Following Conde Nast’s decision to shred five of its magazines this year, including Gourmet and Modern Bride, the publishing giant has introduced an iPhone application for its top male style title, GQ.
For only US$2.99 you can download the entire contents of the magazine, starting from the December issue, on sale at the Apple iTunes Store from November.
As all the ads will appear as in the print version, app sales will account towards the magazine’s Audit Bureau of Circulations figure. Advertising Age reports:
That’s important because advertisers only want to pay for ad space in issues that the audit bureau defines as paid. But it’s also a big deal because Conde wants the digitized versions of its magazines to command print ad rates, not the far lower rates seen online.
The GQ app includes links to advertiser’s websites, audio files of musicians and related videos as featured in the magazine.
It’s a savvy, trendsetting step for a print medium to embrace the digital realm in a way that directly increases sales and ad exposure. Conde Nast has offered other iPhone apps previously: downloads of the swimsuit models from Sports Illustrated and recipes from Epicurious.
No doubt if the GQ app brings in mega moolah, Vanity Fair and Vogue will be next in line.
