Microsoft's new magazine Signal targets CEOs with 1,500 print-only copies, featuring Bill Gates and AI insights; other major firms like Costco and Hinge also turning to print magazines as a strategy to tell their corporate stories, target niche audiences

May 15, 2025 (Axios) –

Major U.S. companies and brands are investing in printed publications but not in the way you might think.

Microsoft, Hinge and Costco have created their own print magazines to tell their corporate stories, enhance their reputation and engage with hard-to-reach audiences.
Why it matters: It's part marketing and part strategic storytelling, communication executives from these companies told Axios.

Driving the news: On May 15, Microsoft will publish its first-ever print magazine, called Signal, as a way to appeal to its most loyal customers.

The 120-page magazine features a piece by Bill Gates, interviews with CEOs and experts from across Microsoft's businesses and thought leadership about AI and other tech innovations.
1,500 copies will be made available in printed form only.
Of note, AI was not used to create any of the content inside the magazine, though it was used on occasion for "deep research," says Steve Clayton, executive editor and vice president of communication strategy.

What they're saying: "We're always thinking about the most effective ways of reaching our most important customers," Microsoft chief communications officer Frank Shaw told Axios.

"Why not create a magazine for the CEOs and the CXOs of [select] organizations, and have it be interesting and entertaining and still have great information about Microsoft and its customers?"
Between the lines: There's a fine line between owned content and marketing materials.

"It's not marketing," says Shaw. "This is journalistic-style storytelling. It's not case studies. It's about brand and reputation, as opposed to, let me tell you how great this one product feature is."
The big picture: Specialty magazines and legacy publications like Complex, Swimming World, Sports Illustrated, Saveur, Ebony and Nylon have experimented with returning to print as a marketing tool and advertising opportunity.

State of play: Costco Connection magazine — which Shaw points to as inspiration for Microsoft's Signal — reaches more households than Better Homes & Gardens, The New Yorker and The Atlantic combined, per the New York Times.

Costco Connection's reach is usurped only by the AARP's magazine and bulletin. This would lead one to think that printed materials are appealing only to a certain generation. However, dating app Hinge has challenged that notion.
Zoom in: Hinge recently launched the second installment of "No Ordinary Love," an anthology of dating stories published as a hardcover book — which will be distributed through book clubs in New York and London — and as a series on Substack.

The first edition of "No Ordinary Love" led to a 10.5% increase in brand consideration in the U.S., according to the company.
Day One Agency recently published the first edition of "The Day One Almanac," which offers cultural forecasts, content recommendations and monthly horoscopes.
Releasing the Almanac exclusively in print was a deliberate choice, said Eli Williams, senior director of creative strategy at Day One Agency.
"We wanted the audience experience to reflect the same care and thoughtfulness that went into creating it. Print invites pause: it's tactile, lasting, and demands a different kind of attention," he added.
Yes, but: U.S. airlines have not found printed magazines — often found in the aircraft's seatback pocket — to be a worthwhile channel for grabbing attention.

Delta Air Lines stopped printing Sky Magazine in 2020, American Airlines stopped publishing American Way in 2021, and United Airlines recently announced it would also stop publishing its magazine, Hemispheres.
What to watch: It is hard to measure the success of print materials, so the team at Microsoft is relying on word of mouth and anecdotal evidence for now.

Regardless, it is confident a second edition of Signal will see the light of day — perhaps timed with the World Economic Forum in Davos, says Clayton.
More on Axios:

Print revival: Magazines make surprise comeback as marketing tool
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