About one in 13 adults in the US now identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual.
Which makes Pride month a massive deal for pretty much every brand.
And it’s even more essential for those with younger-skewing audiences, given that almost one in 10 millennials and more than one-fifth of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ+.
Unsurprisingly, this means Pride has become a battleground for brands looking to target LGBTQ+ consumers — and display ads are one of the most hotly contested warzones.
But how are advertisers leveraging Pride month in their campaigns? What messaging and creatives are they using? And how are they converting ad viewers into paying customers?
To find out, we used Adbeat to identify eight of the best recent Pride display ads from brands in the US, including big names like Amazon, Hulu, and Tinder.
Let’s get into it…
Amazon: Promote products from LGBTQ+ creators
The biggest mistake brands can make around Pride is to desperately search for ways to monetize the event (hence companies selling the obligatory rainbow rainbow tote bags and hoodies featuring their logos).
Increasingly, consumers demand authenticity from companies claiming to be allies of the LGBTQ+ community while promoting services or selling themed products.
Indeed, one survey found that 56 percent of people only view branded Pride merchandise as authentic if that brand is “consistent with their support”.
What does this tell us?
That the smartest (and most authentic) approach is to promote products and services from LGBTQ+ creators.
For instance, Amazon ran a Pride campaign for its Kindle brand that promoted leading LGBTQ+ authors like Paul Burston and Sophie Santos:
In this way, Amazon gets to join in with the Pride conversation, without looking like it’s trying to be the “main character”.
Hulu: Create a Pride-friendly landing page
Nailing your Pride advertising is about more than just coming up with a catchy tagline or some jazzy visuals for your ads.
When someone clicks your ad, it’s important to greet them with messaging that matches the tone of your wider campaign. In short, you want to present them with a Pride-friendly landing page.
Streaming platform Hulu gets it right in our next example.
Consumers who clicked one of the display ads in this campaign…
…were transported to a dedicated Pride landing page featuring a host of high-profile movies, TV series, and dramas hand-picked for LGBTQ+ audiences:
As well as the headline selections, the page contains subcategories like…
- Trans stories
- Icons and allies
- Groundbreaking LGBTQ+ characters
…all of which helps to highlight the wealth of LGBTQ+ content on Hulu.
Importantly, however far down the page you scroll, you always see the Start your free trial CTA button in the top-right corner:
Pluto TV: Get your Pride messaging (and branding) in early
Running skippable video ads on YouTube as part of your Pride campaign?
Remember that while those ads can be anything up to six minutes in length, viewers get the option to skip after just five seconds. That’s a big issue, with research revealing that the average viewer hits “skip” after:
- 5.5 seconds of a 15-second ad
- 7.4 seconds of a 30-second ad
So it pays to front-load your most important messaging, including your branding and a reference to Pride month.
Pluto TV, another streaming platform, shows us how to do it in this example:
Within the first three seconds, viewers are presented with the words “celebrate” and “Pride”, plus the Pluto TV logo.
US Bank: Use common elements in ads and landing pages
One of the biggest mistakes we see when analyzing display ad campaigns is a lack of connection between ads and campaign landing pages.
We’ve already discussed the importance of creating a dedicated landing page for your Pride campaign.
One of the most effective ways to make your ads and landing pages feel like part of the same campaign is to share common words and images between them. That way, people who click through can instantly see that they’re in the right place.
For example, take a look at this Pride ad from US Bank:
…then look at how the campaign landing page incorporates the same messaging…
…and imagery:
Tinder: Make Pride ads an extension of your BAU campaigns
It’s easy to overthink when it comes to Pride planning.
You want to show your support for the event, but you’re struggling to come up with a solid campaign concept. What should you do?
The simple answer is to integrate Pride into your regular business-as-usual (BAU) campaigns.
For example, when Tinder launched its first ever global brand campaign — It Starts With a Swipe — in February 2023, it chose to retain the same angle and creative style in its Pride campaign, while focusing on an LGBTQ+ couple:
This might sound counterintuitive, but “playing down” Pride is actually a smart strategy. It shows that allyship is normal to Tinder; it’s not just some slogan they drag out every June to get a few more app downloads and subscriptions.
Skittles: Share LGBTQ+ stories
In 2020, candy brand Skittles started swapping its signature rainbow branding for a monochrome version in the US — based on the concept that during Pride, only #OneRainbow matters.
But consumers are increasingly hostile toward brands that put themselves front and center in their Pride campaigns. Because it makes your allyship feel inauthentic.
As a result, Skittles chose to switch up its Pride campaign in 2023 by focusing on the LGBTQ+ creatives who lent their own unique designs to the brand’s packaging.
Another key point here: Skittles brought added credibility to this campaign by running it as a collaboration with non-profit LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD.
This strategy can be a big win for brands, given that 82 percent of consumers prefer to buy from companies whose values align with their own.
Xfinity: Demonstrate year-round support for LGBTQ+ audiences
Sure, Pride is a big deal.
But, for LGBTQ+ communities, it’s not enough for brands to show their support for one month out of 12. As GLAAD chief communications officer Rich Ferraro told CNBC:
“There’s power in brands participating in Pride Month, and it’s important for their employees and their consumers to see support for the community during Pride Month. But it can’t just be during Pride Month.”
So it pays for advertisers to prove that their allyship doesn’t stop on July 1st.
Telecommunications company Xfinity attempts to do this with the slogan: “With Xfinity, it’s Pride all year long.”
Importantly, these aren’t just words. Xfinity customers can use the voice command “Pride” all year round to instantly access thousands of LGBTQ+ films and shows on their smart TVs, including content curated around events like:
- Black Pride
- LGBTQ+ History Month
- Transgender Awareness Month
Clever stuff!
AARP: Make Pride about brand awareness, not sales
One in 10 consumers believe that when brands sell dedicated Pride merchandise, their only goal is to make money (rather than, for example, to show their support for LGBTQ+ communities and causes).
This is a problem for brands.
If your audience thinks you’re only mentioning Pride to make a quick buck, your campaign isn’t going to achieve the desired results. Worst-case scenario, it could even put people off buying from you in future.
Again, you’re likely thinking: “What can I do about this?”
One solution is to simply use the event as an opportunity to get more eyes on your brand, just like AARP does in our next example:
Rather than selling branded merch or promoting the benefits of AARP membership, the organization instead pointed consumers toward its Pride-themed playlist.
(Which, incidentally, is full of bangers — you can check it out here.)
Final thoughts: Pride isn’t about your brand
As you can see, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to Pride marketing. You can…
- Team up with an advocacy group
- Promote products made by LGBTQ+ creators
- Shout about your year-round Pride support
…and that’s just for starters.
But whatever strategy you adopt, one thing’s clear: your Pride campaign shouldn’t be all about you.
Instead, it should focus on how you can help LGBTQ+ communities — whether by sharing their designs, selling their products, or supporting their causes.
Get it right and you’ll look like a genuine ally; fall short and you’ll almost certainly be accused of using Pride to drive a quick profit.
Want to tap into data like this? You can with Adbeat! Request your live Adbeat demo here.