I’m currently on a travel tour with my company, hitting a collection of American and Canadian cities to do pop-up events, talks, and other evangelism activities. It’s been fascinating to watch the company grow over the decade I’ve been a part of this organization, and I’m thankful for the opportunities it’s given me over the years. 

It’s been reenergizing to rejoin the marketing team again. While I loved consulting, a specific part of my brain gets excited about market segmentation, brand awareness, connecting buyers to actual value (this is good marketing), and seeing them succeed (and this is good consulting) with the product I’m marketing. This team has renewed my energy to look at ads and see what is said and unsaid. As I was walking through Vancouver International Airport, my eye quickly caught this ad: “YVR: We connect the proud with pride.”

Several things strike me with this ad and its placement:

• It’s on a breezeway from the terminal to the mass transit system, targeting both locals and out-of-towners, unlike a taxi stand, which might cater more to visitors.
• They use the word we emphasizing everyone at the airport – they are full in.
• They also use the word connect to highlight their active participation in the journey. It’s not someone else doing something distant from the conversation.
• They highlight the crowd but in an inclusive way (proud) and highlight their destination (pride)
• They leave the conversation open to local and distant pride celebrations so the ad can be evergreen year round. 
• This ad uses the YVR color palette rather than rainbow washing the ad surface, which I think is a positive. 
• The call to action is the community section of the YVR website, signaling that we are part of the community, not a fringe group to which to market.

Honestly, I think it’s well done and it bums me out that we don’t have more LGBTQ marketing like this in the States. It’s inclusive, thoughtfully, and tastefully done marketing.  

Nice job, Team YVR.