The trail above the masthead for Buck magazine reads "New fashion, furniture and food for men". With this alliterative credo, the London-based monthly publication is attempting to carve its own distinct niche in the men's-magazine market.
On one side of this dangerously crowded terrain is the classic type of men's magazine of which GQ leads the way, followed by Arena and Esquire, mixing style and consumerism with pop culture and scantily clad women. On the other is the high-end fashion magazine – Another Man (from the Jefferson Hack/Rankin stable) and Fantastic Man are two of the biggest sellers among these. These are published twice a year and mix fashion and pop culture in tastefully designed pages that frequently seem to have more ads than editorial content and certainly more pictures than text.
Buck's financier, publisher and editor, Steve Doyle, 26, sees a potential male audience that isn't served properly by either. Not surprisingly, this target market involves men between 20 and 30, primarily living in urban areas. More specifically, "Broadway Market man" is how Doyle describes this audience, after the fashion-conscious sort that can be seen strutting through the trendy street in Hackney, east London, on a Saturday afternoon.
"I think of him as being about 25, he's working in the creative industries, or being creative in some way," Doyle says. "He knows his own style. He's very confident with dressing the way he wants, cooking with friends, living his life the way he wants to. He doesn't want to aspire to a lifestyle, or be told by that magazine what to do."
Buck, now in its third issue, aims to be less shouty and macho than the mainstream men's magazines while being more accessible and broader in scope than the high-end magazines. "What somebody will want to use the magazine for is to be told what's new, rather than how to be James Bond," Doyle continues. "GQ does that very well, but James Bond has been around for a long time, and there are loads of other types of guys who don't want to be James Bond."
The question is whether there is a large enough supply of such men beyond a small sliver of London that will be willing to invest in the magazine each month.
You could also argue that there has rarely been a less hospitable time to launch a lifestyle magazine, with recession threatening disposable income and advertising revenue in free fall. Doyle remains confident. "The audience we're trying to target is really underserved by other magazines and the reaction we've had has been so fantastic that I'm not worried. I think we've hit a niche that hasn't been exploited and tapped. From the very start, regardless of the recession, we've had a sort of thrifty outlook. What will attract people is, you may see a shoot with a nice designer jacket, but we will always team it with things that are more affordable."
For Doyle, a particular innovation in finding a new audience is the focus on food. "No other men's publication carries such an amount of coverage," he claims. "Almost a quarter of the magazine is food-related." The magazine's food editor is Matt O'Leary, a longtime food writer and, until six months ago, a chef in Gothenburg. "He can create dishes for the magazine, which is great," Doyle says. The food coverage includes restaurant and bar reviews, interviewees discussing food, recipes, and a food/fashion photo shoot. There is also more practical culinary advice: issue one featured a guide to the timeless art of cooking roast beef.
Fashion and style, though, are the magazine's primary focus. Each issue takes a city as its theme, starting with the major fashion capitals – issue one was dedicated to London, two was New York – and acts as a primer to style in that city.
Buck's slavish adherence to being in the style vanguard means it risks being swallowed by unwitting self-parody. Doyle rejects the idea that the magazine needs to have a sense of humour about itself. "We're quite earnest, quite honest and quite genuine. It will never be too heavy, though," he says.
Doyle's working background isn't solely fashion or publishing. He spent a year working in the City in the private-equity sector before leaving the job in July 2007, hoping to pursue the magazine goal. He moved on to fashion magazines, working at Vogue, Dazed & Confused and Wonderland, before striking out alone in March. Buck made its debut in November.
The publication is entirely self-financed by Doyle, who is using money he inherited from his parents to fund the operation, which employs a full-time staff of 10 people.
On the night before the third issue was due to go to print, there was a mishap: Buck's office, a small space in a new-build in Bethnal Green, east London, was burgled. Thieves made off with several computers in a clinical operation. Yet Doyle and his cohorts continued on the next day, working busily towards their print deadline.
Similarly, they are confident about the future, with cities for a full year of themed issues currently earmarked. Greater advertising revenue will have to arrive eventually, though, as Doyle acknowledges that his well of funds isn't endless. "I couldn't go on for ever, but we're fine at the moment," he says.
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