Introduction

Pride 2003 is asking for your support. The South African Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade and Fair Day is now in its 14th year, and history has shown us that the event regularly attracts between 12 000 and 15 000 people in a single day. This year the event is being stretched across a whole week of activities in the form of a Pride Festival, which will include plays, poetry, art, photography, cabaret, comedy and music. This will open up the event to a wider portion of the community and attract audiences from outside the community too. It will also increase the branding opportunities, visibility and choice for our sponsors and supporters.

The Pride Festival begins on Monday 22rd September 2003 and will culminate in the Parade and Mardi Gras on Saturday 27th September 2003.

Accessing the lesbian and gay market and winning the loyalties of the community is not a simple task. There are several publications in South Africa and several community organisations and annual events. The Lesbian and Gay Pride, which is held annually in Johannesburg, enjoys the support and involvement of practically all of the organisations and publications and is the largest lesbian and gay event in the country – in fact, on the continent.

It is certainly the most effective way to expose a brand to the community. In doing so, it shows true support for the community, and thus wins the much sought after niche market with its associated marketing mantras of the pink Rand, Dinky families and higher than average disposable income. If that all sounds a little too much like a sales pitch, the figures are available upon request. Pride 2003 has collected comparable information from surveys conducted in South Africa, Australia, America and the UK and they all show remarkably similar results. One of the conclusions of the statistics is that South Africa has an estimated lesbian and gay population of around 3 million people across the race and language spectrum and a staggering 1.5 million of those people are economically active and living in urban environments.

The advantages of accessing a community like that are obvious, and the best method is though support of major events as well as through exposure in lesbian and gay media. Pride 2003 is undoubtedly the highest profile event in the country and enjoys coverage both locally and abroad. Already several publications and websites in America and Europe as well as locally have begun promoting the event.

To find out more about the Categories and Branding, contact us at sponsorship@sapride.org to arrange a meeting.