Out Now Consulting
Encyclopedia
Out Now Consulting is a marketing agency that provides specialised gay marketing
Gay marketing
LGBT marketing is the act of marketing to LGBT customers, either with dedicated ads or general ads, or through sponsorships of LGBT organizations and events, or through the targeted use of any other element of the marketing mix.The LGBT market comprises a group of customers who buy goods and...

 services to large companies by researching gay lifestyles and using the information to develop strategies to target gay and lesbian consumers.

Origins

Although Out Now is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 company, its origins lie in the formation of an Australian company, Significant Others, which after its establishment in 1992 became known in Australian media over subsequent years for its work as a specialist gay marketing agency.

Significant Others presented the Keynote address at the world's first gay marketing conference in 1994.

Following the establishment of an office in Amsterdam, Out Now became the first business of its kind with agencies in more than one country.

Activities are now undertaken in the US, UK, Germany, Belgium, France, Ireland and The Netherlands markets.

Out Now's role in the development of gay marketing in various countries has been discussed in the Dutch language edition of 'Principes van Marketing' (Principles of Marketing) - a marketing textbook - by Dr. Philip Kotler
Philip Kotler
Philip Kotler is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.-Early life:He received his master's degree at the University of Chicago...

.

Areas of work

The company works in five areas: market research, advertising, training, PR and strategy development and is cited by mainstream media as an authority on gay consumer issues.

Out Now won a Commercial Closet Association
Commercial Closet Association
Commercial Closet Association is a New York City based non-profit organization, founded in 2001 to educate and influence the $1.1 trillion annual worldwide advertising market to foster understanding, respect and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to achieve a more...

 'Images In Advertising' award in New York (June 11, 2007) in the "Outstanding Interactive" campaign category for an online promotion for Lufthansa
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...

.

The agency has initiated research projects for gay and lesbian media in several countries including Sydney Star Observer
Sydney Star Observer
The Sydney Star Observer is a free weekly tabloid and online newspaper that caters to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The paper is owned and published by Gay & Lesbian Community Publishing Limited, a community-owned and oriented business...

, DNA Magazine
DNA Magazine
DNA is an Australian monthly magazine targeted at the gay male audience. The magazine features stories, celebrity profiles, pop culture reviews, fashion tips/reviews, grooming tips and photography. The magazine is available at most newsagencies in Australia, as well as larger book stores...

 (Australia), Gay Community News
Gay Community News (Dublin)
Gay Community News, based in Dublin, is Ireland's longest-running LGBT publication. First published on 10 February 1988 when Tonie Walsh and Catherine Glendon, both activists on the Dublin gay scene, decided it was time for Ireland’s gay and lesbian population to have a free publication of their...

 (Ireland), Diva
Diva (magazine)
Diva is a leading lesbian magazine in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 1994 by Millivres Prowler Group Ltd., who also produce the Gay Times. The current editor is Jane Czyzselska, who was promoted to the position in 2004. It includes many articles dedicated to lesbian and bisexual social...

, Gay Times
Gay Times
Gay Times is one of the United Kingdom's leading gay magazine for gay and bisexual men.-Publication and content:...

, Bent (magazine)
Bent (magazine)
Bent is a free magazine that targets gay men and is distributed to 400 gay bars, clubs and saunas right across the United Kingdom. Published monthly by All Points North UK in Leeds, it largely focuses on entertainment – celebrities, film, DVD and music as well as television, comedy and scene...

 (United Kingdom) and De Gay Krant
Gay Krant
Gay Krant is a Dutch publication written for the gay community. It voted Cristiano Ronaldo as the sexiest player in the 2004 European Championship and in the 2006 FIFA World Cup....

 (Netherlands), such research usually being the first marketing analysis of gay consumers.

The resulting findings have been reported in various international media.

Other work includes social research - such as a 2004 work on discrimination in the Netherlands.

Industry role

In June 2006, the MD of Out Now Consulting was Keynote speaker for the Pink Pound Conference held in London.

In November 2006 Out Now presented a Keynote seminar at the world's second largest travel conference, London World Travel Market
World Travel Market
World Travel Market is a UK event aimed at the global travel industry. Almost 46,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and representatives of the international media, converge on ExCeL London each year in November to attend WTM. This year World Travel Market is scheduled...

.

Out Now presented at the February 2007 Marketing For Good event in London which for the first time considered gay marketing
Gay marketing
LGBT marketing is the act of marketing to LGBT customers, either with dedicated ads or general ads, or through sponsorships of LGBT organizations and events, or through the targeted use of any other element of the marketing mix.The LGBT market comprises a group of customers who buy goods and...

 topics.

In August 2007 the Market Research Society reported that Out Now was to undertake a "major survey of the lifestyles and spending power of the UK’s three million gay consumers".

'So gay' campaign

During 2008, a UK travel advertising campaign created by Out Now which used the term "So Gay" as an advertising slogan attracted global media attention.

The poster campaign featured six US destinations seeking to attract gay travelers from the UK. One poster saying "South Carolina is so gay" was criticized by a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 State Senator and the office of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford
Mark Sanford
Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. is an American politician from South Carolina, who was the 115th Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011....

, but was favorably received by members of the gay community.

The campaign was later described as "the year's most talked about tourism ads" by several media outlets, including AdWeek
Adweek
Adweek is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1978....

.

External links

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