There was an especially interesting article in Wrapped, dealing with the brand loyalty and spending power of the gay and lesbian community. The article was based on the premise of “Gay people’s spending habits make them prized customers,” a quote from The New York Times on 26 August 2002. It focuses on the above-average brand loyalty and discretionary spending power. In South Africa, 1 in 10 people of a population of 43 million are gay, indeed making it a prized market for advertising and marketing. Despite the magazine publishing industry explosion of 2004 and 2005, there is still a relatively small reach into this market, locally at least. This is seen to be an anomaly, when a company like L’Oreal Paris spent over $50 million targeting the gay and metrosexual male market with the launch of Vive for Men shampoo in May 2004. Even earlier, large motor companies and the like were spending huge sums of money on niche market advertising. The article in Wrapped makes a good point, in that while it is technically correct to say that the GLBT niche market can be reached through mainstream media, it cannot be said that the market necessarily acknowledges the exposure. This would presumably apply to other niche markets that are wanting exposure as well. Food for thought... Until next week.