“Nobody that marches in our parades gets to work with us for one day. We work with our brands all year round. It’s a 365-degree programme. We don’t turn our logo rainbow in June and then disappear for the rest of the year.” 

Dee Llewelyn, Pride London

Pride in Every Step

Led by the Mayor of London, the procession painted the town with pride from Hyde Park Corner to Westminster. The standout floats were those that showed up louder and more unapologetically than ever before, embracing the community to its core. The Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Love Float, adorned in glitter and accompanied by Coke Studio Breakthrough x Gay Times DJ Donnie Sunshine, was a highlight. It featured a cohort of Coca-Cola and CCEP employees dancing and celebrating, perfectly embodying this year’s theme of Living Authentically and Without Apology. Thanks to the brand experience agency, N2O, the collaboration was a testament to how brands can genuinely support and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. As pointed out in our full interview below with Dee Llewelyn, Director of Partnerships and Growth for Pride London, no brand is able to show up for just one day of the year. “We don’t turn our logo rainbow in June and then disappear for the rest of the year.” 

Pillars of Pride

Dee Llewelyn underscores the key factors that make Pride successful, focusing on visibility, unity, and equality. She explains that visibility is about showing up and making it clear that the LGBTQIA+ community is an integral part of society. “As we’re saying in this year’s campaign, we are everywhere. We’re in the threads of this society. We built this city, and are part of its history.” Dee insists that unity is vital not just for one day but as a continuous effort throughout the year. Pride London embraces this value by working with community groups year-round, offering grants and support to grassroots organisations that form the backbone of the community. Equality, according to Dee, involves standing up for everyone’s rights, lobbying governments, and ensuring that all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their race, colour, gender identity, or any other characteristic. 

Pride Outshines Glastonbury

With over 1.5 million attendees at Pride this year and more than 50% of Gen Z identifying with the LGBTQIA+ community, brands have a golden opportunity to showcase their allyship. Nielsen data reveals that Pride in London outshines Glastonbury, BST, London Fashion Week, and the London Marathon in brand equity and perception. This opportunity for brands is only set to grow with N2O announcing it has solidified a two-year partnership with Pride in London. With over a decade of experience in bringing global brands to the forefront of Pride in London, N2O is committed to helping brands not just to show up, but to stand out and stand proud with the LGBTQIA+ community. As an official partner, N2O offers brands a suite of opportunities, from participating in the famous Parade Float to engaging experiences at adjoining stages and year-long genuine allyship initiatives. In conversation with the IPM Clare James, Chief Operating Officer at N2O, reflects on the importance of the latest whitepaper produced by N2O alongside the agencies history with the LGBTQIA+ community.

What motivated N2O to create the “Standing Proud at Pride and Beyond” whitepaper? 

We found that our clients and colleagues wanted to do the right thing (and do it well) to support the LGBTQIA+ community and successfully activate Pride events with mutually beneficial relationships. We noticed a fear of getting it wrong but also a solid drive to implement ways to demonstrate allyship using a brand’s platform.

Creating the white paper was a direct response to the questions we were getting from our clients. We wanted to explore the nuances of brand experiences at Pride, get into the crux of what LGBTQIA+ people and their allies expect from brands who claim allyship and provide a rich background to why Pride events and year-long support are so crucial.

It also strengthened our commitment as an agency to providing space for LGBTQIA+ people to have a voice on issues that affect them daily. We partner with multiple charities that support the LGBTQIA+ community and we’ve worked intimately with our clients and Pride for years to ensure we’re helping out wherever we can.

This year, N2O collaborated with Tesco to create a giant shopping cart parade float that wowed crowds at Pride events. What are your most memorable milestones or activations in partnership with Pride? 

We’ve had many over the years! Our clients – Tesco, Coca-Cola, Unilever and Superdrug, to name a few – are proud Pride sponsors and supporters; collaborating with them on numerous experiences has been a joy.  

Brighton Pride with Coca-Cola x GayTimes last year was a highlight. It helped solidify the brands’ connection with music and the LGBTQIA+ community by showcasing Breakthrough Artists at the Coke Studio Stage (most of whom went on to sign record deals because of the festival). It felt special to help boost their careers in the music industry, exposing their talents to the Pride audience.  

With Tesco, outside of the Jolly Disco Trolley hitting Pride events across the UK in 2024, which we’re hugely proud of, we delivered the “Bursting with Pride” experience a few years back—based on the concept of an all-singing, all-dancing jack-in-the-box. The Tesco float, full of LGBTQIA+ Tesco colleagues, cycled through a pattern of people bursting out of boxes to fabulously choreographed dance routines and music. The float literally burst with Pride.  

Last year at London Pride with Unilever, the float featured cutting-edge digital screens with heat map technology. Our videographers engaged the crowds, encouraging loved-up couples to share a kiss, which was then broadcast for the Pride crowds in beautiful rainbow technicolour of heat. That activation was stunning and well-received by the event’s attendees.  

This year, we’ve also made an incredible in-house hiring to bolster our Pride collaborations by appointing Jack Horlock as our Cultural Partnerships Director. Jack’s been working closely in LGBTQIA+ events and diversity and inclusion sectors for over twenty years, helping to manage and cement meaningful brand experiences, and he’s already making an impact. We’re thrilled he’s just secured a two-year partnership with Pride in London, bringing us and our clients closer than ever to other Pride events.