GQ is an American originated magazine that first launched in 1931. It eventually branched out to other countries such as the UK and is targeted towards men using similar methods to Men's Health to attract an audience and also has its own ideologies on masculinity and what it means.
TEXT 1 - MAGAZINE COVER, DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD AND ADVERTORIAL
This paper has a greater emphasis on style than other Magazines targeted towards men. It focuses on appearance and success by using celebrity figures that help promote these ideologies. In this paper the actor John Boyega who has found large success in recent years due to his role in the sequel trilogy of Star Wars.
His appearance is important in capturing a new audience for the paper who will buy this paper simply for his involvement and may find they align with the ideologies of the paper and begin to buy the paper regularly. The paper also addresses the source of John's success and use 'Star Wars' in the front cover to further attract readers.
For people who already buy into the paper this specific Magazine would interest them as John is a very successful figure and they would be interested in his story and what makes him successful. They would also be interested in the style of John who has been dressed very specifically for the paper to portray what the paper believes to be a masculine look.
This double page spread has a big focus on fashion and reinforces its ideologies that success and masculinity are intertwined with the way you dress. Encouraging its audience to buy in to these high end fashion brands helps the Magazine make a profit and sell products to readers much easier without the audience thinking the paper is driven by profit and rather thinking the paper is trying to help you become a better man.
This page again uses many celebrity names to maximize the audience and create interest in the content of the paper. The page ranks what it believes to be the ten best dressed men on Instagram. This list could easily be filed with men that have a low following however the paper actually targets the ten best dressed famous men on Instagram.
Listing all these successful men and pointing them out for their similarity being good style is an easy way to make readers believe in the importance of style in their life. Names like Idris Elba are mentioned who is another highly successful man known for his acting career and he is a great example of what this paper believes is a successful, masculine man.
Here we see GQ breakdown some of Sean Frank's favorite clothes and accessories. The page shows a number of wearable items and provides the price and link for each item. The paper uses its ideologies and another celebrity figure to encourage readers to invest in at least one of the items it is promoting.
Again the paper positions the audience to believe the that the paper is showing these items with the intent of improving the readers life rather than maximizing profit or receiving commission for the sale of each item. This is how they can make these sales and keep their fans despite the high price points of what they are selling.
Text 2 - GQ YouTube
The GQ youtube page has a variety of content but like all its products the one similarity the majority of videos has is collaborations from well known figures and celebrities. The themes of each video can vary from sport to things like fashion and focusing on popular films and tv shows.
One series that makes regular appearances on the channel is the '10 things ... cant live without' where people throughout the media sit down and simply show the 10 things they cant live without. It is a simple format and helps give an insight to each person that comes on.
Text 3 : GQ Website
The GQ website has a big focus on fashion and style. It has categories for 'style' 'grooming' 'culture' and other things like 'sports'. The website focuses on culture and has a very diverse representation of fashion and people throughout the website.
One article on the website focuses on new and upcoming fashion and attempts to give readers the first look of what the magazine believes to be the future of fashion. This would feel like somewhat of an exclusive to readers and make them believe they are receiving information they cant get anywhere else.
Comments