GQ Australia will move to a new publishing model in 2021 evolving the premium men’s lifestyle brand to a digital-first future.
The brand will expand its digital offering, building out gq.com.au and its social, video and events offering; and launching e-commerce, new podcasts and a new daily newsletter.
The brand will also introduce a broader editorial strategy that will include increased content in tech, gaming and sport.
The digital transformation will see the final regular bi-monthly print edition of GQ Australia be the November/December 2020 issue.
“Making this decision with our licensor, Conde Nast, we are refocusing the brand and investing in digital because that’s where GQ Australia’s growth is coming from, and our new offering has been designed to make the brand accessible to more people," says Nicholas Gray, managing director The Australian, NSW and Prestige Titles.
“Moving to a digital-first model allows us to evolve the brand and deliver a more powerful offering of market-leading products and the very best consumer and client experience on whatever channel they choose, whether it is our owned platforms, on social or through events.”
Editorial director of GQ Australia, Vogue Australia and Vogue Living Edwina McCann says the decision was made based upon the magazine brand's male audience who are digitally focused. GQ's online audience grew 55.4% this year.
"It is particularly popular with the younger male audience, with three in 10 of its audience in any given month being aged 18 to 34," says McCann.
“E-commerce is an exciting area of growth for GQ Australia, Conde Nast recently launched a successful e-commerce ecosystem for GQ internationally and with their support we will follow suit in Australia in 2021.
“GQ Australia has always been a campaigning brand and we’re incredibly proud of our GQ Men of the Year Awards, which have recognised and celebrated so many extraordinary Australians for their work and achievements over the past 13 years, and that will continue.
“The GQ Big Ideas virtual event series we are currently running has resonated incredibly well with our audience and will culminate on 5 November with the GQ Big Ideas Summit. We will continue to lead in this space and have plans to introduce even more thought-provoking digital series tackling important issues.”
News Prestige Network retains the right to publish custom printed GQ Australia products.
The November/December 2020, on sale Monday, 9 November 2020, issue will be the final regular bi-monthly print edition of GQ Australia on newsstands.
According Nielsen's August 2020 Digital Content Ratings, GQ.com.au has a unique audience of 249,000 up 4.8% year-on-year and a social audience of 384,000.
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