How are you portraying love in marketing?
Love is a powerful emotion. It’s something we all seek within our lives. So, it’s no wonder that marketers package stories about love to connect with their audience.
With the power to influence through stories, marketers can shape how we perceive love as a society. This includes what kind of love we deem acceptable.
The “LGBTQ inclusion in Advertising and Media” study conducted by Glaad found that non-LGBTQ Americans, who had been exposed to LGBTQ people in media, were more likely to accept LGBTQ people than those who had not been exposed. They also found people looked favourably on companies that included LGBTQ people in their adverts.
By choosing to show love in all its forms, a company gains favour and they market to a key part of their audience interested in spending. After all, the pink pound is worth around £6 billion a year!
With all this in mind, it makes complete sense for your business and for society to feature LGBTQ couples in campaigns.
Thankfully, more brands are highlighting LGBTQ relationships in their campaigns – a testament to how far we’ve come! But not all brands aren’t succeeding in representing LGBTQ people in a way that feels true to the community.
For example, a Lloyd’s ad in 2016 showed a same-sex couple’s marriage proposal. However, following the proposal, they express their love in a way we wouldn’t expect. The gay couple simply hug – arguably not as natural of an action as kissing after saying yes! Just seconds before this, we’re shown a close-up of heterosexual couple kissing.
What are the effects of holding back in this way?
Well, you could put off the audience you’re trying to represent. There could be disappointment that the company didn’t commit to showing a natural and real version of love.
In fact, a lot of the LGBTQ community still aren’t seeing versions of love they connect with. Asad Dhuanna, An LGBTQ advocate and member of PrideAM says “many brands have got the LG of LGBT+ right, but I cannot think of those that go beyond that, or even brands that get the representation of the lesbian community right.” Advertisers have a STRONG male gay bias when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation.
If people aren’t seeing the love they experience mirrored back at them in campaigns, they’re less likely to buy or connect with your message of love.
Now, it’s not all about romantic relationships.
Marketers can go beyond romantic love. An advert by Gilette, for example, focuses on the love between a father and his transgender son as he teaches him how to shave. The response? Tidal waves of adoration and praise.
There could even be disadvantages to just focusing on romantic love. Research by USC Marshall School of Business shows that single people were less likely to pay for high-end products when the adverts highlighted romantic relationships.
Yet, when these single consumers were reminded of their platonic relationships, they were happy to indulge.
In conclusion, not everyone experiences love in the same way. Marketing should move away from showing us one type of love to increase brand loyalty and sales. The cherry on top? Being inclusive means changing the perception of society, so love in all its forms becomes more accepted.
When your marketing is inclusive you win consumers and their loyalty, AND you see an increase in ROI. To find out how you can make your marketing more inclusive, come to us for an eye-opening audit.
