New, more sophisticated efforts show a growing respect for the gay and lesbian audience – and its buying power

With sales down and its product line not generating the excitement it once did, car maker Saturn decided that it needed to overhaul not only its cars, but also its marketing focus. Even as the company dedicated itself to a “product renaissance” starting in 2006, it was also looking to make a bigger splash as a major marketer, seeking out new audiences that would show loyalty to the brand and evangelize on its behalf.

It didn’t take long before the automaker realized that the buying attitudes and behavior it was seeking abounded in at least one audience that also seemed heavily drawn to Saturn’s new line: the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community. “We’d dabbled in working with this demographic group for a couple of years, and we had more and more [GLBT] customers coming into the showrooms,” explains Ross Bird, who was an assistant divisional marketing manager for Saturn during the lineup overhaul. “From a finance standpoint, they tended to be good customers with good credit. More important, they seemed like a loyal group of customers. Once you sold them, they’d come back — and they’d bring friends.”

In overseeing Saturn’s integrated push to communicate with GLBT consumers — an effort that blended direct mail with event planning and other marketing outlets — Bird also witnessed firsthand what an increasing number of big-brand marketers now realize: namely, that the GLBT community is a consumer force that cannot be denied.

While it’s still a niche market — researchers estimate that the GLBT audience represents about 6 to 7 percent of the total U.S. adult population, or about 15.3 million adults — it’s a particularly influential one, with gay men and lesbians in particular wielding enviable buying power. Overall, market projections suggest that this adds up to $712 billion in annual purchasing power.

And those numbers have never been more important than they are right now. “As a community, we seem to be a little more immune to the economic downturn,” notes David Posegay, advertising director for the magazines Out and The Advocate. “It may be because so many of us are professionals with dual incomes and no children.”

For all those reasons, dozens of industries — from automakers to airlines, credit cards to companies, banks to breweries and beyond — are trying to tap into this lucrative market. As they do, they are realizing that it takes more than showing a same-sex couple in ads or pasting a rainbow flag, the unofficial banner of the GLBT community, on a mail sample. “The (companies) that communicate to GLBTs authentically are being rewarded with market share,” says Andy Bagnall, vice president and account director for Prime Access, a New York City–based multicultural advertising agency that has run many GLBT campaigns.

Saturn’s Story

Saturn was determined to be one of those companies. A while back, the automaker partnered with Atlanta-based Gaywheels.com, a gay-friendly car information site, to participate in the Atlanta Pride Festival and Orlando’s Gay Days®* Spread out over several days, each festival attracted thousands of attendees from the Southeast and beyond.

At both, Saturn sponsored parade floats and pool parties, handed out T-shirts with the slogan “Does your ride reflect your pride?” and took hundreds of pictures, which attendees could later order in commemorative frames via Gaywheels.com.

Festival-goers could also visit Saturn’s tents to check out the new models — and fill out survey cards indicating their interest in learning more about them. Marketers sent the cards to Saturn dealers in attendees’ hometowns, and those dealers followed up with customized mailed invitations to visit.

The effort generated an uptick in car sales, but more important, it proved that Saturn could influence brand perception among a coveted group of buyers. “The overwhelming conclusion was that it was a huge success in terms of connecting with that group in a non-traditional way and changing its perception of the brand,” says Bird, now a regional GM distribution manager. “We heard comments like, ‘We never considered Saturn before, but now you’re on our list.’”

Bird also gives credit to Saturn’s partnership with Gaywheels.com and its founder, Joe LaMuraglia, who connected the automaker with festival organizers, designed an integrated ad campaign and promoted Saturn’s activities on the Web site before and after the events. “He opened a lot of doors for us, giving us instant credibility with this audience,” recalls Bird.

LaMuraglia says it’s impossible to overestimate the importance of that credibility. “You’re dealing with very savvy consumers,” he says of the GLBT community. “If you do it without any thought, if you do it wrong, it’s going to backfire on you.”