FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact: Allyson Mongrain, Scarborough Research, 703-451-3174, amongrain@scarborough.com

 

GAY/LESBIAN CONSUMER ONLINE STUDY ADDS MORE THAN 175 NEW BRANDS

 

Bank, Beer, Wine, Hotel, Rental Car and Auto Insurance categories include new brands

 

NEW YORK, NY (November 1, 2005) – The Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Study  (G/L Study), an annual survey of the demographics, lifestyles, psychographics, and media patterns of the worlds largest gay/lesbian consumer panel online, has introduced more than 175 new brands to its survey. The new brand information will provide marketers with opportunities for more effective sponsorship programs, grassroots marketing, media planning and buying, and overall increased ROI for multicultural marketing efforts.

            The new brands cover some bellwether companies in top consumer categories such as finance (banks), beverages (beer and wine), travel (hotel and car rental), and automotive (insurers).  They join the several hundred brands already represented in the study.

            According to Jeff Garber, president of OpusComm Group, a G/L Study partner, companies can leverage the new brands information with the existing depth and breadth of information in the G/L Study to create high-impact advertising.

            Marketing toward the gay/lesbian consumer has matured and become more sophisticated, as more companies recognize the significant benefits of targeting this consumer group, said Mr. Garber. Marketers need equally sophisticated tools to drive greater impact. The G/L Study provides this, with detailed information on the demographics, psychographics, and shopping behaviors, as well as both gay/lesbian and mainstream media patterns, of gay and lesbian consumers.

            Companies who count GLBT as part of their multicultural marketing efforts are using the G/L Study to benchmark their impact so budgets can be modified for maximum ROI.

            The ability to track so many companies and brands and the influence they're having on GLBT consumers is a key advantage, said Mr. Garber. Not only is it a measurement of overall sales impact, but the companies measured in the study have a new, valuable tool for tracking their competition.

 

With approximately 8,000 respondents, the 2005-2006 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Study is the largest and most comprehensive gay/lesbian consumer and media study and the only one sponsored by a major university. The G/L Study is conducted by G/L Census Partners (OpusComm Group and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University), and is exclusively available through Scarborough Research.

In addition to the new brands measured by the G/L Study (listed below), it also includes hundreds of brands in leading categories, including: auto manufacturers, airlines, credit card companies, computer companies, cruise lines and gambling destinations, cable and network television (including the leading television shows watched), national/mainstream newspapers as well as gay/lesbian magazines, and websites, including both mainstream and gay/lesbian websites. For full details of the G/L Study, including a full list of measurements, please log on to www.glcensus.com/survey.cfm.

 

 

G/L Census 2005/2006 New Brands Added

BANK BRANDS
AmSouth	Comerica	Huntington National Bank	SouthTrust Bank
Associated Banks	Commerce Bank	Internet bank  (such as EtradeBank, NetBank, etc,)	Southwest Bank
Banco Popular	Commercial Federal	KeyBank	Sovereign Bank
Bank Atlantic	Compass Bank	Liberty Bank	Standard Federal Bank
Bank of America	Dollar Bank	Local Oklahoma Bank	Sterling Bank
Bank of the West	Fifth Third Bank	M&I Bank	SunTrust
Bank One	First American Bank	M&T Bank	TCF Bank
Banner Bank	First Citizens Bank	Mercantile Bank	Third Federal Savings & Loan
BB&T	First National Bank	National Bank of Commerce	U.S. Bank
CCB	First State Bank	National City Bank	UMB Bank
Charles Schwab	First Tennessee Bank	Navy Federal Credit Union	Union Bank
Charter One Bank	First Virginia Bank	People's Bank	Union Planters Bank
Chase	Fleet Bank	PNC Bank	Wachovia Bank
Chevy Chase Bank	FleetBoston	Provident Bank	Washington Mutual
Citibank	Frost Bank	RBC Centura Bank	Washington Trust
Citizens Bank	Guaranty Bank	Regions Bank	Wells Fargo
City National Bank	HSBC Bank USA	Republic Bank	Whitney National Bank
Colonial Bank	Hudson United Bank	Sky Bank	World Savings

 

 

BEER BRANDS
Domestic light beer	Domestic regular beer	Milwaukee's Best	Corona Light
Bud Light	Bud Ice	Rolling Rock	Dos Equis
Busch Light	Budweiser	Samuel Adams	FosterÕs
Coors Light	Busch	Shiner Bock	Guinness
Michelob Light	Coors Original	Yuengling	Heineken
Michelob Ultra	Henry WeinhardÕs	Any microbrew	Labatt Blue
Miller Genuine Draft Light	Icehouse	Other domestic regular beer past 30 days	Molson
Miller Lite	Leinenkugel	Imported beer	Presidente
Natural Lite	Michelob	Amstel Light	Tecale
Sam Adams Light	Miller Genuine Draft	BeckÕs
Other domestic light beer past 30 days	Miller High Life	Corona Extra

 

 

WINE BRANDS
Arbor Mist	Concha Y Toro	Kendall-Jackson	Turning Leaf
Barefoot Cellars	Ecco Domani	Lindermans	Vendage
Bella Sera	Ernest & Julio Gallo Twin Valley	Livingston Cellars	Wild Vines
Beringer	Fetzer	Peter Vella	Woodbridge
Bolla	Franzia	Red Bicyclette	Yellow Tail
Carlo Rossi	Gallo of Sonoma	Redwood Creek
Clos du Bois	Glen Ellen	Robert Mondavi
Columbia Crest	Inglenook	Sutter Home

 

HOTEL BRANDS
Best Western	Four Points by Sheraton	Millennium	W Hotels
Comfort Inn	Hilton	Motel 6	Westin
Courtyard by Marriott	Holiday Inn	Quality Inn	Wyndham
Days Inn	Hyatt	Radisson	Any bed & breakfast
Doubletree	La Quinta	Sheraton	Any upscale hotel
Embassy Suites	Marriott	Super 8	Other hotel or motel

 

RENTAL CAR BRANDS		AUTO INSURANCE BRANDS
Alamo	Hertz	Allstate	Progressive
Avis	National	Geico	State Farm
Budget	Thrifty	Nationwide
Dollar	Other car rental
Enterprise

 

About Scarborough Research

Scarborough Research is the leader in identifying local, regional and national shopping patterns and media usage for the American consumer. With a sample size of over 200,000 adults nationally covering 75 local U.S. markets and countless categories and brands, Scarborough data is a valuable tool for marketers and media professionals in their quest to achieve optimum marketing and sales ROI. Scarborough Research is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. and VNU Media Measurement & Information. For additional information, please log on to www.scarborough.com.

 

About OpusComm Group

OpusComm Group Inc., the founder of the annual Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census, is led by co-principals, Jeffrey Garber and Daniel Fedrizzi, who have been providing effective marketing, public relations and advertising to Fortune 1000 marketers for almost 20 years.  As one of the world's leading researchers in gay/lesbian consumerism, OpusComm provides consulting services and market plan development for businesses seeking to target the gay/lesbian community in the mainstream media. For more information please log on to  www.opuscommgroup.com.

 

About the Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Study

The Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Study (G/L Study) is conducted annually via a partnership between OpusComm Group, Inc. and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Professor Amy Falkner is the lead researcher on the project. With approximately 8,000 respondents, the G/L Study is the largest and most comprehensive gay/lesbian consumer and media study and the only one sponsored by a major university. It addresses many consumer categories including demographics, purchasing behaviors, lifestyles and media usage. For more information please log on to www.glcensus.org.