The Gentlewoman: 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?
The Gentlewoman love the world making their magazine revolve around this ides. Women’s magazines with their names that oozed glossy glamour. ''I can spot one from across a dentist’s waiting room solely based on the layout, the colours, the photograph and the typefaces.''
2) What representations are offered in the Gentlewoman?
The gentlewoman does a pretty good job of presenting a spectrum of womanhood (it may not surprise
anyone to hear that the vast majority of its subjects are emphatically not men).
3) List the key statistics in the article on the average reader of the magazine.
85 percent of the gentlewoman’s audience are 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’. The club is both a real, offline way to get to know others who share similar interests, a way of deepening brand loyalty among readers, and a cynical way to covertly
market products to a highly affluent and motivated targeted audience who are made to feel special.
5) What theorists does it suggest we can apply to the Gentlewoman's club?
Theories by Henry Jenkins, and David Gauntlett’s ideas about how we, as media consumers, use media products to help create our identity.
6) What does the writer of article suggest they are getting out of their relationship with the magazine?
Enter The Gentlewoman club – an ‘international society’ of ‘sophisticated women and men who demand quality and originality from their agenda of cultural happenings’. The club is both a real, offline way to get to know others who share similar interests, a way of deepening brand loyalty among readers, and a cynical way to covertly market products to a highly affluent and motivated targeted audience who are made to feel special.
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 are clearly savvy and 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. The gentlewoman’s liberal use of cross- platform social media helps deepen readers’ relationship with the brand, while being a largely free resource to the company.
9) What are the 'creative collaborations' in the magazine? How do they 'spill over into real life'?
the gentlewoman calls its ‘creative collaborations’. Also known as ‘native advertising’, 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.
the gentlewoman calls its ‘creative collaborations’. Also known as ‘native advertising’, 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?
Of course, what pleases me may not please you; the gentlewoman is not for everyone. But this in turn 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?
Established in 2010, The Gentlewoman is widely recognised as the definitive style title for the modern woman. Intelligent, opinionated and entertaining, it has set a new standard in women’s magazines with its high-quality writing and fashion photography celebrating modern women of style and purpose.
2) On the 'Digital' page, what different sections of the website are there and how do these offer opportunities for audience engagement and interaction?
The sections are: Library, club, magazine, collaborations, shop. The club section offers interviews 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 sections are: Library, club, magazine, collaborations, shop. The club section offers interviews 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.
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 Gentlewoman Club is an international society of the magazine’s readers, which currently has up to 39,000 active members – sophisticated women and men who demand quality and originality from their agenda of cultural happenings. These loyal subscribers attend the Club’s get-together in substantial numbers, notified of which via the Club’s monthly newsletter and social media platforms.
5) What Creative Collaborations
The Gentlewoman’s creative collaborations are an innovative way to communicate a unique brand message through the publication’s distinctive editorial voice. These bespoke partnerships offer diverse and engaging cross-platform solutions including photography, film, inserts, contract publishing and
specially-curated events and digital projects.
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 is seen to celebrate modern women of style and purpose, offering an intelligent perspective on fashion through ambitious journalism and photography.
2) What does it say about the content and design of The Gentlewoman?
The Gentlewoman brings together in its pages modern women of great renown and distinction. Such women exemplify the editorial character of the magazine. 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 described as confident, intelligent and stylish.
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?
-A Gentlewoman Club cards night at Savile Club with Browns Fashion.
-A moment during The Gentlewoman Club's architectural tour in Los Angeles.
2) Why does it suggest the magazine has managed to 'cut through the clutter'?
The Gentlewoman has cut through the clutter with an intelligent take on fashion and culture aimed at smart and tasteful women much like Martin herself.
2) Why does it suggest the magazine has managed to 'cut through the clutter'?
The Gentlewoman has cut through the clutter with an intelligent take on fashion and culture aimed at smart and tasteful women much like Martin herself.
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. Martin, who hosts each event, hand-picks the attendees much like one might curate the guest list for a dinner party.
The Gentlewoman Club is free to those who sign up on the magazine’s website and are selected for a slot. Martin, who hosts each event, hand-picks the attendees much like one might curate the guest list for a dinner party.
4) What does the article say about The Gentlewoman's relationship with its audience?
Martin stated that: “But what we noticed when we started increasing activities was not just who, but how people were attending: by and large, they arrived alone, with the expectation of meeting other people, so the atmosphere was really friendly and people stayed.”
5) Why are Club events valuable from a digital perspective?
The events are also valuable as generators of digital content. "I’d love to say I planned it, but it was just sheer luck that the club began to generate online assets that the magazine can use to engage readers between its bi-annual issues."
5) Website and social media research
1) Visit The Gentlewoman's website. How does it promote the magazine?
The website promotes the magazine by having individual sections of their magazine, Library, club, shop and collaborations.
2) Visit the magazine page of the website. How much of the magazine is available to view online? Is this a smart marketing technique to sell print copies or is it giving content away for free?
The Gentlewoman makes portions of their magazine available online fully for free. This may make readers stick around and can encourage them to purchase or subscribe to a print copy in order to access the full magazine.
3) Look at The Gentlewoman's Twitter feed. What content from the magazine or Club events can you find on there?
There are pictures from the gentlewoman club special events such as a performance. There are also photos from their magazine.
4) Go to The Gentlewoman's Instagram page. How does it encourage the audience to engage with the magazine?
5) What representations of fashion and gender can you find on their Instagram page?
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