Gay/Lesbian Consumerism Comes Out of the Closet

Syracuse, New York – July 9, 2001 – OpusComm Group, Inc. has formed a partnership with GSociety, Inc. and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University to conduct the 2001 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census. The Census is the first grand-scale research into the consumer habits of the gay/lesbian market to be conducted by a university worldwide.

The goal of the 2001 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census is to become one of the tools used to educate mainstream advertisers about this unique niche market, which has been widely ignored in the past. With an impending downturn in the economy, it is imperative that advertisers not only acknowledge, but reach out to this consumer group using mainstream media outlets in conjunction with other niche media. Equally as important is for the members of the Gay/Lesbian Community to “Stand Up and Be Counted” by participating in the Census.

A few major U.S. based corporations are beginning to reap the rewards as pioneers in this market, moving gay/lesbian advertising “out of the closet” and into the mainstream market.

OpusComm Group, Inc., an award winning advertising/PR agency with over 16 years of services the Fortune 500, specializes in consultation of sensitivity issues and market plan development for all types of advertisers to target the gay/lesbian community in the mainstream media.

As one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions in the field of communications, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University is leading the development of the Census. The research team is led by Professor Amy Falkner whose research interests lie in exploring the relationship between advertising and editorial, as well as looking at how various groups use the web. She is also part of a team of professors writing a book about the impact of the Internet on the 2000 presidential campaign.

GSociety, Inc. is a media/entertainment company whose reach and distribution channels target gays and lesbians around the world, featuring powerful e-commerce and travel services, and the company’s Internet portals featuring GayWired.com and LesbianNation.com, the most comprehensive, targeted and interactive sites available in the community.

The Census will be conducted via the Internet at www.glcensus.org from

July 9^th through August 9^th, 2001. In using the Internet as the vehicle, the Census is opened up to the largest group of respondents, making it the most comprehensive sampling of the gay/lesbian worldwide community ever attempted. Upon completion and full analysis conducted by the University, the 2001 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census will be published.

For further information or to obtain a 2001 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census media kit, contact Jeffrey Garber, president, OpusComm Group, Inc., at (315)422-6250 or jeff@opuscommgroup.com.

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