(openPR) - New York, USA -- (OUT NOW) May 11, 2007 -- Advertising agencies are struggling to keep up with demands of client brands wanting to target the lesbian and gay consumer market.

According to industry experts this is because most mainstream advertising and marketing agencies fail to understand their target audience effectively before trying to develop a gay marketing strategy.

In an article entitled 'Same-sex ads swim into mainstream - Industry embraces buying power of gay market' leading US entertainment and media magazine, Variety, says the media and advertising industries are being shaken up by the emergence of a strong gay consumer market.

Ian Johnson, CEO of Out Now Consulting - a leading global specialist gay marketing agency quoted in the Variety magazine article - says the advertising industry has a lot to learn about gay customers if they want their marketing efforts to succeed.

"Advertising agencies thought for too many years that merely including a few gay media outlets in a media buy was all they needed to do to target gay customers," says Johnson.

"Agencies are failing to undertake, or buy-in, good gay market research before embarking on gay advertising, PR or marketing campaigns," says Johnson. "When you are dealing with a unique market such as the gay market, good quality research knowledge is essential to achieve market success."

"Many times gay marketing is seen by the gay consumer audience as junk mail with nothing to say to them as a gay consumer seeing that advertising. Effective gay marketing requires a lot more. Advertising imagery agencies are using is often neither appropriate nor segment-specific, and the gay consumer responds negatively."

Recognizing that the marketing process itself is little different in marketing to any audience, Johnson contends many advertising agencies mistake the process being the same to imply that the marketing communications content can be too.

"When you look at any major gay website or magazine it usually takes less than a minute to pick out examples of advertising with almost nothing of targeted relevance to say to gay customers," says Johnson. "Gay people will generally ignore mainstream advertising that they already see elsewhere in the mainstream consumer media."

"The ad industry needs to smarten up and learn how gay consumers perceive their own lives as people," says Johnson. "Mainstream media buyers identify gay media options, but have no real insight into gay market attitudes, opinions and relevant lifestyle factors. Most of the advertising that actually makes it into these gay media spaces reflects that ignorance."

In the Variety article Johnson says: "Most members of the market share a common bond by virtue of their 'otherness' - which creates significant marketing opportunities. The challenge is to create good gay marketing that works by recognition of both the commonality that exists between gay consumers, while at the same time acknowledging the vast diversity that also exists amongst the group."

Out Now Consulting specializes in creating effective gay PR, advertising, gay market research and gay marketing strategies to enable campaigns to target gay consumers most effectively.

Out Now clients include IBM, Barclays and Toyota.

Out Now is nominated for a 2007 'Images in Advertising' award - for a recent gay advertising campaign for Lufthansa - at next month's Commercial Closet Awards on June 11 in New York City.

Notes to editors:

The original Variety article is at www.variety.com/article/VR1117962966.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

Gay Market News has more information on this story: www.gaymarketnews.com/2007/04/variety-gay-advertising-out...

The gay market comprises 6% of the total consumer market. Source: UK government, Whitehall, December 2005.

The US gay market value exceeds $600 billion annually. Source: Human Rights Campaign www.hrc.org

The UK gay market value exceeds £70 billion pounds annually. Source: Out Now Diva and GT Gay Market Report, 2006.

Established in 1992, Out Now Consulting is a leading source for gay marketing research and strategy, and is a global gay market agency relied upon by organizations involved with lesbian and gay people. Services include market research, training, advertising, public relations and strategy development.

Out Now clients include German National Tourist Office, Qantas Airways, VisitBritain, Lufthansa, South African Tourism and Citibank.

For further information please contact:

Ian Johnson, CEO
Out Now Consulting

US landline: +1-646-808 0740
UK landline: +44-(0)20-8123 5288

web: www.outnowconsulting.com/who.htm
news: www.GayMarketNews.com

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Out Now Consulting is a global gay marketing and advertising company. Over 15 years the agency has been relied upon by some of the world's most important brands including IBM, Toyota, Citibank, Barclays and Lufthansa. Out Now is nominated for the prestigious Commercial Closet 2007 'Images In Advertising' Awards for an online advertising campaign devised for Lufthansa.

Out Now Consulting
Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands
info@outnowconsulting.com
www.outnowconsulting.com
Press contact: Ian Johnson
CEO, Out Now
Tel: +1-646-808 0740
info@outnowconsulting.com