Ian Johnson

摘要

The first hurdle I faced in setting up my own gay marketing agency was that the business started getting mainstream media coverage in Australia, where I was then based, and I was still working as a solicitor. My managing partner at the law firm one night tossed over the desk at me a copy of an article from The Australian Financial Review about gay marketing, which mentioned my company. He asked if I was running this business on the side. He was very supportive about it, but I left soon after as the corporate and media interest continued to increase, and I wanted to dedicate myself to the new business. At the time in 1992 there wasn't much awareness among large brands of the existence of this viable gay market with a defined communications subculture and distinct distribution channels. So the first few years required a big PR education campaign in order for the marketplace to understand the extent of gay consumer opportunities.