The Greater San Diego Business Association (GSDBA) is launching a new marketing campaign in June, introducing the theme "Friends Do Business With Friends," with the twin goals of reminding consumers that GSDBA is the place to find gay and gay-friendly businesses and to let business owners know GSDBA is the way they can reach out to this affluent and fast-growing market.

The multi-media campaign extends to print and television media, outdoor billboards and promotional merchandise. More than 250 television commercials will air in San Diego County through November on news networks CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and on hit programming such as Top Design and Queer Eye and on the pop-culture network Bravo. Based on Nielsen viewership data, the commercials are expected to achieve 1.7 million household impressions carrying the GSDBA message.

Two billboards with the "Friends Do Business With Friends" theme and including group photos of participating business owners will display during June and July in Hillcrest at University and Vermont and University and Eighth. Businesses participating in the co-operative billboards include Cytelea Communications, Principle Real Estate, Paychex, My Plumber, Waddell & Reed Financial Advisors, Mark Visocky General Contractor, Chiropactor David Knepp, Mortgage One Lenders, Hotel La Jolla and Financial 21 Credit Union.

Print advertising with the theme will appear throughout the year in the weekly publications Buzz, which reports monthly distribution of 100,000 and is the GSDBA Strategic Media Partner, and the Gay and Lesbian Times, which reports readership of 38,750. In addition, GSDBA will make the theme available on logo items such as coffee mugs and t-shirts, as well as window stickers for members to display .

In 2006 the Greater San Diego Business Association (GSDBA) was named "Chamber of the Year" by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). The award recognizes GSDBA’s stature as a leader in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender business movement in the United States. Founded in 1979 GSDBA continues to support small businesses in San Diego while advocating for mainstream acceptance of diversity.

Eight hundred members strong, GSDBA is one of the largest specialty chambers in San Diego County and the second largest gay, lesbian and supportive chamber in the nation. GSDBA distributes 30,000 copies of their business directory to consumers each year, with fun, well-attended monthly mixers, networking groups and other resources for business owners to help grow their businesses. The GSDBA also lists its member directory online and has an extensive small business resource center on its website, www.gsdba.org.

For more information, call the GSDBA office at (619) 296-4543.

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