Ozone returned to Mindshare Huddle for the conference’s 2023 edition to host a panel session on strategies for inclusive planning with publisher PinkNews, research agency The Diversity Standards Collective and Mindshare.

Chaired by our CRO Craig Tuck – who introduced the session, Mainstream or Minority? Critical thinking for inclusive planning – the esteemed panel of experts included PinkNews founder and CEO Benjamin Cohen, Rich Miles, CEO of The Diversity Standards Collective and Josie Ung, Research & Insights Client Director at Mindshare, who leads the agency’s Inclusive Audiences programme.

Some of the key takeaways included:

Treat us with equity

Research new media partners more frequently and treat publishers like PinkNews with equity. They should no longer be considered as minority publishers as they talk to much larger audiences than niche communities. At least 50% of PinkNews’ audience do not identify as LGBTQ+ but align with the publisher’s values and the lens it applies to the content its editorial team and creators produce. Spend marketing budgets proportionately and make your plans fully inclusive of media owners that tackle a wider cross section of the population.

Understand audiences in detail

Explore diverse audiences through research to understand them in greater detail. This can be done in a number of ways. Lean into the publishers serving them as they have an established relationship with them, built on trust and shared outlooks. Work with research agencies who have built networks of diverse audiences and speak to them regularly about a range of topics. This opens up conversations that may not have happened before to truly understand the nuances of different audiences and the way they interact with brands or use products. Josie cited the example of how Mindshare’s Reality Check pulse survey included a ‘new’ nat rep sample, which includes audiences from more diverse backgrounds.

Diverse audiences are still consumers

Treat diverse audiences like any consumer. They shop for groceries, drive cars, go on holidays and bank with financial institutions like everyone else, so the publishers they go to should be on any and all campaign plans. While the creative messaging to some audiences may change in some cases, as Rich explained happened for one such audience and their use of a household product, but that can be determined through research.

Talk to us all year round

Diverse publishers, like PinkNews, are open for business all year round – not just during Pride month. Benjamin explained how Pride month is a tentpole event for PinkNews but they have to compete with mainstream broadcasters, publishers and platforms to be on plans. While those established media owners may offer scale, PinkNews has the right context and the right audience, so it should be the first name on plan.

The block list challenge

Block lists continue to be an issue for PinkNews. A Pride campaign on the publisher would have failed to deliver any meaningful results after the brand’s agency provided a block list that would have stopped the campaign appearing alongside any of the publisher’s relevant Pride content. Thankfully, the campaign was delivered successfully but the publisher had to go through unnecessary steps – like calling the brand’s CMO – to remove the block list. Block lists need constant revision.