Magazines: The Gentlewoman - Audience and Industries

 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. The only text is the title, subtitle and name of the person in the photograph, which is taken as a portrait and framed like a painting. It’s a bold statement that says this is more than just a magazine, this is art. In case it wasn’t different enough, the masthead is in lower case! Compared with Vogue, Elle or Cosmopolitan, the Gentlewoman has no need to shout. Its fresh take on what a magazine should look like stands out enough – made you look, it seems to whisper. From its very specific choices around typography to its choices around colour and blank space, the Gentlewoman oozes class in a different and much more, yes, modern way.

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). This includes playing with ideas of gender performativity and stereotypes, such as the fashion feature on the smart summer suit (issue 25, pp.272- 287) – a masterclass in androgyny. Most of the non-advertising-related subjects are creatives of some kind – artists, musicians, fashionistas, writers, actors, dancers – but there are occasional oddities, subjects that you simply would not get in other women’s mags – an undertaker, a botanist, a Zambian rapper, a courtroom artist, a Moroccan mountaineer – that both elevate the Gentlewoman to being more serious and give it a more down-to-earth feel than the ethereal airbrushed beauties we are usually bombarded with in women’s magazines.

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

• Gender of average reader: Female
• Age range: 28-46
• Social class: A or B
• Average income: £87K
• Higher education

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?

• It 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 products to help create our identity. It could definitely be argued that by creating a club, the gentlewoman is able to tailor and construct a superglamorous and ultra-modern ‘reality’ for its readers – a simulation that would make Baudrillard perk up.

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

• It’s a physical magazine that only comes out twice a year (perfect for my information overwhelm). It’ll look great on my bookshelves. It provides me with a glimpse into the world of high fashion and celebrity and picks a few choice social trends to help me feel in the know. It meets some of my needs for cultural and media interaction and all it asks in return is the price of a cinema ticket and that I put up with some targeted marketing.

7) Who are the team behind the magazine?

• Penny Martin, Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom.

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'?

• An important part of the magazine from an industry point of view is what 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. I usually find this type of marketing jarring and cynical, but somehow – probably by carefully selecting which brands it works with – the gentlewoman has made it seem like an utterly natural feature of the magazine. 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? 

• 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.

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?

• It introduces it as “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 distinction 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 interviews with today’s most fascinating women of note. It has 2 features, 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) and 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 subscriptions 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+ year

• Female readers: 85%
• Male readers: 15%
• ABC1: 76%
• AB: 47%
• Average income: £87,255

• UK: 51%
• Europe: 23%
• USA: 18%
• Rest of the World: 8%

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-togethers 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.

Past collaborations have included:

• Delfina Delettrez: The Cocktail Needle. Supporting collateral included an editorial feature in the A/W ’17 issue of the magazine; specially designed co-branded packaging; an exclusive launch cocktail
• COS: Glimpses of the Future architectural tours of London and Los Angeles. Supporting media included illustrated map inserts and an editorial feature in the A/W ’17 issue of the magazine; photographic documentation; asset creation and distribution across respective digital platforms.
• Chanel: a fabulous six-page portrait series with Lucia Pica, Chanel’s global creative make-up and colour designer, photographed by Karim Sadli.
• Giorgio Armani: an eight-page portrait series showcasing Giorgio Armani’s New Normal collection featuring the women defining the new, modern Italy. Photographed by Liz Collins.
• Nike: a seasonal running club and animated digital project.

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. From the same publishing house as celebrated magazine Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman continues the house’s tradition for publishing innovation.

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 as Mhairi Black, Elena Ferrante, Zadie Smith, Sofia Coppola, Erin Brockovich and Nicola Sturgeon. 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?

• Confident, intelligent and stylish, our readers are from a broad range of ages and professions. Characterized by their thirst for cultural entertainment, we have an intimate relationship with readers through The Club (28,000 subscribers). Members are invited to a range of events - exhibitions & walking tours/B.Y.O vinyl sessions/running club - it’s a fantastic resource that strengthens the inclusive character of the brand.

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?

• It mentions a Gentlewoman Club cards night at Savile Club with Browns Fashion, a moment during the Gentlewoman Club's architectural tour in Los Angeles and the Gentlewoman Club's day trip to Durslade Farm with Paul Smith.

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

• In a media landscape saturated with glossy magazines, 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, who was previously a curator at the Women's Library and the National Media Museum, as well the first editor of Nick Knight's fashion website SHOWstudio and chair of fashion imagery at London College of Fashion. The magazine has ascended in tandem with Céline (in fact, designer Phoebe Philo was the magazine's first ever cover star) and the title's design — by Veronica Ditting — is known for its clean layout, chic fonts (Futura, Garamond, Lyon, Avenir and Georgia) and variations of paper.

3) How are Gentlewoman Club tickets given out? 

• While many magazines are extending their brands into events for which readers must often buy expensive tickets, 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. At the architectural tour, there was a mix of fashion industry and media professionals, architecture nerds and women who work in the arts and charity sectors, even one with a newborn baby. “All we ask is that people give us a bit of information about themselves when they sign up,” says Martin.

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

• Martin says the club grew organically out of the gatherings the magazine used to host at independent bookshops to launch its latest issues. “We were really struck by the kinds of people that attended: designers, gallerists, collectors, switched-on students, smart businesswomen,” recalls Martin.

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."

Website and social media research

1) Visit The Gentlewoman's website. How does it promote the magazine? 

• They promote the magazine through their library where each interview and cover is available to view for free.

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? 

• All of the magazine content can be viewed for free which is a good marketing technique as they would not be able to build up a loyal audience for the magazine in the digital age if they expected audiences to pay for online articles, which they would not do.

3) Look at The Gentlewoman's Twitter feed. What content from the magazine or Club events can you find on there? 

• On their Twitter page, they feature behind the scenes content and post from their covers.

4) Go to The Gentlewoman's Instagram page. How does it encourage the audience to engage with the magazine? 

• Alongside posting their magazine covers and their photo shoots, they encourage the audience to engage with the magazine through its comment section.

5) What representations of fashion and gender can you find on their Instagram page? 

• The page features a variety of women (with no men) showing a spectrum of gender expression that is not limited to stereotypes. There is also a vast age range, however, most of the cover photos feature white women.