Audience and industries

 1) Media Magazine feature: Pleasures of The Gentlewoman

Go to our Media Magazine archive and read the article on The Gentlewoman (MM84 - page 34). Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article suggest is different about the Gentlewoman compared to traditional women's magazines? 

Its minimalist covers are so completely different that it’s actually shocking. 

2) What representations are offered in the Gentlewoman?  

Representation in the gentlewoman is pleasingly wide ranging. the gentlewoman does a pretty

good job of presenting a spectrum of womanhood.

3) List the key statistics in the article on the average reader of the magazine. 

85% of the gentle women's audience is women.

61 percent of its readers are aged 28-46.

47 per cent of The Gentlewoman ’s readers are in the A or B categories of the NRS social grading system that the UK press uses to gather demographics.

4) What is The Gentlewoman Club? 

An ‘international society’ of ‘sophisticated women and men who demand quality and originality from their agenda of cultural happenings’.

5) What theorists does it suggest we can apply to the Gentlewoman's club?

A mutually beneficial blur of constructed media and real life, that could be probed using end-of-audience theories by the likes of Clay Shirkey, fandom theories by Henry Jenkins, and David

Gauntlett’s ideas about how we, as media consumers, use media product to help create our identity.

6) What does the writer of article suggest they are getting out of their relationship with the magazine?

7) Who are the team behind the magazine?

The team behind the gentlewoman is small but clearly influential. Creators Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom have come up with a number of subversive and unconventional publications.

8) How does the Gentlewoman use their website and social media to promote the magazine? 

They use their websites as great adverts for their products, giving away just enough content to allow potential readers to enjoy full articles and get to know the brand, while being seductively minimalist enough to encourage you to buy the physical product.

9) What are the 'creative collaborations' in the magazine? How do they 'spill over into real life'?

Brands use the gentlewoman’s own writers and photographers to market their products to the gentlewoman’s audiences. And the collaborations spill over into real life with special events for club members. All these strategies help to make the gentlewoman feel modern and relevant to those the magazine is targeting.

10) How does the article sum up the audience pleasures of the Gentlewoman? 

It gives it a sort of cult appeal – exclusivity, being in the know, enjoying the old medium of magazines in a modern way.

2) The Gentlewoman Media kit

Look through The Gentlewoman's Media Kit and answer the following questions:

1) How does the Media Kit introduce the magazine?

“A stylish read, unlike any other women’s magazine out there”

2) On the 'Digital' page, what different sections of the website are there and how do these offer opportunities for audience engagement and interaction? 

Library

A repository of the in-depth profiles of women of great renown and distinc-

tion from past editions of the magazine.

Club

The online home for The Gentlewoman Club and its various activities and

events. Also featuring lively chats with Club members and engaging inter-

views with today’s most fascinating women of note.

• The Calling: a questionnaire for creative visionaries exploring their life’s

work; subjects have included fashion designer Jil Sander, Paola Antonelli

of MoMA and fabulous popstar Alison Goldfrapp.

• The Reader: lively and chatty Q&A conversations with Club members.

Magazine

A précis of each edition of The Gentlewoman with editorial excerpts.

Collaborations

A portfolio of The Gentlewoman’s creative brand partnerships.

Shop

The outlet for The Gentlewoman’s product collaborations, magazine sub-

scriptions and back issues.

3) What are the audience demographics for The Gentlewoman?

Median age .................................... 32 years

22%................................................18–27 years

61% ............................................. 28–46 years

11%................................................ 47–55 years

6%...................................................... 56+ years

Female readers ......................................85%

Male readers ......................................... 15%

ABC1 ............................................................ 76%

AB ..................................................................47%

Average income ...........................£87,255

4) What is The Gentlewoman Club and what does it offer readers?

The online home for The Gentlewoman Club and its various activities and events.

5) What Creative Collaborations

A portfolio of The Gentlewoman’s creative brand partnerships.

3) D&AD Award Winner feature

Read this short D&AD advertising agency award feature on The Gentlewoman. Answer the following questions:

1) How is the magazine described?

The Gentlewoman celebrates modern women of style and purpose, offering an intelligent perspective on fashion through ambitious journalism and photography. Speaking to its audience as readers not consumers, the magazine showcases inspirational women through a distinctive combination of glamour, personality and warmth.

2) What does it say about the content and design of The Gentlewoman?

The editorial design continues its evolution with the introduction of new typographical and layout elements, along with the magazine’s ongoing commitment to enhancing its photography by working with the leading names in the field.

3) How are the readers described?

The readers are from a broad range of ages and professions

4) Business of Fashion website feature 

Read this Business of Fashion feature on The Gentlewoman - the magazine that is also a club. If you don't want to sign up to the website (free) then you can access the text of the article on Google Drive here (you'll need your Greenford Google login). Answer the following questions: 

1) What events are listed as part of The Gentlewoman Club?

There is a group of about 45 women and a few men are set to embark on a full-blown architectural tour of London’s most famous brutalist landmarks and modernist social housing estates, finishing with lunch at the Isokon building, a white concrete block designed by architect Wells Coates.

2) Why does it suggest the magazine has managed to 'cut through the clutter'?

It is more concerned with the sartorial fascination with the nuances of dressing than macro fashion trends and repetitive narratives.

3) How are Gentlewoman Club tickets given out? 

The Gentlewoman Club is free to those who sign up on the magazine’s website and are selected for a slot.

4) What does the article say about The Gentlewoman's relationship with its audience? 

 It's very important that the readers feel part of something sincere and consistent with the kind of conversational, friendly tone of the magazine, which is why we're not charging for them."

5) Why are Club events valuable from a digital perspective? 

"It’s not daily content by any manner of means but it strikes a tone on our social

media accounts that’s akin to the whole ‘arch-women’s society’ atmosphere of

the magazine."