Mindshare US rolls out private marketplace to help excluded LGBTQ media

Mindshare and vodka brand Skyy are combining to launch an LGBTQ private marketplace to ride to the rescue of LGBTQ media brands excluded from media dollars through keyword exclusion lists. So-called brand safety technology has hit some publishers hard.

Skyy senior marketing director Bernadette Knight says: “As a brand, we believe that Pride should not be the only time of year to show support for the LGBTQ community. SKYY Vodka is dedicated to supporting LGBTQ voices 365 days a year, and this PMP provides a yet another avenue for us to do that.”

“It’s critical that we challenge the brand safety standards of the last few years because they’ve become a roadblock to bringing more independent voices to media,” says Diane Anderson-Minshall (left), CEO of Pride Media, home to publications such as The Advocate and Out, and one of the partners in the PMP.

“A lot of the time that’s LGBTQ voices, but also specifically people of color, immigrants, and other underrepresented groups. This kind of initiative will help keep those voices out there and accessible to everyone who needs it.”

Mindshare US began work on the LGBTQ PMP in 2019. Brand safety tools, technologies, and guidelines have played a part in protecting marketers and their media investments, contextual challenges in exclusion list technology (such as sentiment) require more work to protect and encourage more underrepresented voices in media. The LGBTQ PMP is the first in a series of “inclusion PMPs” that Mindshare USA is rolling out in 2020 and 2021, dedicated to driving more media dollars to minority and marginalised groups.