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November is Trans Awareness Month. A good reason to take a look at transgender people in advertising. Because more is happening than you think.

Although it concerns a small part of the population (about 1%), these people are not very interesting as an economic group – and therefore target group for marketing – especially because they are often financially disadvantaged. However, there are a few reasons to pay attention to this as a marketer, brand, organization, both in your HR policy and in your marketing and communication. And it also contributes to your business results! It has been happening more and more in recent years: after years of L&H, it is now the turn of the T (that B still remains a bit invisible).

Word usage

Last year I wrote Transgenders as a target group and was then rapped on the knuckles by members of the LGBT community: transgender is an adjective, not a noun – so it was considered at the level of “blondes”. Pay attention, Verhoeven.

People

I gave the examples of Valentijn de Hingh‘s performance in many campaigns (and her own documentary) and pop and style icon Amanda Lepore, who has been very conspicuous (and sometimes very naked) since the 90s. And Nikkie Tutorials and her ever-growing success as an influencer and presenter (think Eurovision Song Contest) – but also in commercials, such as this fairly spectacular one for Volkswagen.

Formula

In my research, I defined the following customer journey: Representation -> visibility -> normalization -> tolerance -> acceptance -> respect. This means that showing transgender actors or models contributes to this ‘customer journey’ and once we have arrived at tolerance, it should also contribute to reducing violence.

I previously gave a few examples of companies that are doing it right: Starbucks went viral with Every name’s a story, Nike made history by working with multiple transgender athletes, including Unlimited Courage and Play New, and brands like H&M, Pantene and Gillette made respectful, interesting and relevant commercials – sometimes even entire campaigns around the theme. ABN AMRO gave the floor to Luca in their annual Pride series last year, who told how happy he was with the support (and attention) of his employer and colleagues. Mastercard (and bunq) made a series of moving videos about changing your name, “True Name”:

Attention

So, especially this month, it’s all about attention. That starts with HR policy. My current client KPN recently explicitly laid down the care, attention and leave options for transgender employees. If they go through the transition (and that currently applies to no fewer than 5 colleagues), they do not have to take sick leave, but there is provision for ‘transition leave’. This immediately gives the theme a different meaning: you are not sick, but we help you to become yourself! There is also advice and guidance for both these employees and their colleagues, who probably also have to get used to the situation.

Furthermore, attention can be given in marketing, and then especially in ATL expressions where videos are the most striking. A few examples.

Super Bowl

The advertisement “Class Reunion” by Holiday Inn was removed just two days after its premiere during the 1997 Super Bowl – because “so many complaints” had been received. “New nose”, “new breast”, etc., it turns out that this sexy lady used to be Bob Johnsson. This video was made at a time when brands thought you could freely make jokes about transgender people.

In 2001, beer brand Samuel Adams also made a lame joke, but that ended well because of the beer. At least… man, beer, sex. Just think about it.

Absolut

Absolut did a much better job with Darla. The theme is similar, but the elaboration is much more sensitive.

OK, it was more than 20 years later, but Absolut is also the Absolute Champion in Marketing the Rainbow, so you can expect empathy from them

Spotify

This Swedish brand has become an indispensable part of daily life, and just like KPN, they mainly focused on their employees. You would think: no real commercial, but it doesn’t have to be about the product to load the brand. Especially for Millennials and GenZ, the image of a company is perhaps even more important than the product: both to become a customer – and to remain – and to start working there.

Conclusion

The attention for the trans community, a few times a year, has been a long time coming. And although it concerns a small group that many people will not have direct contact with, it is important to include them in your marketing mix, in the journey From Representation to Respect. It is their turn to be in the spotlight, and more brands should include this in their ‘checklist’ of diversity.

Note: This column is a summary of a case study from my PhD research. You can read the full article here.

Alfred Verhoeven is a marketer and is in the final phase of his PhD research Marketing the Rainbow.
He previously wrote for ILOVEGAY about From Representation To Respect, The Musk Effect, Pride Month, The Oldest Rainbows, The Dutch Rainbows, The Belgian Rainbows, The Chinese Rainbows, Super Bowl Ads: What Would Jesus Do?, Get woke, go broke, Spain has 6.8 billion reasons to love rainbow tourists, Everyone’s gay in Amsterdam, Gay Capital, The Ideal Traveler, Abercrombie & Fitch : The Rise & The Fall, Barbiemania, Bud Light and the 4 bln dollar woman, Pronouns, About those rainbows, Alphabet soup, M&M’s and the lesbian invasion, The Men from Atlantis, 5 Bizarre LGBT Videos, TRANSparency, Transgender persons as a target group, 5 videos that went viral, Cultural sensitivities and social involvement in marketing, and 4 reasons to practice diversity.