Dear Agencies: Create Queer Campaigns Before You Even Consider Pride Parties

Hot take: The best ad campaigns of the last decade weren’t orchestrated by LGBTQ+ nightlife planners, and the best Pride parties weren’t created by ad agencies giving meager budgets to overworked employee resource groups. Whew! *wipes brow* Felt good to finally say it. We're referring to what has become a fairly common approach to LGBTQ+ community outreach by agencies. In June, agencies and brands love to celebrate Pride with an office get-together. A sponsored float. A visiting drag queen. It’s arguably well-intended, misplaced energy in terms of ROI—a lot of planning by queer people during a month we're supposed to be celebrating, not working harder. And from our perspective, allies sparsely attend; if they do, they're usually the ones who already know about queer culture. These parties are preaching to the choir (and that choir is singing “Like a Prayer”). There’s nothing wrong with these celebration ideas inherently, but we have to ask the industry built on effective creativity: Are there tactics we could consider to still engage the LGBTQ+ community while generating more industry and societal value? Seriously consider the process of an agency throwing a company Pride party: With limited leadership guidance and funds (and you know how much good experiential costs), LGBTQ+ people are usually asked to work—uncompensated, outside clocked hours—to educate non-LGBTQ+ co-workers and create a celebration of queer culture within the parameters of corporate culture—i.e., not an actual queer celebration. Good parties comes from a vision, a concept, a theme. Will yours make employees feel better? It can happen, but it must feel gay, not corporate gay. Now consider the process of your creative agency working on an LGBTQ+ campaign: Strategists accustomed to exploration start exploring. Creatives start creating based on a brief. No new skills required, allies are comfortable participating, and everyone gets to operate within the existing cultural norms of the company, pushing discomfort for the sake of world-changing ideas—not for the sake of an after-hours party. The impact is a boost to employee morale (immediate and long-term) and to the community outside the agency. And the representation counts, big time. Though we’re perhaps the fastest-growing multicultural demo in the country, of 436 ads on national linear television from the top 10 largest advertisers, LGBTQ+ people received 1.42% of screen time and are featured in only 3% of ads. And 79% of non-LGBTQ+ consumers agree brands should strive for multidimensional, human representation when including LGBTQ+ people in advertising. Our industry of massive campaigns, cultural connection, and behavioral impact has done very little in recent years to support our communities. If corporate parties were a key to change, they would have worked by now. And BTW, a study discovered that 64% of respondents either reduced or entirely stopped attending company events after work hours during 2023; given the choice, nearly seven in 10 employees prefer a larger bonus instead of a holiday party. Because of the potential to create meaningful impact for the entire LGBTQ+ community—creating a positive environment and culture for all your employees in the process—allies should reallocate their funds and focus toward campaigns that benefit the larger community in 2025. Queer folks need to be in decision-making roles around queer creative work, and this shift puts them in the well-deserved driver's seat. Pick a client Statistically, we’re assuming you have an amazing LGBTQ+ talent pool ready to help craft your campaign—but community and cultural impact mean you’ll first have to find a client outside your agency. There’s no lack of community organizations ready to hand you metrics and insights. Trans Lifeline, FLUX, and SAGE are but a few examples of orgs ready for needed contributions. Instead of a campaign about what you stand for as an agency, do what you do best: Elevate important community brands. It’s an LGBTQ+ campaign—not a Pride campaign The focus on June, by brands and agencies, is not it. We always call out the performative allies who show up with Pride floats; we also celebrate the brands who show up in like, December, with no flag but an act of value instead. Pick any other month. Not June. Don’t make us work harder in June. And remember: “Pride” is not a demo. LGBTQ+ people is a demo. Or L people. Or B people. But speak to people, not to a calendar. Make something you’ll repeat Done a Pride campaign before? OK … where’s the sequel? That’s commitment. Never done an LGBTQ+ campaign? Don’t start one that you wouldn’t create a sequel to; that’s also commitment. If the campaign is aligned with your brand values, it’ll last more than a year. And here’s a simple metric of commitment: If you do hang a Pride flag in June, leave it up in July. And August, etc. It literally costs you more to take it down. It’s got community metrics Only 29% of LGBTQ+ ERGs have a formal mission aligned with business goals. And 53% of ERGs want more active participation from leadership beyond Pride month. Don’t measure your impact on how many of your own people came to a party; measure your impact on consumers reached, viewers engaged, donations made, units sold, and lives changed. If you’re a hospitality brand, consider covering meals your employees have with their chosen family. Better yet, cover a hotel stay for them to visit. If you’re an auto company, consider reimbursing gender-affirming care travel expenses as well as paid leave. And if you have metrics benefiting the community and client alike, no one will ever accuse you of having won that creative award to pad your shelf. LGBTQ+ people are going to work harder than ever this year for visibility and fairness. And queer folks need to be in decision-making roles around queer creative work. So if we never again see a Pride party from a company that hasn't done a campaign for LGBTQ+ people, that’s fine by us. After you’ve worked with us to achieve those pursuits, then let’s celebrate the work we’ve done together—and with the community—to elevate voices and ideas that need to be heard.

Voice

Dear Agencies: Create Queer Campaigns Before You Even Consider Pride Parties

If corporate parties were a key to change, they would have worked by now

Graham Nolan

Arielle Egozi

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