ABSTRACT
Over the past 50 years, and especially in the past decade, there has been a growing trend in what has become euphemistically termed Marketing the Rainbow, the efforts by companies to target the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT+) demographic. This case examines the importance of the role that public relations can play when firms are seeking to market to minorities, who often have a “sensitivity” of some sort: either as a guiding light for marketers in their campaigns, or as a tool for damage control when things get out of hand. One such segment that has become increasingly attractive to a whole array of companies is the Gay Consumer segment: a segment reportedly comprised of consumers with higher education qualifications, higher incomes, no children, a sense for trends, and a preference for luxury lifestyles. This case draws on 10 years of PhD research to explore the challenges of marketing to this target segment and the need to avoid stereotyping the Gay Consumer.
