Brands with print magazines – who’s reaping the rewards?

Jessica Bennett, Feb 25, 2025 8:00:00 AM

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In a world where it can be difficult to attract and sustain attention for your message, brands with print magazines are the ones who can create cut-through in the noisy media landscape.

Producing a brand magazine is one means of doing this, but the move into print is not always straightforward, and may not be right for every brand.

We take a closer look at some of the most prominent brands with their own magazines, and examine what it is that sets them apart.

What is a brand magazine?

First of all, it’s important to consider what a brand magazine is, and what sets it apart from other print publications.

A brand magazine is distinct from a catalogue. Brand magazines offer something more to their readers than simple listings of products
A brand magazine goes beyond straightforward advertising. It aims to provide readers with original, engaging content that will inspire and inform
A brand magazine expands horizons.

Find out more about how to create a branded magazine.

Which brands have print magazines?

Although the concept of using print magazines for content marketing is not new (in fact, The Furrow, the magazine of U.S. agricultural firm John Deere, was first published in 1895!), the past few years have been particularly notable for the emergence and impact of brand magazines across a diverse range of sectors.

Luxury

One area which has traditionally been associated with print is that of luxury. After all, a glossy print magazine is by its very nature a luxury item, serving as a riposte to throwaway culture.

Take for example the award-winning Bentley Magazine, first launched by Bentley Motors in 2003 and relaunched in partnership with Dialogue in 2018. This quarterly magazine includes interviews with high-profile figures, lifestyle features and stories on technological innovation, alongside coverage of new car models and accessories. The result is a luxury, collectible publication with a thoroughly modern attitude.

Another highly successful luxury brand magazine is Tower Revue, created by Dialogue for Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St. Moritz since 2019. Featuring articles from the world of luxury travel and lifestyle, as well as local knowledge, the magazine is brought to life with bespoke high-resolution photography and illustration. Distributed at the hotel and mailed to regular visitors, the print magazine helps connect guests to their favourite hotel before, during and after their stay.

Fashion

Several fashion brands have found print to be a natural fit. Though now defunct, one of the best examples came from fast-fashion giant ASOS. Its self-titled magazine’s reliable output of credible journalism, high-quality fashion stories and A-list celebrity interviews helped cement its position as one of the most popular fashion magazines targeted at the under-30s market, with a circulation of 700,000 at its peak. The magazine came to an end in Autumn 2019, but it is still heralded as a pioneer in the field.

Another fashion brand which made the move into print more recently is Spanish designer Loewe, which launched its first magazine in 2023. While the high-end design reinforces Loewe’s contemporary image and content offers the opportunity to explore the latest collection, the first issue also featured a profile by artist Lynda Benglis, celebrity interviews and an exclusive set of stickers by Suna Fujita. It was distributed for free in all Loewe stores around the world, therefore also driving footfall.

Food and drink

For a brand magazine to be successful, it needs to offer something different or extra.

"Print magazines are proven to be a successful medium that … goes beyond the ordinary with stories that have deep, rich context.”

Dietmar Otti, Red Bull CEO for TV, publishing and operations

The brand’s Red Bulletin magazine – delivered to subscribers ten times a year in multiple languages – fulfils this brief with stories from the worlds of sport, adventure, culture and music, all delivered in the irreverent style that the brand is known for.

It’s this attention to tone that is often key to the success of a brand magazine – harness your brand’s voice in print and it can be an extremely powerful content marketing tool.

Take, for example, Sainsbury’s magazine: launched back in 1993, it was the first of its kind and a bold move for the supermarket chain at the time, but it paid off. The magazine has won multiple awards and has a monthly reach of over 1.7 million, making it one of the best-selling glossy magazine titles in the UK.

Digital brands with print magazines

While print can be a way for a longstanding brand to diversify its offering, it can also be a means of cementing the presence and image of a younger brand.

An example of this is online food content publisher So Yummy, which launched a quarterly print magazine in 2024. The magazine delivers the brand’s popular social content – recipe hacks, cooking tips and presentation ideas – in a more traditional format that can be saved and used repeatedly (and withstand a busy kitchen environment better than a smart device).

Another digital-first business which relaunched its print magazine in 2024 is Vice, after putting it on hiatus in 2019. Although the brand was founded as an alternative punk magazine in 1994, the launch of its website led to it becoming more closely associated with online video content. But it’s returning to its print roots as part of a broader rebirth following its 2023 bankruptcy filing, demonstrating its audience’s appetite for deep-dive explorations of its broad range of topics.

Why are print magazines from brands effective?

In a digital-first world, print magazines offer the opposite to snacky, ephemeral, speedy content that is consumed at pace. Instead, they invite the consumer to relax and engage deeper. And in return, for the brand, it’s an opportunity to brand-build and share their values in a more subtle way. Similar to the podcast format, it’s a more intimate experience and allows brands to cut through what is called ‘content shock’.

Of course, there are multiple other benefits to a print magazine that go beyond engagement; the opportunity to maximise content, generate revenue from it through advertising and, of course, drive sales.

Community spirit

By choosing to invest in print, and thereby invest in readers, a brand may well find that the reward is that most coveted of consumer behaviours: loyalty.

Underpinning this is trust. Print carries a sense of authority and trustworthiness thanks to the effort and cost associated with producing high-quality printed material, which elevates the perceived value and the brand. YouGov Profiles research found that 58% of Brits still get more enjoyment from reading magazines in print than online and, even among the youngest adults, a third prefer reading magazine content online compared to 39% in print.

Another major benefit of a producing a print magazine is that it can help foster or enhance a sense of brand community.

A good example is The Enthusiast™ magazine – the official publication of the Harley Owners Group®, produced by Dialogue. Since its inception the magazine has taken on a strong identity of its own – members are eager to have their photos and stories featured in the magazine, and feel themselves to be part of a global community.

What’s clear from reviewing the various brand magazines available is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to be taken when developing a content marketing strategy: any brand should carefully analyse what exactly it is hoping to gain from such a venture, and what it hopes to offer to consumers. If the resulting magazine can deliver on these aims, it may prove to be an extremely powerful asset indeed.

Elevate your brand with a bespoke crafted print magazine. Contact us today to create a high-impact publication that strengthens your authority, engages your audience and drives results.