be released in London by Out Now at WTM.

This week the world of travel and tourism descends upon Berlin, for their annual ITB travel trade show.

I am visiting the show and look forward to meeting many friends and colleagues from all over the world to discuss the latest developments in LGBT marketing.

The premier lesbian and gay tourism industry body IGLTA will also be there with a rather stunning new rainbow column display - I will blog from there if time permits later this week.

In the meantime, Out Now released details today of the largest ever LGBT marketing travel market research.

Largest Ever Gay Travel Marketing Survey Launches - LGBT Research To Be Released at WTM

Berlin ITB, Germany. (OUTNOW) March 9, 2010 - Out Now announced today the launch of the largest ever gay travel marketing tourism research study of the LGBT market. Results will be released by Out Now at WTM London's World Travel Market this November.

The '2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study' researches tourism habits of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people living in 14 countries across Latin America and Europe - the first time a gay travel marketing study has been conducted across so many countries at one time. The region is home to more than 35 million lesbian and gay people.

Countries researched: France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain, Sweden; Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay.

Travel market data including preferred destinations, annual tourism spending, lifestyle leisure preferences, air travel frequency, incomes, expenditures and gay honeymoons will all be researched.

Research sponsors include Delta Air Lines and Berlin Tourism Marketing (BTM).

Sales Director of BTM, Ralf Ostendorf said: "Berlin Tourism Marketing and Out Now have worked very successfully for over five years to enhance our product's unique advantages in the LGBT market, so sponsoring this new Out Now LGBT marketing study makes a lot of strategic sense for Berlin".

"WTM is the logical place to release the findings of Out Now's new LGBT marketing research study," said Fiona Jeffery, Chairman of WTM. "Out Now and WTM share a history of five years of leading the industry in the understanding and development of lesbian and gay tourism market strategies. Those delegates attending our event in November will gain access to the latest and most comprehensive market insight into LGBT marketing in the world."

In Latin America, the study is being undertaken in partnership with LGBT business networking leaders, GNETWORK360.

Out Now, established in Australia in 1992, now has LGBT marketing consultants in markets across the world.

Out Now's CEO, Ian Johnson, said his company's new research into the LGBT market is breaking new ground in the understanding of lesbian and gay travel.

"We are seeing a lot of interest in this study due to its groundbreaking nature - and its emphasis on understanding the travel and tourism habits of LGBT people living and traveling all across this vast region," Johnson said. "We are pleased to bring a previously unattainable level of market insight into the varied and diverse consumer needs of one of the world's most important travel and tourism market segments. Most importantly, increasing acceptance and understanding of lesbian and gay people - through tourism - is of great and lasting benefit to all."

In Latin America, the study is being sponsored by Delta Air Lines and partners with the region's leading LGBT business networking organisation, GNETWORK360.

According to GNETWORK360 Director, Mr Gustavo Noguera, the new research has generated a lot of interest from companies and other organisations all across Latin America wanting to learn more to better understand gay and lesbian consumers.

"There has been past gay market research done in other places like the USA," Mr Noguera said. "But never before in Latin America - and GNETWORK360 is really pleased that with Out Now we can be part of this largest ever LGBT marketing study. We will all learn so much about the lives of LGBT people living all across Latin America."

Out Now is relied upon by the travel industry's leading brands to understand and reach the gay and lesbian tourism market. Clients include Lufthansa, KLM, Qantas Airways, Hilton Hotels, German National Tourist Office, VisitSweden, Austrian National Tourist Office, Vienna Tourist Board, Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau, Tel Aviv Tourist Association, South Africa Tourism, Air Canada Vacations and TUI.

The entire project is called the '2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study', comprised of 7 countries across Europe, and 7 in Latin America - where the research is called 'Out Now + GNETWORK360 Estudio de Mercado LGBT 2010'.

Results will be released at the Out Now 'LGBT Marketing Masterclass' at London World Travel Market in November 2010.

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

ABOUT OUT NOW

Out Now Global is a leading lesbian and gay marketing specialist agency, founded in 1992. Clients include leading brands such as Barclays, Citibank, IBM, Toyota, Volvo, Time Inc. Magazines, VisitSweden, Tel Aviv Tourist Association and German National Tourist Office. Services include research, strategy, communications and training.

ABOUT GNETWORK360

GNETWORK360 are Latin America's LGBT business and networking leaders, and publishers of GMAPS360, as well as presenters of Argentina’s annual GLBT Entrepreneurs Forum. Clients include Delta Air Lines, Hertz, Prudential, Sofitel and Argentina Tourist Office.

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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.

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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.

Coming Out As Gay At Work

2010-03-04T18:17:00.012+01:00

Does coming out as gay at work hurt your career? How does the corporate world view lesbian and gay workers? Do 'Inclusion and Diversity' LGBT workplace policies really filter down to the shop-floor? Discover the answers.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
March 4, 2010

Topics: Gay and lesbian workers. Inclusion and Diversity. I & D policies. Equality and Diversity E & D policies. Homophobia at work. Lesbian and gay market research. Out Now lesbian and gay market research media coverage. Wall Street Journal article about Out Now's LGBT market research work in the area of Inclusion and Diversity policies.

Most of the people Out Now surveys in our LGBT market research program are employed workers.

For these people, the decision whether it is safe to 'come out' as being openly gay at work is often a fraught one.

'Will I get that promotion if my boss knows I'm a lesbian?' 'Will my co-workers treat me with the same respect if they learn I am a trans person?'

'Might I suffer discrimination - or even harassment - at work, if my colleagues discover I'm a gay man?'

These kinds of questions are ones that many lesbians and gay men struggle with on an ongoing basis. They have also been the subject of two recent mainstream news media articles covering Out Now's leading-edge market research work in this important area.

This article in Personnel Today makes some very interesting points. We will re-visit that article in a later discussion here on GayMarketNews.com.

The Wall Street Journal also reported recently on the topic. Their article included these remarks:

Craig Jones, head of diversity at Barclays Wealth: "The City has changed markedly for gay and lesbian employees. The message that firms need to match the diversity of their client base is finally hitting home, and in the majority of financial institutions, sexual orientation is no longer addressed solely through internal networking groups, rather it is ingrained in their strategies, processes and cultures."

In fact, companies now compete against each other to see who is more open about gay people. Every year, Stonewall publishes its Workplace Equality Index of the best 100 companies to work for...

Some are critical of such surveys, however. Ian Johnson, founder and chief executive of Out Now Consulting says the people completing the annual workplace index entry forms are "almost always" the people working in equality and diversity. "The whole exercise has a bad risk of becoming a corporate beauty pageant," he says.

"What is needed now is less worry about scoring favorable corporate PR in mainstream media by way of a high equality index ranking, but rather much more grassroots liaison work," Mr. Johnson, who is gay, adds.

And there is plenty of evidence to prove that discrimination in the workplace still exists. More than five in 10 respondents to a recent survey led by Out Now Consulting said they felt as though being openly gay in the workplace could negatively affect their prospects of promotion.

Many of those surveyed revealed their unease at the present homophobia in the workplace, according to Out Now Consulting. Workers also spoke of the negative impact of homophobic jokes in many workplaces.

"The opinions of corporate Equality and Diversity officers can be radically different from the actual day-to-day experiences of their workers, many of whom waste a lot of energy at work concealing their true selves," Mr. Johnson says.

"LGBT people often shut up rather than lodge formal complaints - fearing that such treatment might worsen if they 'officially' come out by complaining about what is actually occurring. That has a corrosive effect both on team efficacy and on the affected individual's morale," Mr. Johnson adds.

Out Now has a specialised LGBT market research program that has for almost two decades taken note of the latest developments in the areas of gay consumer marketing and workplace diversity. Research on Inclusion and Diversity policies forms as integral part of this research.
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If you want to get your LGBT marketing and Inclusion and Diversity policies up to speed to include the latest Out Now E&D research, and learn more about social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

Gay Weddings? It's All About Love

2010-02-22T11:03:00.006+01:00

The latest must-see destination for gays and lesbians is Vienna - now with gay weddings added to the list of reasons to visit.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
February 22, 2010

Topics: Love. Vienna. Austria. Lesbian and gay weddings. Civil partnerships. Civil unions. Europe and the growing acceptance of lesbian and gay relationships. Getting married in a memorable location for gay and lesbian people.

Getting married is one of those major life-changing milestones - like births, graduation or retirement.

Increasingly in recent years, gays and lesbians in more countries around the world have been able to discover for themselves the excitement of 'their big day' - and all the life-lasting memories it gives them.

At Gay Market News and Out Now we have always seen gay weddings as being non-political, and about one thing only: love.

Vienna - A City For Love

Now, thanks to Austria's parliament, lesbian and gay people from all over the world enjoy the legal right to enter into a civil union together in that country, with Vienna the obvious number one choice for finding that unique and special location at which to tie the knot.

Those who have visited Vienna will understand the logic.

Few cities in Europe can rival Vienna when it comes to history, beauty and an amazing number of locations at which to enter into 'the rest of our lives' together.

Many well-known landmarks in the city have become officially designated as welcoming sites for lesbian and gay couples to enter into their civil partnerships.

Just imagine it - holding your wedding in the Hapsburg's summer palace of Schönbrunn - home to Marie Antoinette and frequent host to Mozart.

-- Now there's a wedding pictures album to show off to friends and family.

The city has created a whole list of official places where people can enter into their partnerships, with options from the public (like Vienna's Giant Ferris Wheel) to the more intimate venue - or even in the registry office for keeping it simple.

It is so good to see that in Vienna lesbian and gay people can enjoy the kind of respect that too many lesbians and gay men find absent elsewhere.

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If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

TUI Market New Gay Holidays Product

2010-01-26T18:07:00.015+01:00

One of the world's largest travel companies - TUI - this week launches their new package tour product targeting gay and lesbian holidaymakers. Out Now helped TUI with the integration of our GayComfort training and certification program into the TUI product. Here's how.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
January 26, 2010

Topics: Lesbian and gay travel. LGBT tourism. Gay and lesbian holidays. TUI. Thomson. Out Now Global. GayComfort. Out Now's online training and accreditation program plays important role in the launch of the UK's first gay and lesbian tourism product offering for lesbians and gay men.

Out Now works with organizations large and small, always with one goal in mind - to help them better understand their lesbian and gay customers.

Doing that is one of the most satisfying aspects of my career in LGBT marketing.

Out Now's GayComfort program has played an integral part in the launch of the first mainstream tour company product offering to specifically target UK lesbian and gay travelers.

Freedom Collection from Thomson

This week sees the launch of the new TUI gay targeted travel product called the Freedom Collection from Thomson.

Thomson is the UK brand name for the TUI group - Europe'a largest travel brand.

So in working out how to best position their new offering to an often cynical consumer group such as gays and lesbians, Thomson recognised they needed to deliver credible and valuable benefits to their target market - the gay or lesbian traveler.

By applying GayComfort certification and training to staff working in all hotels comprising their Freedom Collection range, they were able to accomplish this.

How does GayComfort work?

GayComfort is an effective response to the number one travel influencer for gays and lesbians when they travel.

What most concerns gay and lesbian travelers is how welcome can the consumer expect to feel before they arrive at a destination, an attraction or at an accommodation property?

By training staff online, around the world, in one of four languages (soon to be five) - GayComfort delivers a valuable solution to the consumer and the tourism industry alike.

Gay customers get to relax and feel comfortable and can 'know before they go' that the much dreaded discomfort many fear checking in at hotels, ordering room service, or when visiting tourist attractions can - slowly - become a thing of the past.

Staff - by better understanding lesbian and gay customer concerns - become more confident and effective, to improve their service delivery when dealing with their gay guests.

It is the reaction to staff that has the most direct influence on the quality of a lesbian or gay travelers vacation experience, and by directing resource at training these people with some practical and highly effective information - and including practical 'do's and don'ts' - GayComfort is helping the global travel industry to 'lift its game' by delivering superior quality service to gays and lesbians.

Satisfied customers

Our ultimate goal with GayComfort is to provide for ever increasing numbers of better quality and more satisfying gay and lesbian vacation experiences.

It is also gratifying to know that our clients appreciate our hard work in developing this program.

Below is an extract from a Thomson TUI media release about the new Freedom Collection.

If you would like to improve your staff training to deliver better quality tourism product to gay and lesbian customers, contact us here at Out Now. We'd be pleased to help.

TUI Thomson Media Release

The standout feature of the collection is the fact every single hotel, whether it’s a budget base or a boutique bolthole, will have had the GayComfort seal of approval before our customers arrive.

GayComfort is an online accreditation program which means that frontline hotel staff have had special training to help strip out the awkwardness that often creeps into same-sex holidays, such as the moment when a same-sex couple check in and it is assumed that they would want a twin instead of a double. The GayComfort programme has been designed by Out Now, leaders in promoting gay and lesbian travel, and is the only IGLTA recognised endorsement on just how gay friendly a hotel actually is.

Thomson Innovation manager, Philippa Morgan, says: “This is a hugely exciting launch for Thomson. There’s definitely an appetite in the market for gay-friendly holidays that come with the security and peace of mind that only a big tour operator can offer.”

Philippa continues: “The reason we’ve taken this approach is because research has shown that three out of four gay or lesbian holidaymakers actively search out hotels they believe are genuinely welcoming.”

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If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

Gay Marriage. Equal Means Equal.

2009-12-28T18:43:00.018+01:00

The United States Pledge of Allegiance states powerfully that the country's citizens are entitled to enjoy "liberty and justice for all".

But it seems some in the nation's capitol - Washington DC - are uncomfortable with the notion of equality when it comes to dispensing "liberty and justice" to their gay and lesbian neighbors who might just want to use their liberty and equality to get married.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
December 28, 2009

Topics: Homophobia. LGBT market. Gay and lesbian equality. US lesbian and gay marketing. Macy's department store. Gay and lesbian advertising. US GLBT market. Washington DC council votes for marriage equality - conservative opponents rebel.

One image sticks in my mind from all my many work-related travels this year - a bus with an ad saying "Let the people vote on marriage" that passed by the bus I was traveling on literally at the very same moment the White House flashed into frame behind.

'They' didn't even need to add the word "gay" into their advertising.

It was clear what the people that paid to place this advertisement into the Washington DC metro system advertising network were up to.

Betting against gay marriage at the ballot box has become a fruitful tactic for anti-gay campaigners in the past couple of years.

They were playing a numbers game.

So far, where gay marriage equality has been put to a vote - for example in the US states of Maine and California - previously legal gay marriage equality has been voted down by way of concerted pushes from a strongly organized, and well-financed, anti-gay conservative+religious coalition.

Yet usually by a wafer-thin majority of impassioned anti-gay voters.

Leading to the rather preposterous situation that legal gay marriages, such as that of Ellen DeGeneres, are put into question.

I continue to believe strongly that - in line with increasing numbers of countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and more - the US will learn that there is nothing to fear from their gay and lesbian citizens taking marriage vows.

The voters of Washington DC may just get to learn that gay and lesbian marriage is an additional stability factor in societies where traditional heterosexual marriage too often lets down all the participants involved - each of the partners and their children.

Money, gay marketing and love

GayMarketNews.com has reported regularly on the power of the gay and lesbian honeymoons and weddings market.

We even covered the fact that Macy's - a mainstream US department store brand - was delighted to welcome gay marriage to California with same-gender wedding registries. Are they being 'politically correct'? Sure. Are they being smart business-people? Absolutely.

Far more powerfully though - GayMarketNews.com has made the point often over the years that gay marriage is about one thing even more important than the fundamental power of equality - it is about love.

The fact that lesbians and gay men are not traditionally welcomed by society to marry means that their decision to do so - where it becomes available to them - is almost always taken very seriously indeed, knowing that as with so much of modern gay and lesbian lives, we are having to blaze a trail for others through our actions today as we build the future for those who follow us.

Most gays and lesbians do not think of a quickie wedding in Vegas as their ultimate idea of getting married.

They think of the solemnity and love encapsulated in the taking of public vows for the one they love.

And a more mature approach to love and marriage looks like a healthy thing for any civilized society.

Congratulations to the lesbians and gay men in Washington DC who, from March 2010, will hopefully get to experience this gay marriage equality that many countries in the rest of the world now - happily - take for granted.

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If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

Beautiful People. UK Out-Gays USA Today.

2009-12-12T15:02:00.022+01:00

Once upon a time the US was far more openly gay than the UK.

Today?

No way.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
December 12, 2009

Topics: Adam Lambert. Homophobia. Camp. USA gay and lesbian acceptance. Gay-friendly. Gay comfortable. Lesbians and gay men in the media. BBC-TV. Beautiful People. Being gay on TV. USA far less accepting of gays and lesbians in 2010 than the UK.

Thirty years ago the USA was far more comfortable with openly gay people, and the UK was lost in the grasp of Margaret Thatcher moralistic conservatism. Today? The picture could not be more different.

If you want a current example of how far what passes for the cultural mainstream has diverged in the UK and the US markets, look no further than what has been happening on that modern forum for democracy. Television.

Take The Beautiful Dream and Let It Grow

Beautiful People is a hit comedy currently showing every Friday night on BBC-TV all across the UK.

More on that later and what it says about the state of mainstream UK culture.

First, let's take a peek at what passes for 'mainstream' USA.

Last month we witnessed a modern-day US media crucifixion of sorts of (now) openly-gay pop singer Adam Lambert the runner-up in US pop TV show American Idol.

Lambert's unforgiveable sin so far as US media was concerned?

To perform his latest song in the manner many pop-stars do today - an overtly sexual way. At 11pm at night on a rock music program.

No problems, right?

Well, just one - when you happen to be a gay male pop singer that necessarily means being overtly gay on a US awards show.

And modern mainstream America it seems is just not happy with an 'out' or 'camp' entertainment appearing on their screens at that level of information. If it had been Madonna, Britney or Lady Gaga we would likely have heard nothing from the outraged moral gatekeepers of the USA.

As leading journalist Julia Baird points out in her Newsweek article on this, it looks rather sad for the USA in 2010 to be fighting the same decades-old culture wars but not getting anywhere.

The Bad Old Days

It was not always that way 'living in the USA'.

Back in the late 1970s, the US market was the place where mainstream culture was gayer than anywhere else.

The Village People were considered family entertainment - 'Can't Stop The Music' still ranks amongst the gayest ever mainstream Hollywood fare ever produced.

'Victor, Victoria' was a mainstream cross-dressing hit on Broadway and then on film starring none other than that doyenne of Disney family fare, Julie Andrews.

La Cage Aux Folles was playing in the US to packed houses.

But today it is the UK that takes being gay, and puts it front and center for mainstream viewing entertainment, in a way that mainstream USA seems unable to.

And people in the UK love it.

Today it's the UK. Beautiful People. Modern Nation.

The counterpoint to the Adam Lambert experience of being pilloried for being "too" openly gay must surely be the hit TV series now playing its second series every Friday night on BBC-2.

Beautiful People - by Simon Doonan and adapted for TV by Jonathan Harvey - is one of the freshest comedies to appear this decade.

And it is a TV show that heavily features gay themes and characters as an integral part of 'normal' family life.

In past weeks we have seen Israeli transexual Dana International play a camp cameo Eurovision role. Last night Dannii Minogue of X Factor fame poked hysterical camp fun at her 1998 pop star self.

Last week saw lead character Simon perform an imagined duet with musical theater star Elaine Page singing the gay anthem - Enough Is Enough (No More Tears) - made famous by gay icon Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer.

Last month an openly gay music teacher at the boys school brought his boyfriend to the family's house where his boyfriend made an ill-judged - and hilarious - pass for the Dad of the family house.

Ten years ago this would not likely have happened quite the same way in the UK - when the cultural zeitgeist then reacted angrily against the original Queer As Folk TV series by Russell Davies. In that show the youngest gay character was 15.

Want more proof that mainstream UK is gay today in a way that modern Americans can only dream of? Read on.

What is 'Normal'?

In Beautiful People the lead characters are two boys aged 13 at high school who have realized they are gay. The show portrays them as comfortable, confident and well-supported by their family members who understand and accept them for who they are.

As we approach the start of the second decade of the 21st century, take a moment to imagine.

Which version of the future do you prefer?

One like the US where a nation includes politicians and religious leaders willing to appear to support a nation like Uganda currently trying to install laws that would see gay people put to death under their laws.

Or one like today's UK where a show like Beautiful People plays as prime-time and very, very clever entertainment every Friday night?

Where openly gay kids are supported by on-screen parents who mean it when they say - as they do regularly - "I love my son!".

Interestingly in the USA if you want to enjoy this hip UK comedy you have only one option - to subscribe to the MTV Networks exclusively gay channel, Logo.

In the UK - you watch Beautiful People on free-to-air broadcast mainstream TV.

Want to see what the fuss is about?

Check out this online Beautiful People promo clip for the series 1 DVD.

This show is not funny because it is gay. It is just funny.

Being gay is a normal thing in this life. And that is how life in 2010 really is for many, many people.

Come on America - lift your game. Welcome to the 21st century.

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If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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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.

Zero - Spanish Gay Mag To Close

2009-11-25T09:34:00.005+01:00

Traditional LGBT print media continues to struggle. Latest casualty? Zero magazine in Spain.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
November 25, 2009

Topics: Lesbian and gay media. Gay communications. Lesbian and gay media publishing. Gay media market. Gay and lesbian marketing. Web 2.0 and traditional media. Zero magazine. Spanish gay and lesbian market.

The traditional bastion of gay market media - print magazines - continues to show signs of decline, with news today that the next issue of Spain's leading gay print media product will be the last.

Zero magazine - which has for the past 12 years been published in glossy print for Spain's gay market - had a track record of quality and interviews with some of that country's leading political and media figures.

Now it has been announced that the next issue will be its last.

The holding company behind the magazine has struggled to cope with the effects of the current worldwide recession - with advertising revenues reportedly down by more than a half since the start of 2009.

Not the last

GayMarketNews.com believes that Zero will unfortunately not be the last traditional gay and lesbian media market print magazine to struggle and even fail.

According to Ian Johnson, CEO of Out Now - a leading global lesbian and gay marketing agency - the closure of Zero magazine in Spain's gay and lesbian media market is part of a wider industry trend.

"This is not a phenomenon particular to gay and lesbian media," Johnson said. "Many print products in the general media market are finding their revenues under attack from the combined effects of the recession and the migration of readers to online media product. But it is hitting particularly hard in the gay market as many gays and lesbians no longer feel so strongly 'personally connected' to the need for a gay and lesbian community print media product. In some ways this is a byproduct of an improving acceptance of gays and lesbians in many parts of the world."

The closure of Zero gay magazine in Spain's media market follows closely the news that Window Media - publishers of some of the leading US gay and lesbian print media newspapers - closed for business last week.

Even The Advocate - one of America's gay news print media 'hero' mastheads is being spun into the pages of its more lifestyle-oriented glossy sister publication Out magazine.

Adapt and prosper

"In business as in life, everything changes," Johnson said. "Nothing stays the same. It is sad to lose publications that many of us have grown up with, and it is unfortunately probably true that only those gay media providers that recognize changing gay community media habits and LGBT market forces - and adapt accordingly - will make it through the recession. But those that do this will not only survive, they should prosper in the changing gay and lesbian media business landscape."

"Those that don't may join the ranks of gay print media that no longer publish. We hope that the numbers in that category can remain small."

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If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

US LGBT Publisher Shuts Down

2009-11-16T19:05:00.005+01:00

One of the most important US lesbian and gay media publishers - Window Media - shut down today.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
November 16, 2009

Topics: LGBT media. LGBT communications. Lesbian and gay media publishing. Gay and lesbian market. Web 2.0 and traditional media. Washington Blade. Window Media LLC shuts down.

Some sad news out of the US today - one of the country's largest gay and lesbian media publishers - Window Media LLC - has closed its doors.

Publishers of influential gay market media products such as Southern Voice in Atlanta, Houston Voice and South Florida Blade; Window Media LLC had been struggling to maintain advertising sales revenues in a very tough economy.

The company also faced the effects of a continuing increasing shift of corporate advertising budgets to the online media world.

One of the company's media products - the Washington Blade - recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Laura Douglas-Brown, editor of Southern Voice, told AP that "there was just no more money to keep these companies running. We were all told that the companies would be sold. The fact that we were shut down was a complete shock."

Just last week I picked up what is now the last issue of the Washington Blade during a visit to DC.

One of the factors working against specialist LGBT media is that mainstream media is increasingly writing about gay and lesbian issues, reducing the consumer 'hunger' for news of gays and lesbians written from a gay and lesbian perspective.

I agree most strongly here with Michael Musto of NYC's Village Voice who said: "Window Media long provided a very special outlet for the gay community to learn about itself way before there were a lot of other places to find that type of thing. This was the gay community writing about itself, and that's a voice we should never lose."
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If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

TravelMole article on Out Now Gay Marketing Class at WTM

2009-11-11T22:46:00.005+01:00

Out Now presented an information packed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender marketing seminar today to the delegates at WTM London - World Travel Market. TravelMole has a report direct from the seminar.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
November 11, 2009

Topics: Gay marketing. Lesbian market. GLBT market. Lesbian tourism. Gay tourism market. Gay advertising. London WTM gay marketing information seminar. Out Now. London World Travel market. Out Now presents lesbian and gay marketing seminar to a packed audience of more than 170 travel industry professionals at WTM today.

My work keeps me out of trouble these days. I have changed country ten times in the past 5 weeks. Today it was London - and a presentation to over 170 travel and tourism industry professionals at London's World Travel Market WTM.

The seminar was titled "The Gay Marketing Puzzle - Solved at WTM by Out Now" and included high level tourism industry professionals Yaniv Waizman, Mayor's Tourism Advisor in Tel Aviv; Jeanette Schuchmann, Deputy Director of the German National Tourist Office, Lotte Jeffs, travel editor of leading lesbian magazine DIVA; and John Tanzella, President and CEO of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association IGLTA.

We were delighted to see the event qualify for my favourite three letter acronym - SRO - 'Standing Room Only'.

Out Now launched several initiatives we will report on here in coming days.

In the meantime, TravelMole has an article on this Out Now gay marketing seminar. As the article might require you to use a password to access, we reprint the article below.

Trade told to grab slice of gay and lesbian travel spend
November 11, 2009

Gay and lesbian tourism is growing annually but travel providers who don’t cater to the market will not capture this business, according to a leading thinker in the sector.

Ian Johnson, founder of gay marketing consultancy Out Now, told a World Travel Market audience on Wednesday that a whopping £4.7 billion was spent by the lesbian, gay and transgender market in the UK alone in 2007 (the last data collected) and that figure was growing annually. But he added that this market put feeling comfortable and safe at the top of their wish-list when choosing a travel operator and destination.

He said: “We have spent a great deal of time talking to the people who matter most in this equation – the consumers themselves – and from that we know that they want to go everywhere and do everything, not just go to known gay-friendly destinations – and it is their goal to travel with operators who understand their comfort zone and stay at hotels and resorts in destinations that are tuned into them.

He added: "They want to use companies that are on the same page and are don’t want to have to out themselves to access the products that everyone else has access to."

Johnson played a series of video clips of talking heads discussing their travel experiences as gay travellers, with many recounting tales of travel providers failing to make them feel welcome. One example showed two gay men relating how they are made to feel awkward whenever they booked into a hotel and are offered two beds instead of one, as a straight couple would be.

Johnson added: “If you are a travel provider, you should be thinking hard about the fact that £47 million a year is spent on gay and lesbian honeymoons and that the buying power of the UK gay, lesbian and transgender market is £81 billion. You should be talking to these people and finding out how to access that. This market wants to get out and travel but they want to feel they are being looked after and not made to feel uncomfortable.”
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If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

Gay Germany Web 2.0 Powerhouse

2009-10-21T16:43:00.006+02:00

Germany is a destination with a great track record of consistently making the right moves in the lesbian and gay travel market.

Now comes news of another German gay marketing success story.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
October 21, 2009

Topics: Gay and lesbian marketing. Germany. MyGayGermany. Out Now. German National Tourist Board. LGBT tourism and gay travel. Lesbian and gay content rocks the Web 2.0 world.

The advent of Web 2.0 social media changed everything in marketing, right? Not so fast.

As much as the world changes, some things remain the same.

Like the fact that in the web 2.0 world of social media - as with other forms of 'old' media - good quality content rules.

This fact is at the heart of a new success story happening right now online all over web 2.0 media platforms.

MyGayGermany Powerhouse

MyGayGermany is a campaign for the German National Tourist Board that harnesses the power of web 2.0 social media platforms and combines it with high quality original gay and lesbian content.

The results? Dynamic.

For example, in a little over a month, Out Now has taken the MyGayGermany facebook page from zero to more than 1,100 fans.

How? Good quality original content.

Such as the MyGayGermany blog and MyGayGermany YouTube channel and Twitter page.

Like all good marketing, consumers react best when you maximize quality and relevance. And that is exactly the strategy Out Now has adopted with such success here.

You can learn more from our client, German National Tourist Board in the following press release going out this afternoon.

Germany's Gay Travel Marketing Takes Web 2.0 By Storm - New MyGayGermany Campaign Launches

Lesbian and gay travellers to Germany have a wealth of new information resources to guide their travel decisions - thanks to the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), Berlin Tourism Marketing and Lufthansa.

The MyGayGermany 2.009 strategy has launched and experienced a rapid and enthusiastic embrace from target gay and lesbian travellers. The campaign's Facebook page has already accrued more than 1,000 fans in just a few weeks.

Comprising an integrated suite of social media tools, the strategy relies not only on utilising the latest technology but also on the delivery of high quality relevant media and information content.

According to the Deputy Director of GNTB in London, Jeanette Schuchmann, the strategy is working well.

"We felt it was so important not to just leap into social media - but to do so with a conscious and strategic effort to deliver great content as a fundamental element of the offering," Schuchmann said. "The MyGayGermany blog is a great example - we are working with two of the UK's leading lesbian and gay travel writers (Lotte Jeffs, Travel Editor, DIVA; Darren Cooper, Editor, Beige Travel) who bring their special magic to the quality of the writing in our MyGayGermany web 2.009 content."

The MyGayGermany campaign comprises key social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogger and flickr. All content and sites also serve to promote the existing GNTB microsIte www.GayGermany.co.uk

The strategy was developed for GNTB, Berlin Tourism Marketing and Lufthansa by leading global lesbian and gay marketing specialists, Out Now.

Schuchmann will deliver a case study presentation on the new strategy in London at the World Travel Market (WTM) education seminar - "The Gay Marketing Puzzle - Solved by Out Now at WTM", taking place at 11am on November 11, 2009.

If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

Tel Aviv - Gay Tourism Market Research

2009-10-12T16:14:00.009+02:00

Yesterday Out Now released preliminary findings of its gay tourism market research study for the City of Tel Aviv.

The news? Some bad - mixed with a lot of good.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
October 12, 2009

Topics: Gay and lesbian marketing. Tel Aviv, Israel. LGBT market. Gay marketing. Advertising. PR. Marketing Tel Aviv to the gay and lesbian tourism market.

Yesterday, interim findings from the latest Out Now gay market research study were released in Tel Aviv.

This research by Out Now is a groundbreaking piece of work - being the first gay tourism market research study into gay market travel intentions to visit the Middle East - in this case, the city of Tel Aviv.

Our findings were greeted warmly by the city of Tel Aviv and its key decision-makers.

The Mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, was present to attend this event which happened at the IGLTA symposium in the GLBT Aguda Center.

The final results are being presented next month by Yaniv Waizman - the Mayor's tourism advisor at the Out Now Gay Marketing Masterclass at WTM London World Travel Market.

We were welcomed to the symposium by John Tanzella, CEO of the International Gay and Lesbian Tourism Association (IGLTA) - whose local rep, Shai Doitsh, did an excellent job at organizing the symposium that happened yesterday.

Below (L to R): Ian Johnson - Out Now; Ron Huldai - Mayor of Tel Aviv; John Tanzella - IGLTA CEO; Yaniv Waizman - Tel Aviv Alderman; Etty Gargir - CEO Tourist Association of Tel Aviv-Yafo.

Etty Gargir - head of the Tourist Association of Tel Aviv, spoke of the importance of the Out Now research to guide Tel Aviv as it charts its strategy for increasing levels of gay and lesbian tourism.

One of the nicest guys working in tourism anywhere in the world - Russell Lord of Kenes Tours - also spoke to the delegates yesterday on the power of LGBT tourism to build a better future in this region that has had more than its fair share of troubles over the years.

The event was big news here in Israel - making various TV news broadcasts last night and many of today's news websites and print newspapers.

Below is an extract from an article that is in today's Jerusalem Post about the Out Now gay market research study in Tel Aviv.

In Jewish culture there is an expression called "Mazel Tov" which means good luck - or sometimes good destiny. I feel rather blessed to be here working on this project at this time. It is a quite special experience for my company, and for me personally.

'Foreign gays think they're unwelcome in TA'

In the eyes of Israelis, Tel Aviv may be a liberal and gay-friendly city, but a new survey of gays from abroad found Tel Aviv unsafe, intolerant and too religious.

The survey results were released on Sunday to a group of gay tourism professionals, as part of the International Gay and Lesbian Tourism Association annual conference and symposium being held in Tel Aviv.

Tourism professionals specializing in the gay and lesbian market are in Israel this week to get a first-hand view of the country, so that they can pass the information on to their clients. Based out of Tel Aviv, the group will also tour Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the North before moving on to other countries.

According to preliminary results of a survey conducted by the US-based Out Now consulting, which specializes in the gay and lesbian market, only 5 percent of the people polled said they were very likely to visit Tel Aviv as a tourism destination, while 46% said they were very unlikely to do so.

The survey, which polled 900 people from Germany, London and the New York region who identify as homosexual, found that the likelihood of a visit grew if the person asked knew someone who had visited Tel Aviv.

The main reasons given for not coming to Israel were: safety concerns (84%), regional conflict (70%), perceptions of Tel Aviv being too religious (62%) and the belief that homosexuals are unwelcome (41%).

When asked what would draw them to Tel Aviv, 67% said cited the beaches, 65% said they would come to experience the local culture, 59% mentioned Israel's rich history, 43% were attracted by the prospect of visiting Jerusalem and 31% said they would come for the Gay and Lesbian night life that the city has to offer.

According to Out Now CEO Ian Johnson, the final results of the survey will be published in a few days. Johnson was optimistic about the survey results, pointing to the relatively high proportion of people who answered maybe/maybe not when asked if they would visit Tel Aviv.

"This is a group that we can work with. With the aid of marketing and communication these people can be moved into the likely category," he said.

Despite the mildly negative survey results, Tel Aviv will continue to be heavily touted as a gay tourism destination. The fact that the annual conference is being held there is a testimony to the efforts put forward by the municipality to develop rainbow tourism.

"Tel Aviv is Israel's capital of commerce, economy, culture and nearly everything else. It adds honor to the country as a whole because of the values it holds dear," Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said.

"Yesterday, I participated in a Simhat Torah celebration and someone came up to me and urged me to stop holding the Pride Parade in the city. That is the nature of democracy; different people have different ideas. All I can say is that gay pride is part of the life of the city and everyone here is free to be whatever they want."

Tel Aviv council member Yaniv Waizman is the driving force behind the city's gay-friendly initiatives. He said that despite the shooting that took place in the gay and lesbian youth center on August 1, Tel Aviv was very open to homosexuals. "The shooting was traumatic, but it made us stronger and just increased our willingness to succeed," he said.

He added that what is necessary for future success is increased marketing budgets, a gay-orientated information booth and the goodwill of the citizens and service providers to welcome those who come to the city. Waizman asked the foreign visitors to be Israel's ambassadors to the gay community and attempt to break down the common misconceptions.

In anticipation of the conference, a small group of protesters stood outside the G.L.B.T. Community Center to demonstrate against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. The group members all wore black shirts with "Queers for Palestine" printed on them.

"We are queer activist here to protest the promotion of gay tourism to Israel and to encourage queers to visit Palestine," said a man who identified himself as Zohar, the group's spokesman.

"This has been an issue that has been manipulated in the last few months, especially since the shooting in Tel Aviv, but even before that, to supposedly represent the liberal State of Israel... As queer people, we don't want to be used as a poster for human rights."

If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

Gay Tourism Marketing? Think Again.

2009-10-07T14:23:00.013+02:00

Think you know all about gay welcoming tourism destinations?

Think again.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
October 7, 2009

Topics: LGBT tourism marketing. Lesbian market. Gay travel. Gay tourism. Market research. Tel Aviv. Out Now. WTM London World Travel Market. Out Now presents important new research study on gay tourism to the Middle East at WTM London World Travel Market as part of this year's Out Now Gay Marketing Masterclass.

One of the most important events for the global travel and tourism industry takes place next month in London.

Out Now has for the past three years presented its industry-leading Gay Marketing Masterclass to delegates attending the WTM - World Travel market - in London.

Taking place over four days, this event attracts the most important decision-makers of the global travel industry, and Out Now is delighted to be back for a fourth year to talk about a whole range of leading-edge gay and lesbian marketing strategies.

One of the exciting things we will discuss there is the release of new online research data representing the first ever GLBT tourism market research into travel to the Middle East.

Web 2.0 social marketing, 'old' media, advertising approaches that work, how to incorporate video content into your gay marketing, what a company staff assocation means to your gay marketing strategy - and many more gay market essential topics for 2010 will be addressed in an action packed 90 minutes this November 11 at WTM in London.

Here are details of the latest lesbian and gay travel marketing research on the Middle East.

The First-Ever Market Study into Middle East Gay Travel Unveiled by Out Now at WTM

Out Now Consulting will reveal the findings of its study into GLBT (gay, lesbian and bisexual and transgender) tourism to Tel Aviv during its session on gay marketing - The Gay Marketing Puzzle - Solved by Out Now at WTM.

In a region not usually associated with GLBT travel, Tel Aviv is now putting in place various strategic steps to develop a campaign that extends its reach and broadens its appeal to lesbians and gay men as a tourism destination.

The gay tourism marketing strategy of Tel Aviv will be discussed, along with the presentation of findings from a gay market research study currently underway, testing the attitudes and opinions of gay consumers in three regions - New York City, UK and Germany - about the prospects of Tel Aviv becoming the new ’hot’ gay travel ticket.

Out Now Consulting Founder and Chief Executive Ian Johnson, along with Tel Aviv City Council Member Yaniv Waizman - who is responsible for the city’s tourism portfolio, will discuss the study and advise delegates on gay marketing strategies.

"We thought it was very important to start our gay market development plans with the best possible insight" says Waizman. "That is why our first step has to be market research, to discover the current positioning of Tel Aviv in the minds of the gay and lesbian travel audience."

Johnson said: "Tel Aviv is a destination that many gays and lesbians do not immediately think of when planning their next vacation."

"Yet as a gay targeted destination, the city has world-class tourism options to offer to gay and lesbian travellers. It is also a city that comes with a lot of history - cultural, religious and political" Johnson added.

Johnson said the preliminary results reveal a big gap between certain perceptions and reality when it comes to Tel Aviv.

"The early results are quite revealing" Johnson said. "They show significant divergence between what gay and lesbian people think Tel Aviv is like, compared to a quite different reality on several key points. This new research will make for much better informed strategic marketing decisions for the destination."

The final report will be unveiled at The Gay Marketing Puzzle - Solved by Out Now at WTM at World Travel Market, ExCel - London at 11am on 11 November 2009.

If you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

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

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.

Phone Company Is Gay? No Way.

2009-09-13T12:55:00.008+02:00

What happens if a conservative lobby group talks by phone with a Brooklyn comedian at home telling him his phone company is bad and supports gay marriage? Listen and laugh.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
September 13, 2009

Topics: Phone companies. Telephone. Telecoms. Gay and lesbian marketing. Same-sex domestic partner benefits. AT&T. Verizon. Sprint. Lesbian and gay marriage. Equal rights. Conservatives against gay rights.

Last night at dinner a friend and I laughed about an online audio track I heard a long while back, about phone canvassing against gay marriage.

Her and I agreed that equal rights for all citizens seems so like a no-brainer in 2009 that it is hard to wonder why so many oppose such a fundamental concept.

My partner of 17 years was also at the dinner - and while he personally does not want to get 'married' (I shall have to pack the tuxedos away then) he agrees that the institution of marriage should be equally available to all.

That got us talking about a great audio set I recalled writing about here on GayMarketNews.com back in 2005.

Partly to remind me to send my friend these links - and also because I just laughed out loud all over again at the three audio tracks - I figured I would reprise them here.

Ring, Ring

The scenario is this.

A Brooklyn comedian called Eugene Merman is on the phone with an organization trying to alert and alarm him with the news that (- shock, horror! -) major US phone companies, like AT&T, Sprint, Verizon; choose to provide their LGBT staff with domestic partner benefits.

In many places that would be called equality and smart application of equality and diversity policies.

But not in the world of those calling Eugene.

Be forewarned - Eugene is clearly fond of the one word my mother swears she will never say. (Pun intended.)

But some of what comes back from the other side of the line seems far more disturbing to me.

This is the first call.

Here is the second. Most disturbing to see the automatic link between pedophilia and gay rights the canvasser makes.

And the third one is very, very funny. A tuna sandwich might one day be able to marry a bear? - and it's all the fault of the push for gay marriage equality. Who knew?

I hope you find it makes for some entertaining weekend listening.

And - if you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other leading-edge gay marketing strategies, get in touch with market leaders Out Now.

You could even call us by phone if you want. No matter which phone company you choose to use.

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

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 Germany Web 2.0 Marketing Campaign Launches

2009-09-11T12:56:00.014+02:00

Making facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Blogger and YouTube work together is becoming increasingly important. Learn how one client is managing to make great strides with this.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
September 11, 2009

Topics: Out Now. Germany. Gay. Marketing. Market strategy. Lesbian. LGBT tourism. Gay travel. Gay Germany. GayGermany. MyGayGermany. Web 2.0 social media. YouTube. facebook. Twitter. Flickr. Blogger. German National Tourist Office campaign for 2009 by Out Now is underway now online.

Out Now has just launched our latest campaign for the German National Tourist Office, Berlin Tourism Marketing and Lufthansa.

One of the most important things about Out Now's approach to gay marketing is that we never want to rely only on last year's successes. We build on them, sure - but what matters most is that the work we do for our clients at any given point in time is as up-to-date and as relevant as it possibly can be.

In 2009, that means that our latest GLBT travel marketing campaign for our client, German National Tourist Office, is running almost exclusively online and by way of internet web 2.0 marketing techniques.

MyGayGermany

We are very excited by the integrated approach we are implementing for GNTO as it has at its center - as Out Now campaigns always do - the target lesbian and gay consumer, and their marketing and travel information needs.

The heart of the campaign is the GayGermany.co.uk website.

That site has been developed over several years and enjoys strong Google and Yahoo search engine likeability factors.

To help drive traffic we have put in place new and highly relevant contact points with our gay and lesbian consumer audience.

You can check out for yourself just some of the various great web 2.0 marketing ways this is happening right now by clicking on the links below:

Twitter: Twitter.com/MyGayGermany

Facebook: MyGayGermany on Facebook

YouTube YouTube.com/MyGayGermany

Over coming weeks and months you will be able to discover many of the reasons that a ticket to Gay Germany is one of the hottest tickets on the planet.

Keeping our client connected with their customers - via our new web 2.0 initiatives - is good for the gay and lesbian traveling public, and good for our client.

The power of great content

One of the critical success factors we believe is that to succeed either with old media or web 2.0 social media - you have got to deliver great content.

Too many people on Facebook and elsewhere are just talking to empty space - where nobody's listening.

To that end, we are really pleased to involve two of the best lesbian and gay writers in the UK today to write for the MyGayGermany sites.

Lotte Jeffs, is the travel editor extraordinaire for DIVA magazine - Europe's leading lesbian lifestyle magazine.

Lotte is more than ably assisted by Out Now's very own Darren Cooper - a gay man truly at large and reporting back to web 2.0 consumers all that makes Gay Germany so special to him.

You can discover for yourself the power of their wonderful writing expertise in several places - including the MyGayGermany blog.

If you want to keep up with what's hot in Gay Germany be sure to check out our new Web 2.0 sites for German National Tourist Office.

And - if you want to get your gay marketing up to speed to include the latest social media and other marketing techniques, get in touch with Out Now.

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

Gay Marketing Solved by Out Now at WTM

2009-08-12T18:31:00.011+02:00

Out Now is pleased to be presenting the latest approaches to gay and lesbian tourism marketing. Web 2.0, tourism case studies, latest global gay market research plus important gay consumer voices - all set to educate the global travel industry at this premier global travel industry marketing event - WTM London's World Travel Market.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
August 12, 2009

Topics: Out Now. WTM. London World Travel Market. Lesbian and gay travel marketing. LGBT tourism. GLBT travel marketing. Gay market research. Out Now is to present its Gay Marketing Masterclass to delegates at the 2009 annual London WTM World Travel Market.

Out Now is consistently motivated by my guiding statement to each of our team of consultants: we will always be better next year than we are this year.

Does that mean we think we are not any good?

Not at all. Our recent work projects are great examples of Out Now's consistent commitment to leading gay and lesbian market development - for the benefit of our clients and the enhancement of lesbian and gay communities around the world.

Current examples?

Out Now has just begun a major new research study for the city of Tel Aviv on gay and lesbian tourism and travel marketing strategies.

We are currently revealing our latest gay marketing strategies for the German National Tourism Office and Berlin Tourism Marketing.

Vienna Tourist Board recently enjoyed a very successful Out Now created gay and lesbian tourism marketing launch called "Go Vienna".

VisitSweden just had a very successful Out Now gay and lesbian tourism marketing campaign into the UK gay tourism market.

So what does Out Now's commitment to always improving every year mean for our London Gay Marketing Masterclass at this year's WTM?

Out Now at WTM London World Travel Market 2009

In 2009 Out Now will present, for the fourth year in succession, our annual Out Now Gay Marketing Masterclass at the premier global travel marketing event - London's WTM World Travel Market.

This year Out Now will be bringing - for the first time - the voices of lesbian and gay travel consumers into a global tourism marketing conference education symposium.

Ultimately the tourism market succeeds by way of committed understanding of lesbian and gay consumer needs.

We will talk more in coming days about some of the other new initiatives Out Now will bring to our Gay Marketing Masterclass at this year's World Travel Market .

Here is a report from leading travel market magazine Travel Weekly about this.

WTM to focus on gay and lesbian travel

World Travel Market (WTM) is to ask gay and lesbian holidaymakers how they want the travel industry to market to them.

The gay and lesbian (G&L) customer panel forms part of the Gay Marketing Master-class seminar, organised and hosted by G&L marketing consultancy Out Now, and is the first time the industry has sought the views of G&L customers at a trade event.

The G&L market is growing in importance during the worldwide financial downturn, as it's more resilient during these tough economic times than the heterosexual market.

US research shows that, while many heterosexual travellers are planning to cut back on their travel spend, more than half of gay consumers (55%) plan to spend as much on travel this year as they did in 2008*, while 7% are looking to spend more in 2009 than last year*.

Out Now Founder and Chief Executive Ian Johnson, who is chairing the 90-minute masterclass, said: "The travel industry can struggle when it comes to marketing to the G&L community.

"The G&L market is even more important to the travel industry than it ever was before, as it has a more resilient appetite for travel, meaning the industry cannot afford to get its G&L marketing strategy wrong.

"Gay customers really are the greatest experts of all when it comes to designing gay marketing strategies that work. That's why this year Out Now is bringing the opinions of gay travellers into the discussion at WTM," Johnson added.

"In hearing their opinions, discovering relevant motivators and unlocking the key travel concerns of gay and lesbians customers themselves during this innovative seminar, those attending will discover a wealth of practical information able to be profitably applied to the development of their own lesbian and gay marketing strategies during 2010 and beyond."

* Source: Witeck Combs/Harris Interactive

For more information visit the Out Now Consulting website.

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

AdWeek recently 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 recently 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.

Marketing Gay - Como Crear Una Campaña Efectiva

2009-08-04T02:45:00.009+02:00

I recently had the privilege to speak at the GNetwork GLBT Turismo gay marketing conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Here is video from that premiere gay market event in Latin America.

Ian Johnson, Out Now
August 4, 2009

Topics: Buenos Aires. Gay market. Lesbian and gay market. Gay and lesbian marketing GNetwork360 conference. Out Now. GLBT marketing.

Marketing Gay - Como Crear Una Campaña Efectiva - OutNowConsulting.com - Ian Johnson. Fundador de OUT NOW, es uno de los pioneros del marketing gay.

Con mas de dos décadas de experiencia, es reconocido mundialmente como una de las mas importantes autoridades del Marketing orientado al consumidor gay & lesbian.

Empresas como Barclays, Hilton, IBM, Toyota, KLM, Lufthansa y Citibank confían sus campañas y productos a su firma que opera en Estados Unidos, Inglaterra, Holanda, Bélgica, Francia, Italia, Escandinavia y Australia.

Two videos - both in Spanish - from my recent trip to Argentina.

First one:

Second one:

Ian Johnson is the founder and CEO of Out Now, a market consulting company focusing on the gay and lesbian market.

For more information visit the Out Now Consulting website.

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

AdWeek recently 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 recently 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.