Can GQ make the digital leap?
Now, as a far more difficult second act, Mittman is trying to do the same at men’s title GQ, where he became publisher in September. His goal is a big one: to grow GQ’s digital ad revenue to 50 percent of all ad revenue, from about 20 percent today.
“I’m here to do at GQ what I did at Wired,” Mittman said.
At Wired, Mittman diversified the advertiser mix beyond its core technology to include fashion and lifestyle brands. Both GQ and Wired have similar combined audience sizes across all platforms. But while Wired’s relative youth, small size and early-adopter editorial mix have always made it a challenge to explain to marketers, GQ’s iconic, straightforward brand makes it an easier sell. It’s not every brand that gets used as an adjective, after all.
“I’ve heard a tremendous amount around GQ as a brand,” Mittman said. “It means something in the greater lexicon of what it means to be an American male. What I do think we need to do a better job of across the publishing community is roll out low-cost, easily implementable solutions. The mantra I hear most often from advertisers is, when they look at their ad partners, they’re increasingly getting frustrated with the scattershot approach.”
Read the rest of this story at Digiday.
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