Pride Festival Marketing and Why It's Essential
Pride is what your customers and community immensely value
Share your LGBTQ+ brand stories and contributions
Create one-of-a-kind Pride Fest experiences people embrace and share
Every major city hosts a Pride festival with opportunities for brands to participate
Meet new customers and establish stronger bonds with existing ones
What is Pride festival marketing?
Pride Month and festivals are times for brands to amplify their ongoing commitment to LGBTQ+ awareness, support, and equality.
They are opportunities for brands to celebrate the complex and diverse fabric of their communities alongside customers and employees.
Marketing at Pride festivals takes many forms of experiential marketing and outdoor advertising - from participating in parade marches, activation booths, and retail store takeovers to citywide outdoor advertising, like mobile billboards and mobile showrooms.
Activations become a true expression of a company and its staff's values and commitments to making the world more accepting and inclusive.
In turn, the benefits of Pride marketing initiatives for your brand are stronger relationships, wonderful content, and brand advocacy.
Pride Month and festivals encompass the LGBTQ+ community, allies, organizations, and municipalities.
Smart brands strategically partner with LGBTQ+ organizations that are aligned with their values to further impact.
Cities, large and small, host Pride festivals with opportunities for sponsorship and brand participation.
Pride marketing isn't solely a one-and-done activity, and it shouldn't be; connecting authentically with consumers means investing in the relationship.
Make a concentrated effort to express your pride support the whole month of June, and throughout the year.
How does your brand amplify your activations? Layer your experiential marketing in the field and enhance your activation via social media, influencer integration, employee involvement, and digital advertising initiatives.
All brands, business services or CPGs, can take part in pride marketing to express your corporate identity, vision, and values.
Pride marketing is even more vital if your brand has a retail store, office, or other physical presence in a city.
Pride awareness, education, and understanding internally at your company is your starting point. Then participating in a Pride festival is the next step.
Participate because it's what you value. Do it because being an ally is who you are as a company.
Pride festival marketing services:
1.) Develop real-world ideas to express your Pride
2.) Strategies to spread your brand's Pride beyond the activation
3.) Contracting with Pride festival organizations
4.) Production of event assets, swag, outfits, etc.
5.) Staff to ensure your brand is properly represented
6.) Management of events in multiple cities simultaneously
7.) Transport, installation, and maintenance of event elements
8.) Real-time activation reporting, analysis, and recap
Pride month and festival marketing tips:
1.) Start early, ideally in January, before Pride festival booth space and parade slot availability get booked up
2.) Ensure your Pride marketing reflects your current company beliefs and practices
3.) Collaborate with charities, cities, and influencers
4.) Encourage people to express themselves
5.) Invite your employees to share their stories as part of your Pride participation
6.) Aim for tangible positive societal outcomes
7.) Extend your Pride beyond the festival, connect your activation to a year-round initiative
8.) Livestream and create content
Most importantly, bring your A-game to brand appearance, experiences, and activism, as the public's expectations are relatively high at Pride festivals.
Pride Fest Coverage
Pride marketing activation services are available in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Miami, and 26 other cities.
Partner Up
Connect with us for Pride marketing festival activation ideas, strategies, pricing, and brand examples nationwide.
Pride is for everyone!