(Photo courtesy of Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
In an effort to encourage advertisers to proactively and authentically represent the LGBTQ+ community, preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace Getty Images, leading prestige beauty omni-retailer Sephora and multicultural advertising agency Orci have partnered with the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) to launch a new campaign speaking directly to the LGBTQ+ and intersectional communities. With the understanding that these communities in particular have been historically underrepresented by adland, this campaign is a reminder that there’s power in representation and also that together, we can change perceptions.
Thoughtfully designed to pressure advertisers to see all and take the LGBTQ+ market seriously, especially intersectional and transgender communities, the campaign features a series of authentic images of queer and LGBTQ+-identifying individuals and their families. It further seeks to all at once normalize and celebrate the incredible diversity of this community and its intersections with the Black and Hispanic communities as well.
The campaign launched on the billboard above the Sephora on Broadway in Times Square on June 30—the last day of Pride month—and ran through July 20. The imagery was provided by Getty Images and the campaign was designed by the team at Orci, in consultation with AIMM.
(Photo courtesy of Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
“At AIMM, we are proud to stand for all communities, especially when human rights are at risk,” said Lisette Arsuaga, Co-founder of AIMM and Co-President of DMI Consulting. “We are thrilled to partner with Getty Images, Sephora and Orci Partners, as well as our broader membership at this critical moment in time to support the LGBTQ+ community–both in the wake of PRIDE Month and every day. We call upon our membership and the industry at-large to join us as we continue to promote increased equity for this community. We're grateful to Sephora for not only donating their billboard space, but for championing LGBTQ+ efforts in this country as well.”
As the leading voice in the marketing and advertising community that stands for equity, fairness, and inclusion of all segments, AIMM seeks to galvanize the collective power of the advertising and marketing industries to underscore the importance of protection for the LGBTQ+ community and safeguard a future of inclusion, visibility, and acceptance.
“There is so much richness, joy, and vibrance within the LGBTQ+ community, but this is often rendered invisible in the advertising and media we consume day-in and day-out. It’s our collective responsibility to do better as an industry and ensure that we’re taking steps to see everyone from across our communities mirrored back at us all the time, not just during Pride month,” said Tristen Norman, Head of Creative Insights for the Americas at Getty Images. “We were thrilled to provide the imagery for this campaign, with each image capturing the diversity and beauty of the LGBTQ+ community.”
“As one of the first ad agencies in the U.S. to help brands respectfully and authentically speak to Hispanic Americans, representation and brand allyship are central to our belief system and something we now emphasize from a multicultural and intersectional standpoint as well,” said Andrew Orci, Chair, Orci. “At Orci, we call this ‘earning the right,’ meaning that a brand is earning the right to market their products or services to a community by ensuring that they are tangible supporting that community in positive ways—and not relying on lip service.”
Julie Anderson, Sr. Producer, and Rachel Connelly, Editor, for Union Editorial based in Austin, TX provided postproduction services pro bono.
About AIMM:
ANA's Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) was established in 2016 to provide corporations with viable solutions for growth by addressing opportunities in Multicultural and Inclusive marketing. AIMM comprises senior-level advertisers, media/publishers, research and data companies, agencies and trade organizations, to spotlight the missed growth potential in General, Hispanic, African American, Asian-American and LGBTQ+ markets. This extraordinary working group of industry leaders is transforming the way multicultural and inclusive marketing is seen and understood via an industry-wide reboot – the largest ever in this space. Beyond simply identifying where growth potential lies, AIMM shows its members (and the industry) how to best maximize this potential towards positive bottom-line impact. AIMM is a branch of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers), which consists of 1,400-plus domestic and international companies with a shared mission to drive growth for marketing professionals, for brands and businesses, and for the industry.
About Orci:
Minority-owned and female-led, Orci is a national leader in multisegment marketing and advertising, with nearly four decades of experience creating "marketing that matters" for a variety of global brands. Utilizing multicultural strategies like bilingual production and hyper-targeted audience research, coupled with in-house production capabilities, Orci is able to dream up, execute and deliver impactful creative with both time and cost efficiency in mind.
About Getty Images:
Getty Images is a preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace that offers a full range of content solutions to meet the needs of any customer around the globe, no matter their size. Through its Getty Images, iStock and Unsplash brands, websites and APIs, Getty Images serves customers in almost every country in the world and is the first-place people turn to discover, purchase and share powerful visual content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. Getty Images works with over 488,000 contributors and more than 300 content partners to deliver this powerful and comprehensive content. Each year Getty Images covers more than 160,000 news, sport and entertainment events providing depth and breadth of coverage that is unmatched. Getty Images maintains one of the largest and best privately-owned photographic archives in the world with millions of images dating back to the beginning of photography.
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About Sephora:
Since its debut in North America more than 20 years ago, Sephora has been a leader in prestige omni-retail with the mission of creating an inviting beauty shopping experience and inspiring fearlessness in our community. With the goal of delivering unbiased shopping support and a personalized experience, Sephora invites clients to discover thousands of products from more than 340 carefully curated brands, explore online and through our mobile app, enjoy services at the Beauty Studio and engage with expertly trained Beauty Advisors in more than 500 stores across the Americas. And with its new long-term retail strategic partnership, clients can now shop Sephora at Kohl’s, a fully immersive, premium beauty destination, with 200 locations in 2021, and at least 850 locations by 2023. Clients can access the free-to-join Beauty Insider program and digital community, which together enhance the experience of Sephora’s passionate clients.
Sephora has been an industry-leading champion of diversity, inclusivity, and empowerment, guided by our longstanding company values. In 2019, Sephora announced a new tagline and manifesto, “We Belong to Something Beautiful,” to reinforce its dedication to fostering belonging amongst all clients and employees and to publicly strive for a more inclusive vision for retail in the Americas. Sephora continues to give back to our communities and advance inclusion in our industry through its social impact and equity programming, called the Sephora D&I Heart Journey.
For more information, visit: https://www.sephora.com/about-us and @Sephora on social media. For media inquiries, please visit our Sephora newsroom or email ExternalComms@sephora.com
