Subaru Case Study - The Arthur Page Society

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"That is not something that came about in the last week or month. It's been evolving a long time," Moran said. "This was made as a pure business decision, not as a social statement one way or another. This was not a decision in response to the American Family Association." Ford's Volvo brand, which has advertised in gay publications for years, will continue to do so, Moran said. The company's Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands have not marketed directly to gays and have no plans to do so. "That's just not part of our marketing plan. We let our brands determine where it makes the most sense to advertise their products," Moran said, adding that Jaguar and Land Rover are "streamlining" their advertising in 2006. "Jaguar faces extreme pressure in its marketing budget and is not going to be able to afford as many publications as it has in the past." Ford does not break out financial results for its brands, but Jaguar and Land Rover are believed to be losing money while Volvo is profitable. All three are part of Ford's Premiere Automotive Group, which lost $108 million in the third quarter. Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales are down 5 percent this year, and Jaguar's have plunged 34 percent. Land Rover's sales are up 31 percent thanks to brisk sales of the LR3, a new sport-utility vehicle. Land Rover was gaining traction in the gay community because of ads in national gay publications like the Advocate, Tracy Baim, publisher and editor of the Windy City Times, a gay-oriented newspaper, said. "The gay community is extremely loyal to brands that advertise to them and they're very educated about this," she said. Subaru is recognized as the first car company to target gays, starting in about 1995, after it discovered through focus groups that a large number of its owners were lesbians. The gay community is only one of the niches Subaru targets. Others include skiers through sponsorship of the National Ski Patrol, nurses and other medical professionals and engineers. One of the common selling point to those groups is that all Subaru models come with all-wheel drive and are well-suited to outdoor activities. Gregg Lieberman, vice president of Moon City Productions, the New York agency Subaru uses for its gay-oriented ads, says tailoring the message to specific groups builds allegiance. "It says that we recognize that you exist as human beings and as a group of consumers," he said.   APPENDIX VI 34 
American Family Association Contact: Cindy Roberts ~ 662-844-5036 For Immediate Release: 3/10/2008   Ford meets conditions; AFA suspends boycott (Tupelo, MS) - American Family Association (AFA) has suspended its two-year boycott of Ford Motor Company. After monitoring the company for several months, AFA said the conditions of the original agreement between AFA and Ford, agreed to in fall 2005, have been met. According to AFA, during the 24 months the boycott was in effect, Ford sales dropped an average of 8% per month. The organization said its boycott was not entirely responsible for the drop in sales, but it played a very significant role. A total of 780,365 individuals had signed AFA’s Boycott Ford petition. AFA Chairman Donald E. Wildmon said the original agreement between the family group and Ford contained four items: Ford would not renew current promotions or create future incentives that give cash donations to homosexual organizations based on the purchase of a vehicle. Ford would not make corporate donations to homosexual organizations that, as part of their activities, engage in political or social campaigns to promote civil unions or same-sex marriage. Ford would stop giving cash and vehicle donations or endorsements to homosexual social activities such as Gay Pride parades. Ford would cease all advertising on homosexual Web sites and through homosexual media outlets (magazines, television, radio) in the U.S. with the exception of $100,000 to be used by Volvo. The Volvo ads would be the same ads used in the general media and not aimed at the homosexual community specifically. Wildmon said a few minor issues remain, and AFA will continue to bring these to the attention of Ford. American Family Association is a pro-family advocacy organization with over two million online supporters. American Family Association P.O. Box 2440 Tupelo, MS. 38803 35 
Page 1 and 2: CASE STUDY ENTIRELY COMFORTABLE WIT
Page 3 and 4:   Gay Organizations Recognize For
Page 5 and 6: Subaru needs to grow its consumer b
Page 7 and 8:   Chart II: 2007-08 Top 10 Advert
Page 9 and 10: PROVIDING CONTEXT: GAY MARKETING, C
Page 11 and 12: After running an ad during a 1994 e
Page 13 and 14: Yoshio Hasunuma is the Chairman, Pr
Page 15 and 16: PROFILE OF A SUBARU OWNER: BRAND LO
Page 17 and 18:   • License plate: XENA LVR - a
Page 19 and 20: FOUNDING SPONSOR OF SIRIUS OUTQ AND
Page 21 and 22: By 2000, Subaru was receiving feedb
Page 23 and 24:   23  Source: HRC 186 In 2003,
Page 25 and 26: After the memo was distributed, For
Page 27 and 28: considered. First, Subaru is a smal
Page 29 and 30:   APPENDIX II 29 
Page 31 and 32: Sep 21, 2009 [USA] Cherry Hill, NJ,
Page 33: Chicago Tribune 12/07/2005 Rick Pop
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