Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

To clarify, here is the letter we received in response to my Trendspotting story, “A Niche Market With Broad Spending Power”:

"I find it quite amusing that you would advocate going after a very small niche market and risk a chance of offending the vast majority. Ask Ford Motor Co. if the American Family Association boycott is helping their business. Do your research, the majority of Americans are still offended by the homosexual lifestyle and are willing to pull their support should they find out a company is supporting it. With the information gathering tools we have today, there are no secrets when dealing in the public realm!”

Robbie W. (I’ve decided to remove his last name)
Spencer, VA

Let me first put to rest the notion that the research in the story was somehow inaccurate; I invite anyone to look at the reports I cited about the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) markets and the companies that serve them. Rather than start a debate over homosexuality’s place in society, I think a more important question is whether any minority group can be singled out by businesses without offending someone outside that demographic.  

Does the fact that American Airlines wants to do business with gay customers mean the company promotes homosexuality? Or does it show that the airline thinks the gay community will become more profitable under the Rainbow program (above) than if it’s lumped in with everyone else? The same can be said for Bank of America, Levi’s (gay/straight comparison of commercial shown right, "gay" version video below), Disney, and other companies that reach out to gay customers specifically. All of the programs mentioned in the article were very successful, turning a previously overlooked group into loyal, profitable customers.

Given the reality that people like Robbie will respond negatively when the brands they buy cater to certain groups, what should a company do? There are obviously laws in place to protect consumers from discrimination, but outside of that would you ignore the profit that could come with some targeted marketing in gay publications because of potential backlash?

When I wrote the story about targeting gay consumers, I didn’t worry that some of 1to1 Magazine’s readers would unsubscribe because they were offended (to my knowledge, none have). It’s my job to give readers all the information they need to become better customer advocates and marketers, just as it’s our readers’ job to increase revenue, serve customers, and build a stronger brand as much as they responsibly can.

What do you think? Should companies worry that if they market to a group like the GLBT community they’ll lose business from other customer groups? In your experience, what choice makes the most business sense? When you choose who to do business with, do you consider who the company’s other customers are?