• by Karl Greenberg , October 2, 2009

Subaru is promoting both its Legacy and the idea of one's personal legacy through a six-month campaign with Logo, a division of MTVN for LGBT programming, called the "Logo Legacy Campaign." The effort focuses on prominent gay and lesbian entertainers and leaders and what "legacy" means to them.

Videos feature film director Angela Robinson, Top Chef contestant Jamie Lauren, comedienne Sandra Valls, model and actress Jenny Shimizu, actor Cheyenne Jackson, writer/producer/actor/director Patrik-Ian Polk and actor Bryan Batt. The videos will be featured on LogoOnline.com and several other Logo Web sites like AfterEllen.com, AfterElton.com and Downelink.com.

AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com will launch a series of posts tracing the legacy of lesbians and gays in pop culture, and Downelink.com will launch a contest urging its members to submit a video expressing what each of their legacies will be.

According to Amy Wigler, Logo's VP of integrated marketing, Logo is in 40 million homes and Logo's online properties are the largest gay content sites on the Web, with an average of 3.4 million unique visitors.

Wigler tells Marketing Daily that Subaru has been a Logo marketing partner since the network's inception in 2005. "Subaru has been one of our charter advertisers -- it was a sponsor upon launch," she says, adding that the new effort is the most integrated to date. "We have done campaigns with them before on air that have had an online component, but this is our first cohesive, multi-platform campaign," she says.

The videos, produced by Logo, will live online only, with Logo TV spots directing viewers to the URLs. Wigler says matching the legacy-themed videos with the Legacy launch was an obvious choice. "We were developing themed programming around gay history, and we believed picking people who have built a legacy in the gay community is something our audience would find compelling. The timing was fortuitous, since Subaru was doing a redesign and relaunch of Legacy."

She says the car will not be featured in the videos, of which there will be eight, but that Subaru branding will bookend the video content. "What we wanted to do was find people who had something to say about their legacy, encourage discussion about the meaning of legacy, and align that with Subaru Legacy, but in an organic way."

Subaru was one of few automakers to see sales gains last month. The Cherry Hill, N.J.-based company posted a 1% sales gain in September, versus September 2008.