• by Karl Greenberg , August 14, 2015

Nissan, which has been a dedicated experiential marketer at amateur running sports events for years, is launching its first-ever LGBT campaign around its category-exclusive sponsorship of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) 39th Annual Gay Softball World Series.

Throughout the nine-day series, which launched on Friday and runs through Aug. 22, Nissan will have signage and vehicles on display. The NAGAAA says the event will take place at the largest softball complex in the U.S., Berliner Park, with 31 diamonds, and that it will bring in over 10,000 athletes, coaches and fans. Over 185 teams from 43 U.S. and Canadian cities will compete, per the organization. The Annual Gay Softball World Series lists 36 sponsors, among whom are Coors Light, Smirnoff, Red Bull, and Moët & Chandon.  

Rick Ash, Nissan's senior marketing manager said, in a statement, that the partnership fits both with Nissan's diverse consumer base and it's own LGBT employee base. 

A Nissan spokesperson tells Marketing Daily that the print ad campaign, Nissan’s first such national effort, launches after the tournament and will be in national LGBT pubs like the Advocate, and may have a digital component.  

Besides local and grass roots LGBT programs that Nissan's Gay Straight Alliance Network sponsors, the internal group also partners with the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. Nissan says it also offers inclusive benefits and Championing Diversity workshops for employees.

The series participants are affluent and stable, per data from the organizers. The average age is 38, with  say that the average participant with about a $85,000 income and household income averaging over $147,000. Nearly half are partnered with the average length of relationship over seven years.  

Back in 2013 Prudential did a study on LGBT consumers that has been often cited and debated. Two thirds of the participants said they are upbeat about their finances. At the time the firm found the median LGBT household income is $61,500 versus $50,000 for the average American household, while LGBT households with a child brought in, on average, $71,100.