Position Paper #4 Wild Card

 Top Thai and Italian Magazines

    When thinking of an international perspective towards a wild card, I thought of things that interest me. Now with that being said, I like all things entertainment or having to do with social media. Things such as music, magazines, movies, and social media. Today I chose to review Thailand and Italy's top  magazines. I will review two popular magazines in Thailand. The top two popular magazines in Thailand happen to be about fashion.

    Now Thailand officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam is a country in Southeast Asia. Thailand is the world's 50th-largest country by land area, and the 22nd-most-populous country in the world. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, a special administrative area (Thailand Wiki). The first popular fashion magazine in Thailand I will discuss is Kazz Magazine. Kazz Magazine is a Thai monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine owned by Haemarit Co., Ltd. covering topics about entertainment personalities and celebrities. The magazine is mainly read by a younger audience with a range of 18 to 28 years old and is mostly circulated within Bangkok and nearby areas (Kazz Magazine Wiki). Kazz Magazine is one of Thailand's most popular fashion magazines. The rave over the magazine is because it caters to young adults and they get to see various Thai celebrities and socialites. Upon looking at Kazz Magazine website, it is categorized like a newspaper website. Kazz Magazine features everything pop culture within Thai community. Categories listed as subheadings on the website such as news which feature within itself entertainment or gossip news. Also fashion, behind the scoops of magazines, lifestyle, and horoscope. 

    On their website, Kazz Magazine offers their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Kazz Magazine's Facebook showcases all things entertainment, especially Kpop culture. Their Facebook is often updated regularly to catch up with the magazine. According to their Twitter, they update every other day on there and provide a lot of retweets. Their twitter consists of their catalog issues and inside look at the magazine. Their twitter holds 65.5k followers. Kazz's Instagram features the same thing as their twitter just more in depth. Their Instagram showcases their catalog cover and has 153k followers. Also each week a model is ranked from 1-10 on their exposure to the media. Last but not least is their YouTube. Kazz's YouTube promotes behind the scenes interviews with their models and celebrities for the magazine. YouTube channel also follows interviews with models presenting commercial ads. Their YouTube channel has 69.9k followers and updates regularly. Overall Kazz Magazine is one of the most popular magazines in Thailand because of its young audience appeal to male models  and the magazine features all things Thailand and Asia entertainment. Another popular Thailand magazine is Thailand's version of GQ. GQ Thailand is the Thai edition of the international monthly men's magazine GQ. It was launched in September 2014. The first issue had a triple fold-out cover, with pictures of eight well-known Thai men (GQ Wiki). 

    GQ Thailand website aesthetic matches their magazine cover. Their common brown and gray layout on their cover correlates to the same magazine website. As their magazine cover changes with time so does their website to match. GQ Thailand also shares its Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. GQ Thailand does not have an official Twitter account. They verified on all social media outlets and the most followers stem from YouTube. Moving on to the top Italy magazines. When you think of Italy the first thing that comes is the brands that come from Italy. Major brands such as Prada, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Armani. Some Italian top magazines don't come from fashion but various other things, so I will discuss a few of them. La Settimana Enigmistica is a weekly Italian word puzzle and word search magazine, published since 1932 with Europe-wide distribution. It's one of Italy's most popular and top-selling magazines. One of the footers on the front page of the magazine states è il settimanale che vanta innumerevoli tentativi di imitazione which means "it is the weekly magazine that boasts countless attempts at imitation" (LSE Wiki). The thing I find unique about the magazine is that it's like no other magazine in Italy and they chose to use a word puzzle for their marketing. I think the appeal to the magazine is because most magazines are about fashion and lifestyle. This magazine is different and refreshing to Italy who is heavily engrossed in fashion. Since its a puzzle magazine there is not much appeal to its social media outlets. 

Now Focus is a science magazine based in Italy surrounding things that have to do with science, horoscope, conspiracy theories and more. The popular magazine was created in 1992. Focus magazine showcases various things based on science and some of the most unethical and supernatural beings. The layout of the website for Focus features the background of articles black and the title of  specific articles in big red and black letters to grab your attention. 

    The last magazine I will be discussing that is from Italy is Abitare. Abitare, is one of the world's best known design magazines. It was first published in 1961 (Abitare Wiki). Abitare is all about architect and design. The whole purpose of Abitare magazine is to present beautiful buildings and interior furniture. Most people that are interested in this magazine are people that are more than likely looking for a particular home or enjoy massive buildings. The buildings featured in Abitare are Victorian or historical. In conclusion, the top magazines in Thailand and Italy are very different. The popular magazines in Thailand cling to fashion whereas Italy clings to pretty much everything but still fashion magazines are prevalent there. The popular magazines in Italy as said before didn't showcase a market for social media. Their magazine were driven off the appeal to the magazine itself because of the uniqueness other than fashion and it can stand alone whereas a fashion magazine in Thailand needs social media because it further helps the magazine advertising and marketing.