LGBTQ+ Publisher Them Unveils a Brand Refresh Under New Leadership

The landscape of queer media has changed significantly in the nearly five years since Them launched, and the publisher aims to reflect that evolution in a brand refresh it unveiled Wednesday morning. The Condé Nast property, which hired its new editor in chief Sarah Burke from Vice Media in October, announced a suite of updates to the brand, including an aesthetic overhaul, an expansion of its editorial vision and a series of new events and content premieres. The refresh follows on the heels of a historic year for Them, which saw revenue grow 186% year over year, according to Burke. Them reaches a relatively small audience of 1.2 million readers monthly, per measurement firm Comscore, but the title has used its influence to secure partnerships with a variety of blue-chip brands, including Google, Ralph Lauren, GrubHub and Dropbox. Branded content now accounts for 66% of its advertising revenue, said chief business officer Eric Gillin, though the publisher declined to share exact financial figures. In addition to the revenue increase, Them has seen marketers expand their relationship with the LGBTQ+ title, committing ad spend throughout the year rather than focus exclusively on Pride Month in June. LGBTQ+ Publisher Gray Jones Launches Vacationer, Its Fourth Title, to Chase Tourism “Three years ago, almost half of our business was in June,” Gillin said. “Two years ago, that shifted to being about a third of our overall business. And last year, we saw consistent business throughout each quarter.” The summer-time celebration of the LGBTQ+ community still nets the majority of business for Them, and Pride content in 2021 drove a 167% increase in revenue. But marketers’ efforts to support the LGBTQ+ community have evolved, and many media agencies have begun to make good on their public commitments to invest more in underserved communities all year round. “From the agency perspective, the biggest shift has been the move away from focusing on June,” said Josh Bareño, director of multicultural at Essence. “We've seen across the board, when we think about diverse or underrepresented groups, that audiences expect better, more holistic representation. LGBTQ+ people don't cease to exist outside of our marketing calendars.” Expanding to reflect LGBTQ+ influence The brand refresh has two main components: an aesthetic overhaul and an editorial expansion, complete with a slate of new content and events. The aesthetic redesign aims to capture the sense that moving through the world as a member of the LGBTQ+ community requires daily acts of rebellion, Burke said. To channel that spirit, the creative team chose for their accent color an ambiguous shade that falls between blue and purple. “What really inspires me about queer people is their daily refusal of the status quo,” Burke said. “There is almost a requirement to reinvent the mold just by being who you are, and out of that springs a resourcefulness and ingenuity that I think of as an outsider spirit. That is what we wanted to capture.” In tandem with the visual overhaul, Them will also deepen its reporting beyond representational firsts––though the publisher will continue that coverage, Burke stressed––into chronicling the influence LGBTQ+ people have in their professional, artistic and cultural spheres. As part of this effort, Them is launching or revitalizing two tentpole events, a slate of new YouTube content and a resource hub for LGBTQ+ readers in April and June. The Now Awards, a revamped celebration of 10 LGBTQ+ people pushing their discipline forward, will occur in June, and its inaugural anTHEM Dance Party, the first consumer-facing event from Them, will debut June 16 at The Brooklyn Monarch. Its new YouTube series, called Becoming, will follow the life and visibility of a LGBTQ+ icon and serve as an opportunity for Them to relaunch its YouTube presence, which went dormant during the pandemic. And the new resource hub, called Them Answers and Advice, will live on the Them website starting in April and offer information about everything from sexual health to travel and harm reduction. Them is also in the process of expanding the size of its full-time team from three to six including the hire of a lifestyle editor, senior news editor and culture editor, who was formerly part-time. With the increased headcount, the publisher hopes to mark a new chapter in its five-year history. “LGBTQ+ people are really at the forefront of not just social change, but fashion, culture and art,” Burke said. “We want to highlight the people who are innovating within their discipline in ways that might have to do with their identity, but also might not.”