Magazines: GQ - Audience & Industry

 Audience

Look through the GQ Media Kit and answer the following questions: 

1) How does the media kit introduction describe GQ?

As the flagship of men’s fashion and style in Britain, to be GQ is to be forward-looking, progressive and cutting-edge.

2) What does the media kit suggest about masculinity? 

As masculinity evolves and men's fashion has moved to the centre of the global pop-culture

conversation, GQ's authority has never been broader or stronger.

3) Pick out three statistics from the data on page 2 and explain what they suggest about the GQ audience.

£7.7K AVERAGE ANNUAL SPEND ON FASHION - consumers care a lot about fashion and prioritise.

61% ABC1 - upper class, upper middle class with a lot of disposable income.

£138K AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOME - High earning consumers

4) Look at page 3 - brand highlights. What special editions do GQ run and what do these suggest about the GQ audience?

GQ HYPE, MEN OF THE YEAR, TENTPOLE VIDEO AND SOCIAL SERIES- GQ audiences are interested in popular culture and have interests like music sports, art

and other creative industries. To add to this, they are also interested in celebrity life and influencers like actors, musicians and designers

5) Still on page 3, what does the video and social series section suggest about how magazine audiences are changing? 

Audiences are moving more towards digital magazine coverage like how the GQ's TENTPOLE VIDEO AND SOCIAL SERIES with viewers watching more than 10 million hours of content.

Media Magazine feature: GQ

Go to our Media Magazine archive and read the article on GQ (MM82 - page 12). Answer the following questions:

1) What are the elements that go into choosing a cover stars for GQ? 

In the UK, getting the cover right is paramount – at GQ especially, most sales of the magazine

are retail rather than subscription, so the cover has a huge impact on sales

2) How is the magazine constructed to serve the target audience? 

This means nearly all shoots in the magazine – celebrities and otherwise – are done in tandem with the magazine’s style editors to showcase the best new men’s style on offer.

3) What does the article suggest about GQ's advertisers and sponsorships - and what in turn does this tell us about the GQ audience? 

In terms of advertisers, is brands that want to promote themselves in the sphere

of male, high-end, luxury lifestyle. So, everything from top-tier tailoring to the latest sports cars. These brands are often heritage brands, so the names wouldn’t change much from month to month, or year to year. GQ audience are then interested in luxury, expensive things. Maybe even to appear prestige or materialistic 

4) What is GQ Hype - and how does it reflect the impact of digital media on traditional print media?

Celebrities naturally want a GQ print cover, but with only so many on offer, previously the drop-off from not getting a print cover could be drastic So, with only one per week it still came with prestige, it was still a GQ cover, designed as one, and so that fact alone meant it would get more attention both on Instagram and Twitter than other online-only stories.

5) Finally, what does the article say about additional revenue streams for print magazines like GQ?  

Extra revenue streams are vital to the magazine business these days – it’s almost impossible to survive without them. It’s about deciding the key areas in which the brand is strong and focussing on those, rather than expanding into areas you are not

Industries

Your industries contexts are divided into three areas - Conde Nast, GQ's website and social media content and the impact of digital media on print industries.

Condé Nast

Read this Guardian news article on editorial changes at Condé Nast and answer the following questions: 

1) Who was previously GQ editor for 22 years? 

Dylan Jones

2) What happened to the 'lads' mag' boom magazines such as Nuts, Maxim and Loaded? 

Jones has distanced himself from the “lads’ mag” boom of the 1990s, saying it “denigrated our culture”, but he continued to argue that a successful magazine needs “a libido, whether you are French Vogue or Vanity Fair”

3) What changes have been taking place at Condé Nast in recent years and why? 
Jones, the most recognisable British departure from Condé Nast for a while, is not expected to be the last. The company says it will “continue to bring together our European business” and is “entering into a collective consultation process to evolve some of our teams, roles and capabilities

Read this Press Gazette article on Conde Nast. Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article suggest about Condé Nast's recent strategy? 

Last year Conde Nast merged the global editorial teams at several of its international magazine brands including GQ, Wired, Vogue and Conde Nast Traveller under a new digital-first strategy designed to produce less duplication of content

2) How does chief executive Roger Lynch describe Condé Nast and why? 

Roger Lynch told the New York Times the digital-first changes meant Conde Nast was “no longer a magazine company,” 

3) What does Adam Baidawi say about Condé Nast, GQ and culture? 

 “Conde Nast, as much as anything else, is in the business of shaping and reflecting culture. Culture moves, and we have to move with it.

Read this FIPP feature on Condé Nast diversifying into video and streaming content. Answer the following questions: 

1) How is Condé Nast moving away from traditional print products?

The company is focusing on reaching those segments of its audience who do not watch traditional broadcast and cable networks. “Last year we announced the launch of the Condé Nast Influence Network, our alternative to traditional broadcast and cable networks,

2) What examples are provided of Condé Nast's video and streaming content?

live Vogue fashion show, Met Gala and Vanity Fair’s Oscars Party

3) What does the end of the article suggest modern media audiences want? 
“Audiences want to be participants, not just passive viewers – and of course, they want content 100 per cent personalised for them,” 

GQ website, video and social media content 

Visit the GQ website, Instagram and YouTube channel. Note that some of these may be blocked in school. Once you have looked over GQ's online content, answer the following questions:

1) What similarities do you notice between the website and the print edition of the magazine?

Typography is the same and overall visual style. The colour scheme and logo.

2) Analyse the top menu of the GQ website (e.g. Fashion / Grooming / Culture). What do the menu items suggest about GQ's audience?

The presence of a "Fashion" category means that GQ's audience is likely interested in staying up-to-date with the latest trends, brands, and style advice. The part of a "Culture" category means that GQ's audience is culturally engaged and interested in a wide range of topics such as music, film, literature, art, technology, and current events

3) What does GQ's Instagram feed suggest about the GQ brand? Is this appealing to a similar audience to the print version of the magazine?
GQ's Instagram feed  includes high-quality, aesthetically appealing images that reflect the magazine's sophisticated and stylish aesthetic this is similar to the print version

4) In your opinion, is GQ's social media content designed to sell the print magazine or build a digital audience? Why?

I think the social media content is used as a way of promoting GQ's print magazine by posting snippets of photoshoots and interviews to drink interest and hopefully and increase in subscriptions. However there is a social media strategy to build their digital audience because of the behind the scenes content

5) Evaluate the success of the GQ brand online. Does it successfully communicate with its target audience? Will the digital platforms eventually replace the print magazine completely?

GQ have a success brand online with increasing audience engagement on posts and on Instagram and Facebook, Social media has pushed the relevancy of the GQ magazine

The impact of digital media on the print magazines industry

Read this Guardian feature on the struggles of the UK print magazine industry and answer the following questions:

1) What statistics are provided to demonstrate the decline in the print magazines industry between 2010 and 2017? What about the percentage decline from 2000?

Sales of the top 100 actively purchased print titles in the UK – those that readers buy or subscribe to – fell by 42% from 23.8m to 13.9m between 2010 and 2017. Since the start of the internet era in 2000, the decline is 55% from 30.8m, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

2) What percentage of ad revenue is taken by Google and Facebook?

Google and Facebook account for 65% of the $6.5bn (£4.7bn) UK digital display ad market

3) What strategies can magazine publishers use to remain in business in the digital age?

Wildman says for magazines to survive they must build a brand beyond the core print publication

4) What examples from the Guardian article are provided to demonstrate how magazines are finding new revenue streams?

“Endorsement, accreditation and licensing are increasingly lucrative. DFS sell House Beautiful and Country Living [named after titles] range sofas. And the bestselling premium home gym at Argos is branded after our Men’s Health magazine.”

5) Now think of the work you've done on GQ. How is GQ diversifying beyond print

GQ is using digital content and social media platforms like YouTube, fakebook and Instagram heavily. By using demanded content by audiences online like behind the scenes and exclusive interviews, GQ successfully increase their engagement with audiences