Latest news with #NoOrdinaryLove
Axios
15-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Corporate storytelling goes analog
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. 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.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Hinge Drops a Romance Anthology to Help Gen Z Believe in Love Again
Dating is rarely a fairy tale, especially if you're one of the many experiencing dating app burnout. But Hinge, the Match Group-owned dating app, still believes in romance, as seen in its latest project that updates literary love stories for a Gen Z audience. Today (May 12), Hinge launched the second installment of its "No Ordinary Love" campaign, which debuted last year and depicts real romances that began on the dating app. In this new chapter, the brand enlisted contemporary writers to bring to life tales of early dating from five couples who met on Hinge. The modern love stories will run as a five-part weekly series on newsletter platform Substack and as a limited-edition hardcover book, produced by Dazed's in-house agency, Dazed Studio. Starting in June, the brand will distribute the anthology at in-person book clubs in New York and London. Writers Jen Winston, William Rayfet Hunter, Hunter Harris, Tomasz Jedrowski, and Upasna Barath penned the stories, which alternate between both partners' perspectives. Hinge first branched out into literature last year, publishing a zine of real-life romantic stories written by authors including Roxane Gay and John Paul Brammer. Gay has returned to write the foreword introducing the Substack series. The brand is tapping into the soaring popularity of books and literature among Gen Z, fueled by channels like TikTok's #BookTok community. Research from Nielsen BookData also revealed that Gen Z favors print books, which accounted for 80% of purchases from November 2021 to 2022. Hinge's campaign will extend through partnerships with creators on Substack and #BookTok, as well as out-of-home ads in New York and London. "We want to complement Substack's community of writers and readers with honest, authentic perspectives on love from exciting literary voices," Jackie Jantos, president and chief marketing officer at Hinge, said in a statement. "By flipping between both partners' perspectives, these real love stories highlight the misreads, overthinking, and unspoken harmony of early dating. Hinge's project continues its efforts to explore storytelling that reaches Gen Z. Under its "Designed to be Deleted" platform, which debuted in 2018, its ads have lately pivoted to capture the messy and serendipitous realities of modern dating. "Dating is really hard, and someone's story, with all the twists and turns, can be really humanizing and give people some hope," Jantos told ADWEEK in March. "Ultimately, the authenticity and truth of those stories are what people connect with." Amid reports of falling dating app usage, particularly among younger audiences, Hinge and rivals including Bumble and Tinder have been ramping up marketing aimed at Gen Z. So far, Hinge has been bucking the downturn: its 2024 revenue rise of 39% outpaced growth at owner Match Group, which saw a 3% revenue increase, and of another brand in the Match portfolio, Tinder, which posted flat revenues in 2024.
