Nat Geo Target Audience

National Geographic, with its iconic yellow-lined cover, is perhaps one of the most well-known magazines in the world. Although many may find the magazine recognizable, National Geographic has a target audience in mind when designing every aspect of the magazine. A careful observation of the October 2015 issue of National Geographic reveals a snapshot of the audience that the magazine intends to reach: wealthy, older, well-educated liberals.

Nat Geo shows the wealth of its audience from the moment one touches an issue and glances at the cover. The tooth of the paper, glossy and smooth, belies the expense at which each the magazine produces each issue. Of course, the $5.99 price of the magazine, a tad pricier than Cosmo or People, also indicates

Of course, it is possible that a number of readers are reading up, i.e., reading content geared toward an audience of higher income/education than they themselves possess. Regardless of the actual circumstances of their lives, the magazine seems suited to a liberal audience that is or aspires to be wealthy and educated. That said, I am slightly concerned about the magazine’s ability to serve this audience now that they have been acquired by 21st Century Fox, which holds many assets with a conservative bias. It seems as though the audience could potentially lose faith in the integrity of the magazine, but I think that Nat Geo anticipates this, tries to add more transparency to their product to reinforce the trust people have in their content. As serendipitous content, Nat Geo has added briefs where they interview contributing writers and photographers. I interpreted this change as an attempt to bring the content-creators closer to the audience in a move to build a sense of camaraderie. Perhaps 21st Century Fox’s acquisition will change the ability of Nat Geo to meet audience expectations, but it seems that the magazine realizes this, and hopes to change those expectations so that they can be