INDUSTRY - The Big Issue

What type of magazine is The Big Issue and who are their partners?

The Big Issue Ltd is an independent magazine company and is not part of a larger conglomerate.

They partner with Dennis Publishing to print the magazine.

Hoe does The Big Issue deal with their profits?

The magazine operates on a Not For Profit basis, using any excess revenue to support homeless people.

What is the goal of The Big Issue?

The goal is to give homeless people a legal way of making money, helping them to support themselves financially.

Who did The Big Issue receive a grant from and why?

When setting up the magazine, they needed to secure external funding and secured a grant from The Body Shop.

The Body Shop granted them £50,000 to start the magazine.

How did The Big Issue diversify?

In 1995, The Big Issue diversified into more direct support with the Big Issue Foundation.

Then, In 2005, they diversified further by setting up The Big Issue Invest.

In 2016, they diversified into retail with their own online shop, including a range of synergetic merchandise.

Adverts in The Big Issue.

Many brands with similar audiences choose to place adverts in the print magazine and on the website and this increases the revenue for The Big Issue.

How does The Big Issue use celebrities?

The producers collaborate with celebrities for cover photos, interviews and even invite some to be guest editors for an issue. This draws in pre-sold fans of those celebs.

Explain globalisation in The Big Issue.

The Big Issue worked so well as a Not For Profit magazine in the UK that many international versions were created.

So despite remaining an independent niche magazine, it has become a globally recognised brand.

Digitise distribution also helps to target audiences who are online regularly, those who don’t have a vendor locally, and those who are avoiding paper copies for environmental reasons.

It also helps them to reach a global audience as Zinio distributes to over 174 countries.

How has the magazine industry suffered?

In general the magazine industry has suffered due to the decline in people buying print magazines, choosing instead to get information and entertainment online instead.

The magazine industry has suffered massively as more and more people are choosing online content instead of print content.

What has the magazine started to feature?

The magazine started to feature a lot more content about politics and social reform.

They also featured more celebrities including as regular columnists

How is the magazine sold?

The magazine operates on a Not-For-Profit basis, using any excess revenue to support homeless people.

The magazine isn’t sold through conventional means like shops, as you see most magazines do, but sold through vendors which are often homeless people or people living in poverty.

How has The Big Issue diversified in current times?

What things have they done to increase audience / fanbase?

• In 2016, they diversified into retail with their online shop, including a range of synergetic merchandise. All of that money goes back to helping those in need.

• The producers collaborate with celebrities with cover photos, interviews and even invite some to be guest editors for an issue. This draws in pre-sold fan of those celebs. This includes David Bowe, Robert Downey Jr.

• Sometimes they even have collective editions, they work with celebs to create special editions of the magazine which makes it feel more exclusive. This encourages readers to buy multiple copies to try and collect them.

How is The Big Issue’s ethos different to more mainstream magazines?

The Big Issue is an example of a product and company that is NOT all about profit and power, but instead giving back to the community, making it very different to most magazines in the market.

How has the magazine expanded to be international?

The Big Issue worked so well as a Not-For-Profit magazine in the UK that many international versions were created – Japan, Australian and Ireland are just a fraction of where they branched out.

So, despite remaining an independent niche magazine, it has become a globally recognised brand.

What is ZINIO and what does it do for magazine companies?

Zinio is a massive company that distributes thousands of magazines online.

Zinio allows customers to purchase one digital copy of a magazine or subscribe to 12 months upfront. The option to ‘try’ one edition of the magazine gives audiences a taste of the magazine without a long-term commitment.

How has the help of digital distribution, Zinio, aided targeting an audience?

Digital distribution helps to target audiences who are online regularly, those who don’t have a vendor locally, and those who are avoiding paper copies for environmental reasons.  

It also helps them to reach a global audience as it distributes to over 174 counties.

Where does the revenue made from the magazine go?

The revenue from digital sales is used to support local vendors.

How and why was The Big Issue relaunched/rebranded?

At the height of their success in the early 2000’s their vendors were selling 300,000 a week – however the magazine industry has suffered massively as more and more people are choosing online content instead of print content.

As of 2011, they were ‘only’ selling 125,000 copies a week and so they decided to redesign and relaunch The Big Issue in an attempt to boost sales. The magazine started to feature a lot more content about political and social reform. They also featured more celebrities including a regular community.

The rebranded magazine had a slightly higher cover price in an attempt to help vendors make some money from potentially reduced sales. In a world where other magazine still continues to plummet, the sales of The Big Issue did eventually pick back up.