We don't care if you're straight; you need to think queerer

The world isn't linear. People, culture and how we communicate has become more layered and unbelievably messy. Channels cross over more than ever, identities are more complex and brands have a tougher job than ever to travel this winding road.

Yet brands are still thinking straight. It’s making your work more average and AI is only compounding the issue. 

Queer people, like other marginalised groups, have never had the luxury of being average. 

Your phone is powered by a processor shaped by Sophie Wilson and Lynn Conway – two trans women. AI itself is built on the foundations that Alan Turing, a gay man, unlocked in 1940. Infant formula was invented by a lesbian public health physician called Sara Josephine Baker.

Ever heard someone say "spill the tea”, “that’s shady”, “clock it" or even “naff”? Yep, these are all gay too. Many terms we use now originate from Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ ballroom culture in Harlem. The word "naff" comes from Polari, the code gay men spoke in public in the 1950s. 

To think queerer is to innovate, and it is the strongest untapped power you have as a marketer (oh, and you don’t have to be queer to harness it).

Introducing the IAF* Think Queerer framework:

1.Dismantle the norm. 

Queer people are used to dismantling the norm. In doing so we can unlock more opportunities than you ever thought possible. 

How to do it: Notice when you feel a surge of certainty when you do something, that gut feeling of "this is just how it's done". Ask yourself why it’s done this way. Write down your assumptions. 

Swap the assumption for a question: "we always do X" becomes "what happens if we don't?" or “what if we did this instead?”

2. Embrace nuance.

What it is: Queer thinking has always rejected the binary. The middle is where the interesting stuff usually is, and most brands walk straight past it.

How to do it: When you’re presented with a binary. A “this” or “that”, ask yourself what lies in the middle. Pause before forming an opinion, because the instinct to resolve quickly is what kills nuance. Sit in the contradiction long enough and you'll usually find an opportunity. 

3. Be radically authentic.

What it is: Queer identity has always meant rejecting expectation and committing fully to self. It's uncomfortable, it costs you in some ways. But it’s the reason you’re remembered.

How to do it: Find what your brand actually believes. A brand with a real point of view will lose people, and the ones who stay will be obsessed. Trying to hold everyone is what makes you forgettable.

Then audit the gap between what you say you believe and your actions. That gap is wider in a lot of brands than they’d like to think. That is where inauthenticity lives. Close the gap, or admit the belief isn't real and stop saying it.

We used all three on the “Everything Reminds me of HER” campaign for the sapphic dating app - HER. The dating app category faces its biggest challenges now, with over a million UK users having left major dating apps last year. 

To dismantle the norm we asked what the “norm” became for this category then pushed against it. To embrace nuance we shouted “queer women assemble!” at the start of the work to ensure every part of this campaign spoke to the contradictions and nuances of the Sapphic community.  To be radically authentic we built an IYKYK unapologetic message that connected directly to the brand. It wasn’t for everyone. But that was the point. The result was an OOH ad that went viral with nearly a million organic views.

You don’t have to be queer to think queerer. But what you do have to do? Have courage in your work and question everything. Or work with people who do exactly that already.