The Gentlewoman: Audience and Industries blog tasks

 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? 

It suggests that what is different about the Gentlewoman compared to traditional women’s magazines is how minimalist its designs are, the only texts being are the title, subtitle and the name of the person in the photograph. Their masthead isn’t in capital letters, only smaller ones, which is different to Elle or Vogue. The Gentlewoman is portraying a message that focuses more on the creativity and character.

2) What representations are offered in the Gentlewoman?  

The representations that are offered in the Gentlewoman are gender is a performance and stereotypes such as fashion feature on the smart summer suit. 

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

85% - Female/Woman 

Largest readership bracket - aged 38

61% - aged 28-46  

47% - A or B categories

4) What is The Gentlewoman Club? 

The Gentlewoman Club is  a ‘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?

The theorists that it suggests that we can apply to the Gentlewoman’s club are Henry Jenkins and David Gauntlett’s ideas about how we, as media consumers, use media products to help create our own identity. 

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

It suggests that it provides a glimpse of high fashion and celebrity, which also picks a few choice of social trends to help give them knowledge. It also meets some of the needs for cultural and media interaction.

7) Who are the team behind the magazine?

The team behind the magazine is small but influential. Creators Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom came 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 website as great adverts for their products, providing enough content to allow their readers to enjoy full articles and get to know the brand, while being minimalist to encourage their readers to buy  the physical product.

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

‘Creative collaborations’, which is also known as ‘native advertising’ are brands use the gentlewoman’s own writers and photographers to market their products to the gentlewoman’s audiences. They ‘spill over into real life’ by carefully selecting which brands works with - the gentlewoman has made it seem like an utterly natural feature of the magazine. Also, using special events for club members.

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

It sums up the audience pleasure of the Gentlewoman by stating that “what pleases me may not please you, the gentlewoman is not for everyone”. This could suggest that audiences have different perspectives on things they see and portray it differently.

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?

It introduces the magazine as having a definitive style title for modern woman. intelligent, opinionated and entertaining, which 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 different sections are library, club, magazine, collaborators and shop. These offer opportunities for audience engagement and interaction because it allows audiences to gain knowledge about Gentlewoman, offering activities that would help them explore creative visionaries and allows audiences to become an active participant, through events and buying from shops.

3) What are the audience demographics for The Gentlewoman?

The audience demographics for The Gentlewoman is mostly female, based on class status is A or B and the age is between 28 - 46.

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

The Gentlewoman Club is an international community and reader society created by the biannual fashion and lifestyle magazine. It offers readers various activities and events, which also features lively chats with Club members and engaging interviews with fascinating women.

5) What Creative Collaborations

Creative Collaborations are an innovative way to communicate a unique brand message through the publication’s distinctive editorial voice, offering divers and engaging cross-platform solutions such as photography and film.

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 magazine is describes as celebrating modern women of style of purpose, featuring inspirational women through a distinctive combination of glamour, personality and warmth. 

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

It says that Gentlewoman brings together modern women with great renown and distinction. 

3) How are the readers described?

The readers are described as confident, intelligent and stylish, coming 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?

The events are architectural tour of London’s most famous brutalist landmarks and modernist social housing estates, finishing with lunch at the Isokon building. 

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

It suggests this because it seems that The Gentlewoman was much more successful due to their intelligent take on fashion and culture aimed at smart and tasteful women. They have also dispensed with traditional shopping pages, they prioritise sartorial fascination with the nuances of dressing rather than 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 says that they have noticed how people attend the event as well as the activities, where they would expect to meet other people and so they set an atmosphere that was really friendly. Also, they said that it is important that the readers feel part of something sincere and consistent with the kind of controversial, friendly tone of the magazine.

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

Because the magazine can use it 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? 

They promote the magazine through using lifestyle and cultural brand. The club section promotes the magazine by creating a community around the brand. Also, the use of the t-shirts could potentially promote the magazine as it’s a merchandise for a particular community and identity.

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? 

Loads of magazines are available to view online. This could be smart as a marketing technique depending on how the readers take it. This is because readers could see this as a way to want to buy a physical copy of the magazine or it could lead for the readers to get to know The Gentlewoman magazine more which could lead to the magazine gaining more audience. However, this could give away content due to them exposing what the contents are to the readers online.

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

The contents from the magazine or Club events are front covers of some magazines, some events from the Club taking place at different locations as well as promoting their own merchandise, the Gentlewoman t-shirt. 

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

Their Instagram page shows their posts about creativity and identity, prioritising a particular unique design. They also show the events that they have done as well as recent ones, and on of their posts the caption states “Fancy it? Join the Gentlewoman Club” and “sign up for free, and receive invitations”. These shows how they are trying to engage audience into their events and clubs.

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

Their representations of fashions shows unique features, some casual fashion and minimalist style. They subvert the male gaze as it shows that their posts are mostly women but it doesn’t show objectivity. Instead, they show women’s empowerment.