Many major brands have been vocal on both sides of the gay rights issue. It’s not advertising—and for that reason, it may be the best kind of marketing.
YouGov BrandIndex found some differences between the top 20 best perceived brands among LGBT adults and the general population—and several of those at the top of the LGBT list have recently made highly publicized moves related to equality. Coincidence? Probably not.
Take Costco, for example. The membership-only national grocer does not advertise at all. It's No. 1 for LGBT consumers, but doesn't rank at all among the general population. The company has been a leader in the equality movement both externally and internally—and it received a 95 percent rating from the 2014 Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices "pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees."
In honor of Pride Month, let's take a look at the other companies gaining and losing ground with these consumers, as well as some of these brands' recent publicized efforts.
The Buzz score is based on whether respondents had heard anything, positive or negative, about the brand in a two-week period. A score can range from 100 to -100 and is compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback.