From Xena to Carmilla: Engaging LGBTQ consumers with branded content

Discusses how brands can engage with people in minority communities by telling good stories through a web series, Carmilla, which proved so popular that it became a movie by Kimberly Clark’s Kotex.

In the 1980s and 1990s, television didn’t speak to LGBTQ television viewers, unless you think a stereotypical over-the-top camp character was fulfilling that need. But by the middle of the latter decade, things were starting to change as a number of shows appeared with a lesbian subtext.

Xena: Warrior Princess, for example, ran over six series between 1995 and 2001, with one IMDb reviewer describing it as “a perfect mix of often dark drama, wacky/campy comedy, action, angst and romance”. A similar dynamic was evident in Buffy the Vampire Slayerwhich ran from 1997 to 2003. Such programs...

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