Gays and Latinos, according to the studies by Brett Chase and Richard Natale respectively, represent a significant market for major advertisers. In the instance of gay individuals and couples, Chase points out that Miller Lite, the Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda, as well as at least one regional telephone provider, actively courts gay consumers. In the instance of Latino audiences, media producers and programmers recognize that the burgeoning Latino population in the U.S. (estimated to hit nearly 41 million by next year) represents a major opportunity to connect advertisers with movie and television audiences.
We will begin our discussion on Thursday by considering the marketing power of these two groups. What additional products or services can you find as illustrations of this trend toward advertising to gays and Latinos and why do you think those advertisers have targetted these groups, in particular, for their products?
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/23/business/the-media-business-advertising-a-market-that-s-educated-affluent-and-homosexual.html
ReplyDeleteThis article discusses how brands like Gap, Banana Republic, and Absolut Vodka have advertising aimed at gay people. I found it interesting that Gap uses openly Gay actors and models in some of their ads, and I wonder if this celebrity status makes the advertisements less controversial. (A lot of gay celebrities seem to be widely accepted, while a lot of the "common" people in the gay population still receive a lot of criticism.)
I think the main reason these companies target gay people is because they already make up such a large part of their market. To me, it does not seem like these companies had to take major "risks" when they chose to target homosexuals. I think that if a more widely used product like Coca Cola, was to show a gay couple in an advertisement, it would raise a lot more controversy.
http://www.aef.com/industry/news/data/2001/1727
This article talks how some advertisers are using gay athletes to market their products. Once again, we see the celebrity aspect come into play. I think this shows a parallel to how more black athletes and celebrities are used in the media than everyday people.
http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects07/latinoad/ads.html
This article discusses how companies like McDonalds and Pepsi Co. have started targeting more Latinos. I also think that advertising aimed at Latinos varies by location. While there is a significant population of Latinos in our area, we do not see advertising to represent these proportions. In Miami, however, which has a much larger than average Latino population, I noticed a lot more advertisements targeting Latinos. While this makes sense for the advertisers financially, I also find it to be a very "safe" move.
This topic reminds me of when we were talking about Heider's perspective on geography in class and how real estate agents know the good areas or up and coming areas in town by where the gay people are/go. And, as many gay TV and movie characters would reinforce, gay people are credited with knowing fashion, style, art, and what's "sophisticated and chic." It would then appear to me that marketers target the gay population because they are trusted by the majority to know what's trendy and what good quality is. So if you target the desires or needs of this one group, you're lessening your chances of having bad product/service reviews which will reach other groups.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/gays_and_lesbians/gay_advertising.cfm
ReplyDeleteThe top link is to an article that lists some companies that are "courting" the gay community through advertising. One of them is IKEA which aired a commercial showing a gay couple shopping for a table in 1994. The link below is to that commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67_RHiXNk-s
Hey! I didn't post first!
ReplyDeleteI think it's obvious why advertisers would target gay populations. Like Chase discussed in his article, the "gay community" has significant buying power. And as the Latino population grows, so will their buying power.
It's unfortunate that money is the only reason some groups are represented, after years of being ignored by advertisers.
While searching this topic,I found an article in the NY Times about Levi's use of white ties (a symbol that supports same-sex marriage)on mannequins. I thought this was either really bold of them, or just a really clever way to draw in gay consumers. Either way,they are speaking out to mainstream society. Perhaps it is a step in the right direction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/business/media/27adco.html
http://www.nmoa.org/articles/dmnews/10waystoattractlatinos1005.htm
ReplyDeleteThis is a link that I found particularly interesting because it talks about the "Top 10 Ways to Attract and Retain Latino Employees and Customers." Dr. Robert Rodriguez, who is Chairman of the Board for the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement, also the Faculty Chair in the School of Business at Capella University, talks about the shift in demographics and what works and doesn't work as far as drawing attention from the Latino "community." This reminded me of Heider’s point on Geography and Demographics. The following link is about an ad by 20/20 Optical that is aimed at the gay audience. The name of the ad is “20/20 Kiss” which has two males on top of each other, kissing with the tagline on the shoulder of one saying “short- sighted passion” trying to sell sunglasses. I found this ad from the commercialcloset.org Web site which is actually a great source of information and is the GLAAD Advertising Media Program. Each can be seen with the Title of the ad along with the Company and Brand name, also the country, year, and region it was released in, in addition to the business category, medium, and the ad’s target audience. The bottom link brings you to the commercialcloset.org homepage.
http://www.commercialcloset.org/common/adlibrary/adprintdetails.cfm?QID=1657&clientID=11064
http://commercialcloset.org/common/11064/default.cfm?clientID=11064
http://www.gaywiredmedia.com/advertisers.cfm
ReplyDeleteThis site provides a list of 34 advertisers that market for the gay/lesbian community. This site also says that, Gay Consumers Are Early Technology Adopters... And as Heider said, the Gay consumers are interested in big purchases, such as houses and technology. Since gay/lesbian's already make up such a large part of the buying market, why not market products with gay/lesbians in the advertisements?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocohx0C8O2E
This commercial was made to sell the 'revolutionary' red wine. The commercial starts at a wedding and ends with two women kissing before they cut the cake. Before the commercial ends this message pops on the screen, " Every revolution starts with a splash of red." Very cleaver!
I really like this commercial because it sells a message that means a few different things; it is taking a stance for change and recognizing that the change process may not be an easy transition, but every change starts with pain, or fear of change. Another reason I like this commercial is because I am assuming that all women love wine.
Latinos-
http://www.latin-know.com/category/categoryadvertising-to-latinoscategory/
This website suggests that the Beef industry has found their prime market, the Latinos, because most of the food they make consist of Beef. They have no prejudices against beef and their consumption has not decreased with the rest of the market.
Some of the other information I found online indicates that reaching the Latino market is hard because there are certain websites provided to marketing only to Latinos, such as, MSN Latino at http://advertising.microsoft.com/latino.
This site provides space for Latino's to advertise their messages in a different way and to build there brand to the Latino audience.
I found this article, entitled "A Latino Walmart?".
ReplyDeletehttp://npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104652101
I think the answer to the question of why advertisers and their companies are targetting these groups of people is quite obvious. Latinos make up a HUGE part of the population here in America, which means a HUGE part of the spending power, too.
With many younger generations of Latinos going to public schools here in America and speaking English, they are more easily reached by the mainstream media. A Dr. Pepper commercial:
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS7Q__vM8xw)shows a man opening a can of Dr. Peppper and the can raps a song in English, then in Spanish. Not only that, but Oscar Mayor Wiener and American Idol teamed up in 2008 and had a contest for the best Oscar Mayor Jingle in both English and Spanish. (www.hispanicwire.com/generarnews.php?l=in&id=8781&cha=0)
When a company speaks to you and caters to your culture and your language, you are more willing to spend your money on their products because you think "Hey...they get it."
When I actually have time to watch television, I try to watch the ads very closely to see who they are targeting. I've noticed over the last few years that advertisers are focusing on the gay market.
ReplyDeleteCheck out this watch ad from Dolce and Gabana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6aivppmzMo&feature=related
Here is another ad from Levi's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB90Vkyqrts
I think that companies are starting to associate their products with the gay community. I think it's a step in the right direction.
I've seen a trend towards more home appliance advertising for Latino market. Home goods as well.
ReplyDeleteOn Telefutura ch. 5 right now. Progresso Soup commercial. Bright House en espanol. Debt Group. and the lawyer, Jose Estrada, p.a. (representation!)
Ch. 8 Univision: Chase Bank,
Same commercials as for English speaking ones. Increased population that are home owners? Cha-ching.
Here is a point I think we should talk. Ad rates on Spanish-Speaking channels. Since these channels are not judged against English speaking nielsen ratings, are their ad rates different?
I know that in radio, Spanish stations routinely demolish their English counterparts in the ratings.
The recognition of out gays and their purchasing power in the economy has come with their increased representation in popular culture. Ranging from stereotypical to nuanced Will and Grace to Six Feet Under, gay characters are becoming acceptable television to Middle America.
I'm playing a video game right now that might be a first for this sector of media (HEY WHY DONT WE TALK ABOUT VIDEO GAMES? THEY ARE A BILLION DOLLAR MEDIUM)
Anyway, Grand Theft Auto 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony is the game. The name is reference to a major character whom the player works for. However, the player plays a character who is A: ex-Marine, B: Latino, C: Possibly gay, (haven't played that far yet).
The series has a longstanding tradition of sending up stereotype and making strong social commentary on American culture. They also have protagonists that are more than cut and dry thugs. Each iteration of a Grand Theft Auto playable character has been a different race.
Now I believe they are opening new avenues for sexuality. The developers have a history of this with their game Bully, in which a juvenile character can have his first kiss come from a boy or a girl, whatever the player wants. This was a mild controversy.
Here is the NYTimes article on the game.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/arts/television/29grand.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=ballad%20of%20gay%20tony&st=cse
Like Amanda, I stumbled upon Commercial Closet, an association out of the GLAAD organization (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Their site is very informative and shows ads with companies they've worked with and also ads with positive GLBT representation. Their website is commercialcloset.org
ReplyDeleteI also found a Time article describing why many ads are targeting the gay community, and the article said that "gays are on average 'more affluent, more interested in style and brands, and travel more' than their straight counterparts." This makes them not only a desired target for advertisers, but a niche market easier to sell to because of their strong tendancy to become loyal to brands and companies.
A paragraph in the Time article:
"Gay consumers react kindly to companies 'speaking to a part of their identity that is usually ignored,' suggests David Muniz, commercial director at QSoft Consulting, which operates a string of gay media sites online."
I think we'll be seeing a lot more ads that are "gay-friendly" or directly targeted at the community because of their buying power and brand loyalty.
I didn't find anything too different from what has already been posted, but I did find this website that explains why a business would want to target the gay and lesbian market:
ReplyDeletehttp://gaytargetedadvertising.com/
An interesting bit of text from the site: "Bravo, Apple, Showtime, HBO, Absolut and Levi were cited as the gay-friendliest brands. On the other hand, Wal-Mart, Dunkin’ Donuts, Cracker Barrel, ExxonMobil and Samsung received the lowest marks.
A study revealed that more than two-thirds of gay and lesbian consumers said they were more likely to buy from a company they consider gay-friendly and 71% said they favored brands that include gay imagery in their advertising, as Levi Strauss did last year with a TV ad for Levi’s 501 jeans."
Something that paralleled the idea from the readings that companies might be afraid to target homosexuals is because they might alienate heterosexuals, as evidenced by a family values group that threatened a boycott of Ford after the company announced it would be advertise all of its brands in gay publications:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=1414092&business=true
http://www.aef.com/pdf/PMP_Latinos296-301.pdf
ReplyDeleteI would love to think that advertisers are targeting gay and latino audiences because they finally have a change in heart of how they feel towards the groups. But I would argue that if advertisers could make money without appealing to certain groups they would.
The link above shows how much money has gone into marketing towards latinos. and one thing is, advertising and marketing firms don't just increase spending because of a moral change in heart, they see money and they are going after it.
numbers show the same to be true with homosexuals. this chart shows the buying potential by minority groups.
http://gaycityusa.com/Investing.htm
I believe that the reason why advertising has started targeting the latino and gay markets is because they have huge buying power.
ReplyDeleteI found a commercial that aired during the 2006 Superbowl from Toyota that specifically targeted the latino market. A latino father and son are driving a hybrid Toyota. The commercial compares their blend of cultures (since they speak English and Spanish) to the Hybrid's blend of fuels (electric and gas).
The article says that it would have been unthinkable to blatantly target Hispanics in a mainstream general market such as the Superbowl. For the hesitation that many seemed to have for the commercial, people were surprised to find that it went over so well.
I've sent links for the Boston Globe article and the actual commercial to Dr. Silvia.
I do not have anything new to present. I found the same link that Mauriah posted.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important for advertisers to appeal to different audiences because there are some ADs that just don't appeal to everyone. If an AD or a company only ever represents one type of person, then others that do not fit into that type might not find the product appealing. This means that the companies would not be making as much money as they could. I do not think it is strange that this type of trend is fairly recent. I think in the past, advertisers would have to be careful of offending their biggest spenders. If they represented a group in their ADs that their main costumer was offended by, they may choose to not purchase the product anymore. With the state of the economy it is especially important for advertisers to recognize different groups and represent them, because they need money coming in. Some might suggest that having different types of ADs be appealing to different types of people is a way to keep different groups separate from one another. I do not believe this is the case.
It all comes down to which groups are going to spend money. Companies will only spend money if they believe they are going to make money.