:Out Now Consulting
{{Infobox company
|name = Out Now
|logo =
|type = Company
|genre = Gay marketing specialist
|foundation = 1992/2001
|founder = Ian Johnson
|location_city =
|location_country =
|location = Australia, Netherlands
|key_people =
|area_served = Europe, US, Australia
|industry = Marketing
|products =
|services =Market research, strategy, advertising, PR, training
|revenue =
|operating_income =
|net_income =
|num_employees =
|parent = Significant Others
|divisions =
|subsid =
|owner =
|homepage = http://OutNowConsulting.com/
|dissolved =
|footnotes =
}}
Out Now Consulting is a marketing agency that provides specialised gay marketing 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 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.{{Citation
| last = Liz Hayes
| title = TV interview of Out Now / Significant Others CEO
| newspaper = Nine Network, Today (Australian TV program)
| year = 1994
| url = http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?ei=UTF-8&b=0&vid=612583&gid=818377
}}
| last = Amanda Keller
| title = 'The Hub' - Australian TV program on Significant Others
| newspaper = Foxtel
| year = 1996
| url = http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3403335185812918985&q=gay+marketing&hl=en
}}
| last = Hubble
| first = Ava
| title = The Guide - Media - Significant Others advises John Singleton and Barrie Unsworth on gay media market
| newspaper = Sydney Morning Herald
| page = 2
| date = September 26, 1994
}}
Significant Others presented the Keynote address at the world's first gay marketing conference in 1994.[http://www.greenleft.org.au/1994/133/10257 Chasing The Pink Dollar conference, Sydney, Australia. April 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.{{Citation
| last = Lucassen
| first = Christine
| title = Tapping Into The €400 bn gay market - Marketing group Out Now advises clients on ways of targeting 'pink' euro
| newspaper = International Herald Tribune - NL edition
| page = 2
| date = February 5, 2002
}}
| last = Gons
| first = Piet Hein
| title = The First Office Outside Australia of Gay Marketing Agency Out Now Is Opened in Amsterdam - Beweer nooit dat je een homomerk bent - Het eerste kantoor buiten Australie van homomarketing-bureau Out Now is onslangs geopend in Amsterdam
| newspaper = Adformatie
| page = 16
| date = February 7, 2002
}}
| last = Emily Maitlis
| title = UK TV News coverage of Out Now
| newspaper = BBC
| year = 2006
| url = http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4562279648911578604
}}
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.
{{Citation
| last = Kotler
| first = Philip
| author-link = Philip Kotler
| title = Principes Van Marketing (Principles of Marketing)
| publisher = Pearson Education
| year = 2006
| pages = 365–367
| url = http://www.managementboek.nl/boekeninfo.asp?CODE=ochqcqmnqr&ReferrerID=2
| isbn = 90-430-1071-5}}
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.{{Citation
| last = Barker
| first = Andrew
| title = Same-sex ads swim into mainstream - Industry embraces buying power of gay market
| newspaper = Variety
| date = April 12, 2007
| url = https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117962966.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
}}
Out Now won a Commercial Closet Association 'Images In Advertising' award in New York (June 11, 2007) in the "Outstanding Interactive" campaign category for an online promotion for Lufthansa.[http://www.commercialcloset.com/common/news/reports/detail.cfm?Classification=report&QID=4238&ClientID=11064&TopicID=0 Commercial Closet 'Images In Advertising' award winners]{{Citation|last=Quartini |first=Joelle L. |title=Image Makers - Commercial Closet honors advertising that includes gays. |newspaper=New York Blade |date=June 15, 2007 |url=http://nyblade.com/2007/6-15/news/localnews/imagemakers.cfm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024184921/http://nyblade.com/2007/6-15/news/localnews/imagemakers.cfm |archive-date=October 24, 2007 }} – [https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=author%3AQuartini+intitle%3AImage+Makers+-+Commercial+Closet+honors+advertising+that+includes+gays.&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=Search Scholar search]
The agency has initiated research projects for gay and lesbian media in several countries including Sydney Star Observer, DNA Magazine (Australia), Gay Community News (Ireland), Diva, Gay Times, Bent (magazine) (United Kingdom) and De Gay Krant (Netherlands), such research usually being the first marketing analysis of gay consumers.{{Citation|title=How Green is the Pink Euro? New Ireland Gay Market Study To Find Out |newspaper=Echelon Magazine |year=2006 |access-date=2007-08-04 |url=http://www.echelonmagazine.com/news_outnow2.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108134052/http://www.echelonmagazine.com/news_outnow2.htm |archive-date=January 8, 2007 }} – [https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3AHow+Green+is+the+Pink+Euro%3F+New+Ireland+Gay+Market+Study+To+Find+Out&as_publication=&as_ylo=2006&as_yhi=2006&btnG=Search Scholar search]
The resulting findings have been reported in various international media.{{Citation
| last = Bloomfield
| first = Steve
| title = Closet UK: 49% of gay people are too scared to come out at work
| newspaper = The Independent
| date = January 29, 2006
| url = http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article341714.ece
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060205035146/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article341714.ece
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = February 5, 2006
}}
| last = Burnett
| first = Scott
| title = Business of Gay Weddings
| newspaper = Financial Mail
| date = March 2, 2007
| url = http://secure.financialmail.co.za/07/0302/features/afeat.htm
}}
Other work includes social research - such as a 2004 work on discrimination in the Netherlands.{{Citation|title=Gaykrant-onderzoek: Tolerantie is op z'n retour |newspaper=Homo Emancapatie |date=August 6, 2004 |url=http://www.homo-emancipatie.nl/overig/nieuws.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311051315/http://www.homo-emancipatie.nl/overig/nieuws.html |archive-date=March 11, 2007 }}
Industry role
In June 2006, the MD of Out Now Consulting was [http://www.ingenious-group.com/IGpageimages/pinkpound/Pink_Pound_Speakers_biographies.pdf Keynote speaker] for the [http://www.ingenious-group.com/pink_pound_conference.htm Pink Pound Conference] held in London.[http://www.ingenious-group.com/IGpageimages/pinkpound/Pink_pound_conference.pdf Pink Pound Conference, 22 June 2006]
In November 2006 Out Now presented a Keynote seminar at the world's second largest travel conference, London World Travel Market.{{Citation
| title = World Travel Market - WTM Gay and Lesbian Market webinar
| newspaper = Reed Business Exhibitions
| year = 2007
| access-date = 2007-08-04
| url = http://www.ems.servecast.com/pe_storage/reed/Presentations/WTM2006/Gay_and_lesbian_market/intro.asp
}}
Out Now presented at the February 2007 Marketing For Good event in London which for the first time considered gay marketing topics.[http://www.ingenious-group.com/IGpageimages/conferences/MFG_2007.pdf Marketing For Good conference, 28 February 2007]
In August 2007 the [http://www.mrs.org.uk/ 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".{{Citation
| last = Bain
| first = Robert
| title = Out Now Consulting to conduct 'groundbreaking' study into the UK's three million gay consumers
| newspaper = Research-live.com
| date = August 28, 2007
| access-date = 2007-08-29
| url = http://www.research-live.com/news_story.aspx?pageid=30&r=y&newsid=3601
}}
In February 2015, the firm became the first organization in the world to be allocated [http://www.outnow.lgbt a dedicated .LGBT domain name]".{{Citation
| last = BBC newsbeat report
| title = The first websites ending with the domain name LGBT go online
| newspaper = BBC.co.uk
| date = February 12, 2015 | access-date = 2015-07-22
| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/31437842/the-first-websites-ending-with-the-domain-name-lgbt-go-online
}}
'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.{{Citation
| last = Adams
| first = William Lee
| title = S. Carolina Huffs Over UK 'Gay' Ads
| newspaper = Time
| date = July 17, 2008
| url = http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1823811,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080721130643/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1823811,00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = July 21, 2008
| last = Baker
| first = Vicky
| title = South Carolina - not 'so gay' after all
| newspaper = The Guardian
| date = July 16, 2008
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/jul/16/gay.travel
}}
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 State Senator and the office of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford,{{Citation
| last = Lisa Mullins
| title = London ad campaign upsets South Carolina
| newspaper = PRI The World (radio program)
| date = July 14, 2008
| url = http://www.pri.org/politics-society/gay-ad-campaign.html
}} but was favorably received by members of the gay community.{{Citation
| last = Ivey
| first = Page
| title = South Carolina's 'so gay' travel ad upsets state officials
| newspaper = USA Today
| date = July 23, 2008
| url = https://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2008-07-23-south-carolina-gay-ad_N.htm
}}
The campaign was later described as "the year's most talked about tourism ads" by several media outlets, including AdWeek.{{Citation
| last = Lee
| first = Tom
| title = Millions see 'So Gay' ad
| newspaper = Pink Paper
| date = February 5, 2009
| access-date = 2009-05-19
| url = http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=707
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716163241/http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=707
| archive-date = 16 July 2011
}}
Notes
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External links
- [http://www.OutNowConsulting.com outnowconsulting.com] - Official website
- [http://www.GayMarketNews.com GayMarketNews.com] - Out Now gay market news website
Category:LGBTQ and the economy
Category:Advertising agencies of Australia