Condé Nast?s GQ magazine is going mobile for its much-hyped December issue featuring the annual ?Men of the Year? story, and brands such as Gillette and Grey Goose will be advertising.

At $2.99, GQ?s Men of the Year application for iPhone and iPod touch is a test for the magazine giant to see if its products can find a digital audience. The application is a direct replica of the December issue and could serve as a launch pad for other Condé Nast titles to hit the iPhone and be read digitally.

?The announcement really is the first use of the app as a magazine reader app,? said Sarah Chubb, president of Condé Nast Digital, New York. ?Conceptually it?s a newsstand copy of GQ that happens to be purchased from a digital newsstand, iTunes.

?We look at it from the point of view that we believe some portion of our customer base ? who knows how many ? but some portion are going to look for digital publication as opposed to paper because of who you write for,? Ms. Chubb said. ?The rising millennials care more about their phone than laptops.?

Condé Nast Digital is the Internet unit of Condé Nast and a creator and developer of online lifestyle and business brands. It produces several sites such as NewYorker.com, VanityFair.com, Epicurious.com and Wired.com.

Ms. Chubb said that the magazine reader that powers the new GQ application was built in-house and it can be easily outfitted for any other publication under the Condé Nast banner.

Condé Nast said that it is also working with other developers such as Adobe on the Adobe Air platform to provide other services to its audience.

?One of the reasons we?re talking to other people and building more products is that we really need to understand how the audience wants to consume products and what consumers will be looking for from us,? Ms. Chubb sad.

The GQ application can be read horizontally or vertically

If a consumer decides to view the magazine horizontally, the entire magazine will be displayed, including advertisements just as they are in the magazine.

The advertisements are exactly as they would appear in the paper edition. For example, if Grey Goose has a two-page spread, it will have a two-page spread on the iPhone, but it may also include a link for a video or Web site.

?This is the first iPhone reader application, and given our history of innovation, industry firsts are always attractive to us," said Emil Jättne, senior brand manager of Grey Goose at Bacardi, Miami. "Mobile marketing has been a successful way for Grey Goose to engage consumers and this application supports our 360-approach to marketing.?

If a consumer views the magazine vertically, additional details can be given with a tap of the screen.

For example, if a consumer clicks on a picture of one of GQ?s chosen men, the image will flip and credit information for the photographer will be seen. This information includes who shot the photo and the clothing provider with click-to-call functionality or Web site links for more details.

Additional features of the application include photo-shoot outtakes and video.

Because of the direct replication of advertisements and content, the GQ application has been approved by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as a complete digital replica of the magazine. Application downloads will count as purchases towards the total circulation of the December issue of GQ.

?This is a test of sorts to see if people will buy an issue in a reader at an app store,? Ms. Chubb said. ?We think the answer is ?yes.??

?We?ve done our research and found there was enough interest out there and it?s worth a shot,? she said.

Ms. Chubb said that the GQ audience of young, style-conscious, tech-savvy individuals fits the iPhone audience because of the mobile device?s aesthetic draw.

Can mobile save Condé Nast?
In the past, Condé Nast has been criticized for failing to embrace the digital platform as a way of extending its brand and creating revenue. Ms. Chubb said that now is the right time for the magazine publisher to launch an iPhone reader because digital readers are gaining in popularity.

Condé Nast is no stranger to iPhone applications.

Brides, one of the oldest wedding publications in America, is letting brides shop and buy dresses via mobile.

The Brides Dressing Room application lets users browse hundreds of dresses and gowns while on the go. The application also features click-to-shop online, click-to-schedule a fitting and click-to-email functionality (see story).

Lucky magazine introduced Lucky At Your Service, a digital shopping concierge Web site and application for the iPhone (see story).

Ms. Chubb said Condé Nast will continue to produce applications such as the ones for Brides and Lucky, but those primarily act as companions to the print product, whereas the GQ application is the print product translated to the mobile platform.

?This is the heart of our biz, this is our magazine on newsstands, it just happens to be a new kind of newsstand,? Ms. Chubb said. ?We think where we are now adds reach to GQ.

?People who buy this application may be consumers who don?t buy the print newsstand copy and this for them may be a brand-new introduction to our brand,? she said.

?Maybe a year from now existing subscribers will want to get it digitally, we don?t know.?