GQ audience and industry

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1) How does the media kit introduction describe GQ?
A flagship of men's style and fashion.

2) What does the media kit suggest about masculinity?
It is evolving, which is making men's fashion increasingly popular.

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

  • 61% are ABC1 – they are mostly upper or middle class who have money to spend.

  • £138k is the average household income of the people who read GQ.

  • £7.7k is spent on fashion annually, which means they care about and value how they look.

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

  • GQ HEROES: ISSUE & EVENT – From the idyllic setting of Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire comes GQ’s first flagship event of the year. GQ Heroes is a festival of ideas that brings together gamechangers, creative radicals, deep thinkers and cultural icons for three days of panels and live performances.

  • MEN OF THE YEAR – In 2021, the iconic British GQ Men of the Year Awards reached a truly global audience, with more than 3,200 news articles generating over 9.8 billion views.

  • TENTPOLE VIDEO AND SOCIAL SERIES – British GQ’s video series drew more than 45 million views in 2021, with viewers watching more than 10 million hours of content.

5) Still on page 3, what does the video and social series section suggest about how magazine audiences are changing?
The audience has grown 30% online, so more people are preferring the online version to the print.

Media Magazine Feature: GQ (MM82 – page 12)

1) What are the elements that go into choosing a cover star for GQ?
The most famous person that month who is currently in a new project like releasing a film they starred in. There could also be no “hook” – someone famous could appear in GQ simply to boost their own brand image.

2) How is the magazine constructed to serve the target audience?
They really put the main focus on the men's style offered in the magazine as they know that is what the audience mainly wants.

3) What does the article suggest about GQ's advertisers and sponsorships – and what in turn does this tell us about the GQ audience?
High-end luxury lifestyle brands – shows that the audience values the brands and the wealth and class associated with them.

4) What is GQ Hype – and how does it reflect the impact of digital media on traditional print media?
GQ Hype was launched as a perfect middle ground. With only one per week it still came with prestige, it was still a GQ cover, designed as one, and 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?
It is impossible for them to survive without other revenue streams. They still exclusively focus on high-end luxury brands.

Industry Context

Condé Nast – The Guardian Article

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?
He has tried to distance himself from it.

3) What changes have been taking place at Condé Nast in recent years and why?
They are trying to be more careful as people have been exposed for saying things that damaged their reputation.

Condé Nast – Press Gazette Article

1) What does the article suggest about Condé Nast's recent strategy?
Producing fewer duplications of content.

2) How does chief executive Roger Lynch describe Condé Nast and why?
He said they are no longer a magazine company, as far more people interact with them online than in print.

3) What does Adam Baidawi say about Condé Nast, GQ and culture?
It is in the business of shaping and reflecting culture, and print sales actually went up for them.

Condé Nast – FIPP Feature

1) How is Condé Nast moving away from traditional print products?
By shifting towards online digital work rather than print, as more people interact with them online.

2) What examples are provided of Condé Nast’s video and streaming content?
Being able to click to buy an outfit while watching the Vogue fashion shows.

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,” said Chu.

GQ Website, Video and Social Media Content

1) What similarities do you notice between the website and the print edition of the magazine?
Very focused around the celebrities.

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 audience want to better their lives, value materialistic things and clearly care about their image.

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?
It shows more celebrity content and behind-the-scenes posts. I think the Instagram is aimed at a younger audience.

4) In your opinion, is GQ's social media content designed to sell the print magazine or build a digital audience? Why?
I think it is more to build a digital audience, as on their Instagram they barely post anything about what’s actually in the magazine and even in their broadcast channel they talk more about celebrities in general, not the magazine. So I don’t think they are really trying to get people to physically buy the magazine.

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?
I think it is successful both digitally and as a print magazine. It targets its original audience through the print version and the events they hold but targets a younger audience digitally, which helps grow the brand and increases sales of the print magazine. I think eventually digital platforms will fully replace magazines, but probably not for a while, as there is still a large audience who buy them and people may get internet fatigue, so they might prefer having the magazine like how young people still buy CDs and vinyl even though you can listen to everything online.


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