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Dentsu Aegis Network is a multinational media and digital marketing communications company headquartered in London, owned by Japanese advertising and public relations firm Dentsu.

Anabel spoke to around 50 practitioners, including some clients such as Diageo and Vodafone, as well as representatives from Campaign UK, Marketing Week and Buzzfeed. She was also interviewed by the Campaign UK reporter for a piece she is writing on the topic.

The talk revolved around the history of LGBT portrayals in advertising and recent changes based on her recently accepted sole-authored Journal of Homosexuality publication: “Making Diversity Conform? An Intersectional, Longitudinal Analysis of LGBT-Specific Mainstream Media Advertisements”.

Anabel discussed the challenges of advertising to any stigmatised/marginalised consumer group as well as the harm that can come from the use of stereotypes or tropes, before describing the ways in which brands have navigated the issue in recent years – for example through the use of TV or print ‘trailer’ ads combined with ‘Human Interest’ ads or ‘making-off’ videos online. She drew on quotes from her qualitative research to illustrate how different types of portrayals and ad formats were experienced by participants, before ending the talk with three successful features of LGBT advertising and six suggestions for best practice.

Anabel’s presentation was followed by just under two hours of networking and informal discussion with participants, and she has been asked if she would come back to present to a client-oriented event later in the year.

Anabel has also developed a video to tell her research story, which has been shared with Dentsu Aegis and is on YouTube:

It is really inspiring to see how Anabel’s research is already making a difference and what an excellent ambassador she is for the School and the PhD programme!