MARKETING: Subaru expands its association with gay, lesbian groups

"The L Word," a new series on the Showtime cable TV network, wanted a vehicle to use on the show. Its producers called Subaru of America Inc. and got a Forester wagon.

Product placement by automakers on TV shows is nothing new. But "The L Word" is not a traditional program. Showtime calls it "a relationship drama about the lives and loves of a group of Los Angeles lesbians."

That combination of show and automaker might seem odd to some. But not to Subaru, and not to the gay and lesbian communities to which the company has marketed for more than a decade.

Subaru even has an advertising agency, Moon City Productions in New York City, that handles only its ads aimed at gay and lesbian consumers.

In studying its buyers about 10 years ago, Subaru found that an unusually large share of owners in Northampton, Mass., were women. It conducted a focus group and discovered that many of them were lesbians, says John Nash, president of Moon City.

"These women were practically commercials for Subaru," Nash says. "They said they bought the cars because of their reliability and ruggedness, and were recommending them."

So Subaru asked, Nash says, "why not speak to them in the first person?"

The initial advertising aimed at gay customers was in local newspapers. But the campaign quickly expanded into national publications. The ads weren't overt but used slogans such as "Be Brand True" and "Get Out and Stay Out."

On their own, the headlines didn't appear targeted to a special audience. But the message was clear because the ads ran in gay publications such as The Advocate and in lesbian magazines such as Curves and Girlfriends, Nash says.

Rick Crosson, vice president of marketing of Subaru of America, adds: "If you read the ad, you wouldn't notice anything different. But it is meaningful to (gay consumers).

"We have pretty good credibility with the gay and lesbian community," Crosson says, "so we don't have to be as edgy and dicey as someone trying to establish" a relationship.

Subaru's affiliation with gay and lesbian groups includes event marketing, Nash says. It sponsors gay film festivals such as Outfest in Los Angeles and Reeling in Chicago.

The automaker is involved in AIDS/Lifecycle, a weeklong, 585-mile cycling event that raises money for AIDS centers in California.

Subaru sponsors the Rainbow VISA credit card, a program founded in 1995 by tennis player Martina Navratilova and Pam Derderian, co-founder and CEO of Do Tell Inc., a niche marketing company in Conshohocken, Pa. The program donates 10 cents of every purchase made with the card to the Rainbow Endowment, which supports gay and lesbian arts, cultural and civil rights activities.

Derderian has worked with Subaru since 1995.

Subaru featured Navratilova in its TV advertising in 2000 and 2001, Derderian says.

"Subaru has not hidden the fact that they understand many of their consumer groups and has always been a company that reached out and communicated to their consumer groups," she says. "They do (advertising) that is appropriate and have a corporate policy that matches their support."

Nash says Subaru's spending on gay-themed advertising is relatively small, although he wouldn't disclose figures.

"The budgets we deal with are a fraction of what Subaru spends," he says. "We are dealing with a niche. What has made our job a little different is that we have a story to tell with Subaru. No one else has the 10-year track record."

Nash says he is amused by the attention that the entry of other automakers into gay and lesbian marketing has generated.

"The G&L marketing efforts garner more print than they deserve," he says. "The mileage exceeds the number of dollars they spend."

Among more recent automotive entrants into gay marketing, only Ford has shown the commitment and staying power of Subaru, Nash says.

Even Subaru's approach is changing. The company's advertising appeals have shifted from a predominantly lesbian focus to equal emphasis on reaching gay men and women, says Tim Bennett, Subaru's director of marketing programs.

"We have kept the advertising nongender as we have grown," he says. "We do not put people into the ads anymore."