How British GQ’s Adam Baidawi reimagined the legacy men’s luxury publication for a modern, global audience

By Kayleigh Barber  •  January 30, 2024  •  4 min read  •

Now no longer entirely became as soon as Condé Nast reimagining its editorial and industry technique to be internationally structured, but the very diagram of men’s vogue and sumptuous became as soon as evolving from a unique most provocative image to embracing individuality. Baidawi, who had been a lifelong fan of the title, became as soon as also serving because the deputy world editorial director of GQ, and helped lead the refresh of the emblem, focusing in the initiating on new luxurious and neighborhood.

On the most up-to-date episode of the Digiday Podcast, Baidawi shared how he applied the “new luxurious” mentality to the newsletter’s social technique, events industry and video manufacturing, as effectively as how the shift to global operations strengthened the storytelling capacity of GQ at some stage in the globe. 

Below are highlights of dialog, which were evenly edited and condensed for clarity.

The foundation of the worldwide target audience technique 

Of us don’t like custom in dazzling geographical boundaries. Especially no longer now. Even whereas you trail assist to 15-365 days-ancient me paying a top price to aquire an imported edition of British GQ, I did that because I desired to portal into a diversified set… And in actuality interestingly, earlier than we even went thru our world transformation, 40% of Condé Nast’s traffic became as soon as coming from originate air the nation wherein the utter material became as soon as created and posted. 

There became as soon as a 12-, or presumably 14-week window [before the international shift] wherein three diversified editions of GQ published three diversified covers with Rami Malik… I’m talking three completely diversified shoot days, three completely diversified hours-prolonged interviews, the whole thing… None of us knew that the others were working on this Rami Malik account. What a colossal wreck of time and money and creativity. 

Now we now have account editors per account, who, from the outset of their account, will accomplice with their chums on the create crew, who also, besides to designing the print magazine, perform the motion Instagram account finds for account aspects they generally work with the social crew. The arc of a yarn going from the reporting stage to closing for print to launching on social, or generally skipping the print route of altogether, is some distance more drawn out now. And heaps more thoughtful. A tall section of that is trying to rework the formula we talk about with every other as a crew and the formula we collaborate, and trying to aid out so with out having too many conferences. 

A account editor will now have accountability for directing a yarn thru every stage of that route of and have considerable accountability for constructing out the foundation with the create, visual and social groups to be definite it launches in as most provocative a technique as that that you would possibly perchance perchance presumably also judge of.

Evolving events

In 2022, we made a shiny radical dedication to, #1, switch the event from September to November to align with a new world schedule we desired to have for Men of the 365 days, [and number two], we minimize the guest checklist from 800 consuming of us to about 220 of us for the dinner. We acquired rid of the staging, we acquired rid of the awards, and as a replace we created what I’d most effective describe as like a in actuality unbelievable marriage ceremony reception dinner… About a of us come up and give toasts and honor their mates… and then you have a in actuality gargantuan birthday party. And that turned the British GQ Man of the 365 days layout.

Nonetheless I also conception there became as soon as a wide replace that wasn’t being taken advantage of with utter material. This would possibly perchance perchance composed be a social video home flee… these are one of the most most famed of us on the earth, they generally’re dressed to the nines, we’ve acquired to be taking pictures this. The closing thing I felt became as soon as that for a menswear magazine’s largest tentpole moment, it more or less felt consuming at odds to aid out that as a shadowy tie moment, [which creates] fairly a restrictive dress code… We’re a vogue magazine so we changed the dress code, we poured so fundamental money into social video and photography and we saw engagement struggle thru the roof. Whenever you mix video views, web traffic and social engagement, we were up more than 300x 365 days on 365 days.

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