National Geographic Launches Further Community Digital Network

National Geographic Launches Further Community Digital Network
The impressive cast of influencers will help drive the brand's commitment to making smart, meaningful content and designing new ways for loyal fans to get actively involved.

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[via press release from National Geographic Channel]

    

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LAUNCHES FURTHER COMMUNITY DIGITAL NETWORK
New Class of Influencers Join National Geographic's 280 MM Combined Social Followers and 25 MM Monthly Unique Visitors Online to Create Original Stories Around Travel, Culture, Science, Innovation and Wildlife theSkimm, Mashable, and Atlas Obscura Join as Publishing Partners Fox Advanced Ad Products, Unruly, Storyful and MikMak Join as Marketing and Tech Partners
(WASHINGTON, DC - April 18, 2017) - For over a century, National Geographic has been an iconic brand that gives a platform to the best storytellers in the world. Today, National Geographic announces a new digital venture, The National Geographic Further Community, to advance the brand's pivotal role in science and exploration by partnering with a new cast of influencers - including the brand's passionate fan communities - to create original stories around travel, culture, science, innovation and wildlife. The combined social following of the first wave of influencers - which includes explorers and photojournalists Cory Richards (1 MM followers), David Guttenfelder (1.1 MM followers) and Ami Vitale (650 K followers), among others - and publishing partners - theSkimm (over 5 MM followers), Mashable (40 MM followers) and Atlas Obscura (1.4 MM followers) - will expand the Further Community's reach to millions of new, highly engaged social audiences and will be enhanced by emotional targeting capabilities to provide advertisers with a comprehensive new marketing solution.

As one of the largest and most trusted global media brands, National Geographic will use the Further Community platform as a way to tell more stories from the human angle about motivation, survival, discovery, wonder, and mind-blowing courage and bravery. The impressive cast of influencers will help drive the brand's commitment to making smart, meaningful content and designing new ways for loyal fans to get actively involved. By utilizing advanced audience and emotional insights and targeting, this new digital network will also provide advertisers with a new platform to reach the network's high-value audiences - they're young and obsessive about social media, travel, science and entertainment; they have high purchase power; they are interested in staying informed of what's going on in the world around them; and they prioritize high-quality life experiences.

"By leaning into our DNA as a visual storyteller, and the power of our yellow border to take audiences on explorations around the world, National Geographic has amassed substantial reach on digital platforms and built communities of engaged fans who are committed to improving the world around them," said Rachel Webber, executive vice president, digital products for National Geographic Partners.

"We're excited to launch the Further Community to grow our commitment to telling meaningful and important stories, involving our fans in our mission to make a positive impact on the world and to collaborate with like-minded publishing and marketing partners to ensure our content and advertisers connect with the right audiences."

National Geographic's fans share the same attitudes of passion, drive, curiosity and innovation as do our expert Explorers and photographers, and they look to them to bring important information that inspires and has the ability to change their world. In addition to having the most followed noncelebrity account on Instagram (75 MM followers) and being ranked the No. 1 social brand for the third year in a row by Shareablee, National Geographic boasts a roster of Facebook-, Instagram- and Snapchat-native photographers who reach tens of millions of engaged social audiences with their stunning photography. The first wave of partners joining National Geographic's [280 million combined social followers on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, and 25 million monthly unique [dot-com] visitors are:

· Cory Richards - A climber and visual story storyteller, Richards has taken his camera from the controlled and complex studio to the wild and remote corners of the world. From the unclimbed peaks of Antarctica to the Himalayas of Nepal and Pakistan, he has captured the soul of adventure and exploration while also capturing the beauty inherent in our modern society.

· Bertie Gregory - A charismatic 23-year-old British wildlife filmmaker and photographer who has brought audiences closer to the hidden worlds of coastal wolves, jaguars and elusive wildlife, Gregory represents the next generation of digital storytelling.

· Erika Bergman - A lifelong storyteller turned submersible pilot, Bergman is a passionate ocean explorer and the founder of Girls Underwater Robot Camp.

· Aaron Huey - Huey has explored the challenges of human interactions with the environment, particularly those of marginalized communities, from Alaska to the Himalayas to urban metropolises.
   
· Ami Vitale - Vitale's journey as a photographer and filmmaker has taken her to 85 countries, where she has witnessed civil unrest and violence but also the surreal beauty and enduring power of the human spirit.

· Filipe DeAndrade - Host of Nat Geo WILD's Untamed, DeAndrade documents wildlife for WILD and the African Wildlife Foundation.

· David Guttenfelder - A 20-year veteran of The Associated Press, Guttenfelder has a unique ability to access closed societies - from North Korea to conflict zones in war torn areas to America's backyard - providing a unique perspective on our shared human experience .

· And other explorers, photographers and adventures to be announced!

Throughout the year, National Geographic will add more collaborators who share the same commitment to creating and publishing meaningful content and will find innovative ways to involve their communities. The first wave of publishing partners includes theSkimm, Atlas Obscura and Mashable. theSkimm has become a trusted brand that is fundamentally changing the way female millennials consume news and information. Atlas Obscura is a comprehensive guide to the world's wondrous and curious places, fitting effortlessly into National Geographic's mission; Atlas Obscura celebrates a different way of looking at the world. Mashable is a global media and entertainment company for culture and tech superfans.

Further Community marketing partners include Fox Advanced Ad Products, Unruly, Storyful and MikMak. These strategic partnerships will allow advertisers to directly engage with high-quality audiences across National Geographic's fan communities, our influencers and premium publisher partners; evaluate emotional resonance of branded content to find the perfect match between advertiser and consumer; and, with MikMak, natively integrate commerce experiences into many of National Geographic's popular platforms.

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About National Geographic Partners LLC:
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic's media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children's media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 128 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers ... and reaching over 730 million people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.