Seventeen Magazine Assignment

My assignment was to study Seventeen magazine, get feedback from the intended audience of the magazine, and evaluate if the magazine is reaching their intended audience. My first course of action was to read Seventeen magazine. I have a friend whose sister had a few issues, and I was able to skim through those to get an idea of the target market and reader. From what I read, the main buzzwords for Seventeen magazine are “Sex”, “Clothes”, “Makeup”, and “Boys.” Their established target market seems to be age 15-19 developing young girls, middle to upper class, usually white, with disposable income and on the lookout for a boyfriend. 

I spent some time in Valley City High School for an Education Practicum course I’m taking, so I was able to get some feedback from the intended audience of the magazine. The girls I interviewed about Seventeen Magazine asked to keep their names and identities out of my interview, and I agreed. Overall, the girls believe that Seventeen magazine is trying way too hard to fit a girl that doesn’t exist. None of them, and they were from different walks of life, different sports, different socioeconomic situations, knew a girl like the one that Seventeen was looking for. They called the magazine cool to read, but way over the top in terms of the topics and advertising. They didn’t really take Seventeen seriously, instead looking to magazines that are more grounded to their situation, like Teen Vogue and J-14. 

I found that Seventeen magazine is not reaching their target audience in their current format, in that they're marketing to a girl that is in scarce supply in the current social and economic markets.