The LGBTQ+ community is a wonderful melting pot of multiple niche communities that unite under the one rainbow umbrella. However, the power of some of these niches within the community stand out with significant consumer power.
Two of these niche communities are the bear community and the gaymer community, with a combined consumer spending power of nearly $400 billion dollars a year in the US alone making them two of the most powerful niches within the LGBTQ+ community.
These communities are so powerful because they statistically spend more than the average LGBTQ+ person, engage in more varied hobbies and interests, and are groups of people who have lived on the outskirts of the mainstream LGBTQ+ community so are resilient and loyal with their relationships and brand associations.
Bears, and the wider bear community, have always been part of the LGBTQ+ family. They just didn’t get a defined name until that eponymous article in the Advocate in the late 70’s that defined what they look like and assigned some personality traits – chunky, hairy types who are friendly, mature, loyal and dependable. What started as a blue color, mostly white community, has now become a much more diverse crowd of people with various shapes, sizes and ethnic/cultural backgrounds.
It was estimated a few years ago that 18% of the LGBTQ+ community in the USA identified as part of the bear community, that’s nearly 6 million bears in the US alone. That equates to a disposable income spending power of over $85 billion dollars a year!
Key brand opportunities within the bear community include health, grooming, food, drink and apparel. The bear community, by definition, eats more, drinks more, buys more expensive clothing and has a lot of hair to groom! Additional spending opportunities sit in the tech space as bears are typically early adopters of technology and gadgets.
A report by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) this year showed that 11% of active gamers in the US identify as LGBTQ+. That’s approximately 21 million people in the US with total consumer spending power in gaming of $6 billion dollars. When you look at the wider disposable income spending power of LGBTQ+ gamers on things like drinks, snacks, and apparel, that jumps to a huge $300 billion dollars.
For the games industry directly, a GLAAD report also highlighted that only 27% of LGBTQ+ gamers believe that major video game companies think about them when designing games. However, LGBTQ+ gamers are 1.4 times more likely to buy games that have strong LGBTQ+ characters and storylines. Therefore, by creating a more welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ gamers, where they feel represented, game companies can increase the possibility that such gamers will spend even more money on games than the $6 billion dollars they already do.
In the non-endemic space, gamers are seen as one of the most valuable audiences out there. Whether you’re selling snack foods, apparel or cosmetics, major brand activations are regular occurrences in the space. This, combined with the fierce loyalty of the LGBTQ+ community to brands which are seen to show support, just reinforces the fact that LGBTQ+ gamers are a hot market segment worth over $300 billion dollars.
Gray Jones Media runs two major outlets which reach millions of bears and gaymers each month through their digital media ecosystem. Bear World Magazine, 12 years old this year, and Gayming Magazine, 5 years old this year, are the only two dedicated ecosystems and access points to these two powerful niches. Alongside the outlets, Gray Jones Media also runs a number of associated events, both digital and physical, which extend the power of the IPs to reach millions more bears and gaymers around the world.
The importance of LGBTQ advertising has never been greater. At a time where LGBTQ advertising faces the risk of fierce backlash and boycotts, statistics prove that for every consumer that supports a brand backing down from LGBTQ advertising, that same brand would lose 1.8 consumers in protest at the lack of support. So the choice is obvious, lose one consumer for backing the LGBTQ community, or lose nearly double for backing down.
The advice then is clear. Double your efforts in supporting the LGBTQ community. See the value of niches within the community, especially the valuable bears and gaymers. Invest in authentic activations year round with key partners who hold dedicated access to these niche communities. With a $400 billion market segment, the bears and gaymers are a legitimate market segment with major value add opportunities.