CASE STUDY PRESENTATION:BY AYDAN KELLY

• Genre : Men’s l i f es ty le• Launch: October 1933• Ed i tor in ch ie f: Dav id M Granger• Frequency: Month ly• Address : 72 Broadwick St ree t

London W1F 9EP

• Product ion Company: Hears t Magaz ines• Count ry: Un i ted States• Language : Eng l i sh

• Esqu i re was launched in October 1933, w i th the in tent o f be ing a month ly , men’s magaz ine , featur ing ar t i c les based on men’s fash ion , Po l i t i c s and genera l men’s in te rests .

• I t was founded and ed i ted by Dav id A. Smar t , Henry L . J ackson and Arno ld G ingr ich . These three spec ia l i sed in d iff erent features o f the magaz ine , wh ich combined led to the ident i ty and success o f esqu i re magaz ine .

• G ingr ich spec ia l i zed in pub l i sh ing , Smar t , in bus iness and Jackson led and ed i ted the fash ion sec t ion , wh ich made up most o f the magaz ine in i t s fi rs t fi fteen years o f pub l i sh ing .

• J ackson 's Repub l i can po l i t i ca l v iewpo ints cont ras ted wi th the l ibe ra l Democrat ic v iews o f Smar t , wh ich a l lowed for the magaz ine to pub l i sh debates be tween the two.

• i n 1933 Esqu i re was a quar te r ly press run o f a hundred thousand cop ies . I t cost fi fty cents per copy.

• Esqu i re was so ld to Hearst magaz ines in 1977, and i s s t i l l current ly pub l i shed by them. Dur ing June 2012 a to ta l amount o f 721,399 cop ies were put in to c i rcu lat ion /so ld . The current cover pr i ce fo r an i ssue in the UK be ing £4.25.

• The content i s la rge ly focused on men’s fash ion , w i th adver t i sements for luxury c lo th ing brands throughout the ent i re magaz ines . However , o f ten the main se l l ing po int / what ’ s on the cover i s an ar t i c le or in te rv iew wi th a we l l known mus ic ian , ac tor or pub l i c fi gure .

OVERVIEW

Content Esqu i re ’s contents i s sp l i t in to three sect ions . Each ed i t ion features ar t ic les grouped

in to sub sect ions under the ‘Regu lars t i t le ’ , wh i le the rest o f the contents changes weekly:

Regulars -S ty le -Cu l ture - Ob ject o f des i re  Features  Fash ion   Being a imed at somewhat h igher soc iety and focused around more in te l lectua l

contents ; Esqu i re i s wr i t ten in a fa i r ly fo rmal , in format ive manner , par t icu lar ly in areas focused on po l i t ics . However due to the wide array o f d iff erent features , the type o f language changes subt ly throughout , fo r example in terv iews, speech wi l l o ften be less formal , as an in terv iew is usua l ly just a s l ight ly ed i ted t ranscr ip t o f a conversat ion between an in terv iewer and in terv iewee. Of course th is can change based on who the in terv iewee is . Whi le dur ing ar t ic les recommending restaurants or ho l iday dest inat ions , the language won’ t be par t icu lar ly in formal , as i t i s in tended to be re la tab le to those who can aff ord these exper iences , but i t remains f r iend ly , as these exper iences are o ften used to take away f rom the ser iousness o f day to day l i fe , and formal i ty wou ld contrast w i th th is idea .

CONTENT

Advert is ing makes up a large port ion o f Esquire magazines and revenue. From th is , the audience could be defi ned as successfu l young to middle age males wi th h igh pay ing jobs wi th a s trong interest in male fash ion, cars and a h igh qual i ty , h igh c lass l i festy le . Made c lear by the advert is ing content .

Giorg io Armani Prada Ralph Lauren Dolce & Gabbana Aston Mart in Rolex Ben Sherman Viv ienne Westwood The Kooples ACNE Along with mult ip le other watchmakers , ta i lors , Whiskey producers and genera l

c loth ing brands.

Demographic. Esqui re magazine’s targeted demographic is A and B, potent ia l ly C1, and i f they

could be descr ibed wi th in the Aspi rers group in psychographics . People descr ibed as s tr ivers would a lso be potent ia l custom for the magazine.

Using Mas low’s H ierarchy of needs, customers o f esqui re would fa l l in to the category o f esteem needs, as i t i s very superfi c ia l .

AUDIENCE RESEARCH

Distr ibution is often used in two forms, print/magazine or onl ine. Esquire is avai lable as s ingle edit ions from newsstands, and book shops at a cover pr ice of £4.25. It is also avai lable as part of a subscript ion package, for which you pay a discounted price in advance for al l of the issues within a specifi ed amount of t ime. Soon, esquire also releases a monthly digital edit ion of the magazine, making i t avai lable to almost everyone.

Addit ional ly, there is a publ ic access webpage, for which you don't have to pay any fee. It g ives the impression of being more fi t for i ts intended purpose, being almost whol ly dedicated to art icles fi tt ing of the themes intended, style and a high class l i festyle. Most of the art icles are short and there is a large focus on photography, with many art icles dedicated to the photographers of the magazine, picking things l ike their ten best celebri ty shots.

The combination the print media and the website is also important because i t adds a free addit ion to the customer's experience. Whi le adding to the revenue of esquire. For example, the magazine might l ink to the website, providing footage of an interview used in an art icle for example, as i t is free for the customer to do so, they often wi l l . Esquire then makes money from the advert isements on the website's. This is known as convergence, the combined use of diff erent forms of media.

 

DISTRIBUTION

Esquire is produced by Hearst magazines, a branch of the multinational mass media group; Hearst corporation. Hearst is one of the largest diversifi ed communications companies in the world. Its major interests include 15 daily and 36 weekly newspapers and more than 300 magazines worldwide, including Cosmopolitan, Elle and of course esquire. Along with 29 television stations through Hearst Television, Inc, which reach a combined 18% of U.S. viewers.

Hearst deals with a diverse range of print and digital media (as stated above) ranging from multiple newspapers, men's magazines, women's magazines, food magazines and much more within multiple additional sub genres along with television stations, perhaps most notably the ESPN network, one of the largest sports broadcasters in the world. Together, this means that Hearst can cater to the interests of a vastly diverse audience.

PRODUCTION

From my experience, I have learnt that Esquire is definitely suited to its targeted demographic, the financial upper ends of society. However, many of the articles tickled my fancy, and therefore it is also suitable for the aspirers who are interested in the prominent themes of esquire, but have not yet got the capabilities/ disposable income, to fulfi ll the desires for the content of the advertisements within (of which there is many). Which in some ways, takes away the experience.

MY EXPERIENCE