The big issue magazine final report
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THE BIG ISSUE MAGAZINE BRAND AUDIT REPORT 2013
By Tabatha Schmidhauser
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE BIG ISSUE: PRESENTATION 5 • Background 5 • The Product 6
• Online Presence 7
Facebook Community 7 Twitter engagement 7 The Big Issue Website 7
• Distribution and Delivery 8
Distribution System 8 The Big Issue to Vendors Relation Vendors to Consumers Subscriptions
Delivery places 8 The Vendors to Customers The Big Issue to Vendors
Vendors 8 Conditions Meet Traian
BRAND PERSONALITY 9 • Brand Name 9
The name 9 The Slogan 9 The Logo 9 Advertising Strategies
• Brand Positioning 10
• Brand Image 10
• Brand adding values 11
• Brand Philosophy 11
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BRAND IDENTITY 11 • Mission 11
Mission statement 11 Delivery Mission 11
• Objectives 11
• Wanted position 12
• Brand values 12
Social / People 12 Quality 12 Professionalism 12
• Consumer Target Analysis 13 Demographic segmentation 13 Psychographic segmentation 14
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS 15 • Internal Micro Analysis 15
SWOT Analysis 15 Adaptation Strategy
• Internal Macro Analysis 16 Porter’s Five Forces 16 MCKINSEY ANALYSIS 17
• External Analysis 18 PESTLE Analysis 18
• Consumer Analysis 19 Readership 19
Testimonials Survey
Perception maps 21 Quality / Price Accessibility / Informative
Customers brand Affinity 22 Customer End-‐Benefits 22
COMPETITIVE BRAND ANALYSIS 23 • Market Analysis 23
Print 23
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Alternatives 24
• Competitors Table 26
• Comparative Strengths 27
RECOMMENDATIONS 27 • BUSINESS TO BUSINESS 27
Increase advertising space sales 27 Tactics 27
• BUSINESS TO CUSTOMERS 28
Increase magazine sales 28 Tactics 28
• PROMOTIONAL MIX 28
Advertising 29 Public relations 29
• DIVERSIFICATION 39
Product development 39 Market development
SOURCES 30
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THE BIG ISSUE PRESENTATION “Helping people help themselves”
Summary
The Big Issue is a street newspaper published in eight countries; it is written by professional journalists and sold by homeless individuals. It was founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991. The Big Issue is one of the UK’s leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income, thereby helping them to reintegrate into mainstream society. It is also the world’s most widely circulated street newspaper. To become a vendor, one must be homeless or vulnerably housed or marginalized in some way. The Big Issue recognizes, however, that for many people, being housed is only the first stage in getting off the streets; therefore, The Big Issue Foundation exists to support vendors in gaining control of their lives by tackling the various issues, which lead to homelessness. The Big Issue has been described as one of the most successful street newspapers worldwide, selling over 300,000 copies a week and listed as the third-favorite newspaper of young British people (age 15 to 24) in 2001.There are 5 localized editions of the magazine sold throughout the United Kingdom and vendors buy The Big Issue for 85p and sell it for.
BACKGROUND
Company: The Big Issue Company Founders: John Bird and Gordon Roddick Type: Fortnightly independent magazine, non for profit social enterprise Industry: Entertainment Founded in September 1991 Headquarters: London, UK Area served: UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Namibia, Kenya, Taiwan, Malawi Editor in Chief: John Bird Publisher: John Hunt Frequency: Weekly Category: Street Newspaper Circulation: 125,000 (2001) Price: £2.50 Number of employees (2011): worked with over 10,000 vendors since 1995. Competitors: The guardian, telegraphs, evening standards, Independent, Making Change (California), street news, real change, The Economist Target Group: “a culturally engaged, socially aware audience – the ultimate consumers with a conscience”. Source of Income: Sales Magazine and Advertising: Re-‐invested in the company or donated to The Big Issue Foundation. Additional information: An award-‐ winning entertainment and current affairs magazine, the magazine covers arts, entertainment, current affairs, lifestyle, news and opinion.
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THE PRODUCT
• A4 stapled 48pp • £2.50 cover price • Visible Brand title
• Every week in every major town and city • Sold only in the street
• High visibility • Offer book, film, TV reviews, entertainments, financial, testimonies and personal life stories.
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ONLINE PRESENCE
FACEBOOK COMMUNITY:
Likes: 8,047 (Low presence) Content: Company presentation, basic information no magazine content related
TWITTER ENGAGEMENT:
Tweets: 5,484 (Mostly promoting and advertising the brand and magazine features) Following: 239 Followers: 12,573 (Increasing number of followers)
THE BIG ISSUE WEBSITE:
Parented by The Big Issue Foundation website: Charitable association Company Information: Vendors, mission, subscription… Magazine: Reviews, Articles, events
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DISTRIBUTION AND DELIVERY
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM:
The Big Issue to Vendors Relation: New Vendors: They get the first 10 magazines for free. After having sold these they have to buy the magazine from the company at a price of £1.25 Training support to all new vendors
Vendors to Consumers:
Based on a street selling approach: Vendors sell the magazine to people in the street, no defined customers, more people the better. Customers buy the magazine for £2.50 and the vendors have a margin of £1.25.
Subscriptions: Customers have the possibility to subscribe to the magazine if they wish. For £155, the client will receive a new edition of the Magazine every fortnight for 12 months. Monthly subscription is also an option at $12.40. Furthermore according to their statement, the money collected will also help to employ homeless, marginalized and disadvantaged women.
DELIVERY PLACES:
The Big Issue to Vendors: There are 63 distribution points nationwide and pitches available across the UK. Process: Contact the nearest office in person or by telephone and staff will be able to advise you on how to get started.
The Vendors to Customers The Big Issue magazine can be bought pretty much everywhere Best known spots: Tube stations, main streets, crowded places, entrance of grocery shops…
THE VENDORS Big Issue vendors are mostly men (varying 80 -‐90%). A recent survey of vendors indicates that the most common immediate precipitating cause of homelessness is relationship breakdown. The vendors range between the age of 18 – 46 plus, with the main group falling into the 26 – 35 age bracket. Across the UK there are about 6000 registered vendors and a further 1000 in Ireland. There are approximately 250,000 issues sold across the British Isles each week.
Conditions to become a vendor
If you are: • Homeless or rough sleeping • In temporary accommodation • In danger of losing a home
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• Unemployed and facing financial crisis
Meet Traian
Name: Traian Age: 26 Nationality: Romanian
Traian is homeless and started selling The Big Issue Magazine quite recently. I met him a Saturday at 13pm next to the entrance of Sainsbury in Camden town. He comes often and normally all day long from 10am to 5pm depending on the sales. On busy and beautiful day, Traian manages to sell about 10 magazines per day, however it happened that she could not sell any in a day (on average its 6-‐7 per day and more at the beginning of the week). He ended up in the street because of drug abuse. He lost his previous job as a cashier in a small boutique, could not find another one and ended up in the street at the cost of living was too high to support a shelter, electricity, food… He told me that The Big Issue Magazine is his only hope to reconstruct a life. He finally feels that he matters and he is now able to buy food and clothes.
BRAND PERSONALITY
BRAND NAME
THE BIG ISSUE: The name chosen is correlating with the brand values and personality. Focus on the social crisis and is highly engaging. Direct and to the point, while leaving space for interpretation. Adding “magazine”, the brand name would give clear expectations to the customers. SLOGAN: “Helping people help themselves” Encouraging and differentiated from other social / charity organizations Add value and significance, feeling of contribution and progress.
LOGO:
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Simple and direct to the point, while being “aggressive” and highly recognizable. Easily noticed and wants to be provocative.
Advertising Strategy:
• M&C Saatchi with The Big Issue Vendors • Street advertisement through vendors • Press releases
BRAND POSITIONING
The Big Issue position themselves as being the channel of social help. They want to be seen as a charitable company, which provide customers with valuable information and content through their magazine, while helping the society through a self-‐help system. The want to be the best-‐known company, which manages to mix business with ethical techniques and actions. Furthermore their aim is to be re-‐cognized and directly associated with the “one of the solution” to homelessness.
BRAND IMAGE
From Paul McNamee, Big Issue Editor
“Irreverent, challenging, chest-‐out, campaigning, frequently uplifting and fearless. We will ask tough questions of authority and challenge the status quo. We are in the community, of the community, up from the streets, and unlike anybody else. We are The Big Issue.’”
-‐ The Big Issue wants to be seen as a non-‐for profit organization very concerned about social issues and specifically homelessness.
-‐ Secondly they want to be seen as a professional, interesting and impressive information provider.
BRAND ADDING VALUE
WHAT MAKES THE BIG ISSUE SPECIAL?
Lot of people assumes that The Big Issue is written and produced by homeless people. However, their first priority is to ensure selling a qualitative product. Therefore, all the editorial staffs are trained, professional journalists. The magazine includes two pages called Streetlights, which are dedicated exclusively to poems and articles by homeless people.
The Big Issue differentiates itself by offering a voice in the media to homeless people.
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BRAND PHILOSOPHY
The Big Issue ‘s philosophy is based on a system of self-‐help. That is to say, they offer a sustainable approach, which is not directly based on charity or handouts, but rather is the result of vendors work with the tools of The Big Issue.
The benefice of this job from vendors’ point of view is to be able to start over, to be given a chance. However according to a recent survey, the biggest benefit from selling those magazine was to be constantly in contact with the public and be able to re-‐gain confidence and build a life around social interaction.
BRAND IDENTITY
MISSION
MISSION STATEMENT
“Our mission is to connect vendors with the vital support and solutions that enable them to rebuild their lives; to find their own path in their personal journey away from homelessness.” DELIVERY MISSION
‘Vendor-‐centric’ – our work is led by the hopes and aspirations of Big Issue vendors
‘Inclusive’ – social and financial inclusion is at the heart of our philosophy
‘Non-‐judgmental’ – we work with anyone who is prepared to engage with self-‐help.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of The Big Issue Foundation is to connect vendors with the social environment. They will offer a vital support and solutions that enable them to rebuild their lives and journey away from homelessness. The company works exclusively with Big Issue vendors. The vendors are homeless individuals, vulnerably housed or at risk of homelessness because of significant issues such as unemployment or a financial crisis. The company’s objective, by the mean of “magazine trading”, is to help these people and change consumers’ about social issues. The Big Issue Company also aims to promote itself as a model of how a social business, as opposed to a charity, can be a solution to homelessness and social exclusion.
WANTED POSITION The Big Issue Magazine as being part of The Big Issue Foundation wants to ensure that in the next three years, every vendor has:
-‐ Somewhere meaningful to call home -‐ Access to a doctor and equality of access to health care opportunities
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-‐ The essential support that is needed to overcome addictions -‐ Direct help with their sales skills to maximize their independent earnings -‐ The crucial personal identification that opens so many doors -‐ Access to additional financial support and secure saving opportunities -‐ The opportunity to re-‐connect with family members and loved ones.
VALUES
SOCIAL / PEOPLE: As we can see from their methods and mission, they are very much directed toward people. They are positioned as a non-‐for profit organization that wishes to help resolves social issues like homelessness. Their sustainable distribution system offers the opportunity for homeless to start over (self-‐help) and proves that the brand cares more about individuals that anything else. QUALITY: Nevertheless, the company is selling magazine and they ensure their product is of quality. Their goal is not to fool customers with only the social benefit of buying the magazine but also to get good and qualitative information. PROFESSIONALISM: In order to provide customers with qualitative content, the place themselves as professionals. They are stating their article have been written by professionals, therefore of good quality, their staff is professional as well as the vendors. = As a result, their values are SOCIAL reflected through social help, QUALITY, reflected through their magazines and PROFESIONALISM reflected through their content, articles and reviews.
CONSUMER TARGET ANALYSIS
Better understand and identify our consumer’s need In order to create: • Strong brand name • Greater market share • Cross selling solutions
The Big Issue describes their audience as being “a culturally engaged, socially aware audience -‐ the ultimate consumers with a conscience”. Unlike many other magazines they assume their audience are socially aware and are interested in how ethical things are. The information on their website about their readership says that 84% of their audience
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believe its important for a company to act ethically. As opposed to usual celebrity gossip magazines, the audience for The Big Issue is generally already settled in their careers whereas gossip readers are aspirers just starting out. The Big Issue argued that their audience are consumers with a conscience.
DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS
Circulation: 124, 196 per week: (ABC Jan-‐Dec 2010 for The Big Issue Group)
Readership: 585,000 per week: (NRS Q3 2010)
Advertise in the Big Issue Magazine and reach a culturally engaged, socially aware audience -‐ The ultimate consumers with a conscience Female: 56% Male: 44% ABC1: 75% Working full time: 41% Still studying: 31% Age Group Profile: Under 24: 20.5% Urbanites leading busy life 25 to 44: 38.4% Prepared to pay extra for quality 45 to 64: 29.3% Culturally, ethically and socially aware Over 65: 11.9% Courageous, conscientious consumers Big Issue readers agree that: It’s important that a company acts ethically – 84% It’s worth paying extra for quality goods – 82%
PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS
MUSIC CONCERNED:
• Readers spend £3.8M on albums/singles per year • 71% of readers say music is an important part of their life – 475,000 readers. • Total volume of nightclub visits per month is 377,000 – over three times more than
Time Out.
ARTS AND CULTURE
• Readers visit the theatre a total of 1.4M times per year
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• Readers make a total of 886,000 visits to art galleries per year • Total spend on paperbacks £3.3M per year
BANKING
• 68% of readers are more aware of personal finance than they used to be 453,000 readers.
• 52% of readers say it is important for everything to be insured – 343,000 readers. THE ENVIRONMENT
• 87% say people should recycle. • 64% say you should pay more for environmentally friendly products.
CHARITABLE GIVING
• Total spend per year £40.8M • Readers spend £78 each on charity per year
LIFESTYLE
• 44% of readers always check the nutritional content of food -‐ 295,000 readers • 174,000 readers ALWAYS look for the Light/Diet version of food & drink
DRINKS
• 252,000 of readers say it’s worth paying extra for good quality beer • 337,000 of readers are prepared to pay more for good quality wine • Total volume of wine bought for home consumption – 1.2M • Readers drink 3.1M fizzy soft drinks in total per year • Total volume of yoghurt drinks per month 2.4M
FILMS
• Buy an average of 5 DVD’s per year each, more than the Guardian, The • Independent and Time Out • Readers buy 2.1M DVD’s in total per year • Readers make over half a million cinema visits a month.
The Big Issue readership has a denser population of Main Shoppers than readers of the Independent on Sunday, Independent on Saturday, Independent, Guardian, Times and Telegraph.
Source: GB TGI Q2 2008
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ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
INTERNAL MICRO ANALYSIS SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH WEAKNESSES
Cheap and important Labor force No control over workers (unpredictable) Unique method of delivery Vendors nationality, lack of trust “Charity purpose” Mostly immigrants vendors (Stereotypes) Social change status UK Price and youth targeted (Cheaper options) Present on 4 continents Low brand loyalty Awards and trust Low brand awareness Unique selling Proposition Weak presence
OPPORTUNITIES THREAT Increase in homelessness + vendors + sales Decrease in the disposable income Increasing number of social enterprises Free magazine Studies on social entrepreneurship (up) Online news service, technology Increasing number of events, competitions… Relate on donations Legislation on immigrants (Romanian) Government and taxes Work permit Natural Disasters, professional… (Bangladesh)
Industry Challenges: Adaptation Strategy
TURN THREATS INTO OPPORTUNITIES USE STRENGTH TO DECREASE WEAKNESSES
Unprofessional Vendors No experience = Can have a bad effect on
the brand image
Offer training session to make sure every vendor understand their role and how they are contributing the brand identity
Increasing number of competitions, events and charity races...
Give speeches; do some PR, apparitions to build The Big Issue Name and reputation.
Increasing number of social enterprises Increase in social issue awareness
Work in Partnership with other associations to raise a bigger budget and be able to improve the magazine, expend in other markets and make the brand
known
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Disasters like the one in Bangladesh = Press Release = People care more and
become more conscious
Take advantage of such issue to promote the brand and show the big issue unique
selling point and values Economic Crisis = More people in trouble
ending in the Street = Increasing the number of workforce
INTERNAL MACRO ANALYSIS PORTERS 5 FORCES MODEL
Supplier Power – Medium – Low
The Big Issue is a pretty big company, printing more than 120,000 copies per week. Comparing this level of circulation with competitors we see that it is pretty low, however supplier would not want to loose a company such as The Big Issue. Moreover as the company is working for a special cause, it gives another argument for suppliers to stay.
Buyer power – High
The customer has a relatively high buying power as the competition is tough and technology provide them with a wide range of similar product, which in some case is more interesting and on target and cheaper.
Competitive Rivalry – High
Direct: Even though there are not so many magazines with the same values and distribution system as The Big Issue, there are a lot that provide similar products. They all operate in the communication and flow of information area. Some magazines are free, while others are not, some concentrate on finance and other provide a wide range of information.
Indirect: TV and Internet. Today we can get any kind of news through digital media channels.
Threat of Substitution – High
The threat of substitution is very high and the dependence of consumers of technology makes it even higher. Mobile devices, tables, internet are all delivering a similar promise to their customers. Furthermore as people are beginning to become more environmentally friendly, the consumption of paper based magazine or newspaper is decreasing. As a result customers are more and more turning towards the Internet or tv channels to get their news.
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Threat of New Entries – Medium
The level of capital to enter this market is relatively low and the level of expertise needed is not very high neither. Potential new companies could be interested in entering the market, however with the rise in technology the future profit is limited.
MCKINSEY 7S MODEL
1) Strategy-‐
Their main competitive advantage is the social aspect of the magazine. They differentiate themselves by positioning themselves as “a socially engaged” company.
2) Structure-‐ The big issue Company The Big Issue Foundation The Big Issue Magazine 2) Systems-‐ The magazine is produced weekly, so writers, journalists are constantly working on the next issue. The vendors are up to do what they want, however they would tend to go in the street and try to sell as much magazine as they can to increase their revenue and be able to buy the next issue as well (Circle system based on self-‐help).
3) Shared Values-‐
The company’s value is social / people, professionalism and quality. Every member of the company is actively engaged to defend those values, indeed writers and journalists provides the best content to reflect professionalism and the vendors would do the same to defend “themselves” and touch people on social issue and homelessness.
4) Style-‐
The company’s leadership style is straightforward as they brief their vendors at the beginning and would give support if needed. They have a unique style, which manage to combine charitable help and business.
6) Staff-‐
-‐ Self employed staff (vendors) = mean of distribution
-‐ Professional writers and editors, trained and skilled in journalism
7) Skills –
-‐ No skills from vendors
-‐ Professional skills from writers and internal staff members
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EXTERNAL ANALYSIS PESTLE ANALYSIS
Political:
-‐ Stricter taxes policy from the government -‐ International, national, regional and local policies
Economic:
-‐ Rise in Unemployment -‐ Decrease in disposable Income (Recession period)
Socio – cultural: -‐ People are becoming financially careful -‐ Higher level of education in the population -‐ The society is becoming more aware about social concerns -‐ Change in people’s lifestyle, addiction and needs
Technological:
-‐ Rise in technology and innovation -‐ Speed of delivery
Environmental:
-‐ Recycling paper -‐ Street cleaning -‐ Weather conditions, rain, temperatures
Legal:
-‐ Street selling regulation -‐ Consumers rights -‐ Employment laws -‐ Immigration issues
CONSUMER ANALYSIS
READERSHIP
Testimonials
David West: Talked to him in the park at Russell Square Age: 32 Job: Bar tender at “The Light Bar” = David is no longer buying the big issue because he does not believe the majority of vendors are homeless. “A lot of them are foreigners, they smoke, they drink and sometimes are very rude when you do not buy the magazine. I am a generous person, however I would rather give money homeless charities and organizations, which I know would provide homeless with food and shelter”.
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Amanda Waterhouse: Talked to her in the tube, central line. Age: 26 Job: MPs at Red Carnation Hotels = Amanda is buying sometimes The Big Issue, when she sees her usual vendor at South Kensington, where she get off to go to work. However she confessed that the first reason why she was buying the newspaper was because she felt bad for the vendor and felt that she had to help. She is not really interesting in the content of the magazine and she is more a digital news taker, watching TV, or surfing on The Independent or The Guardian website.
Survey
Survey based on a Total 100 People: 46 Female / 54 Male Randomly chosen
DO PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THE BIG ISSUE
Know about the Big Issue Magazine Yes No Total
Female 90% 9% 46 Male 87% 13% 54 Total 88% 12% 100
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
15-‐25 25-‐35 35-‐45 45-‐60 60+
Frequency Purchase per age group
All the time
Often
Sometimes
Never
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11.69%
42.86% 16.88%
28.57%
Reason to buy the Big Issue on 77 buyers
"Forced"by vendors
Charity
Entertainement
Charity + Entertainement
17.39%
52.17%
21.74%
8.70%
Reason not to buy The Big Issue on 23 non-‐buyers
Do not believe "true homelessness"
Limited Budget / Free alternative
Buy other magazines
Not Interested in the content
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PERCEPTION MAPS
Quality / Price
Accessibility / Informative
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CUSTOMERS BRAND AFFINITY
Information based on reviews, newspapers articles and blog posts
Social values: The social benefit brought by the purchase of one magazine. A sense of charity given away for the welfare of the vendor. Self-‐satisfaction: A lot of consumers feel good after buying The Big Issue, because they feel it is their duty to help homeless people. In that case people buy the social aspect of the company instead of the content of the magazine. No clear loyalty: Based on people’s opinion, they buy the magazine once in a wile, when they see a vendor selling it. However as the newspaper is only sold the Mondays and in few places in London, people are not strongly loyal to the brand, because of the number of substitute and their specific needs as well.
CUSTOMERS END-‐BENEFIT
First: Social benefit and self-‐satisfaction (First Buying reason) = A way to reach the “self-‐esteem” on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs = Play a psychological influence on the purchasing behavior = Related to culture, social class behavior, beliefs = Re-‐directed the primary purpose of the magazine Second: The actual content of the magazine (Second buying reason) = Purchasing directly because of the content and information provided = Rational reason to purchase
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COMPETITVE BRAND ANALYSIS
MARKET ANALYSIS
PRINT:
The total newspaper market in the UK was worth £5.78bn, a 26.5% decline on the industry’s market value 5 years earlier in 2006.
The Newspaper Industry in decline:
-‐ Economic crisis, less disposable income -‐ Fewer companies invest in advertisement, restricted budget -‐ Less advertisement = Less publication (Lack of budget)
= Decline in overall sales, circulation.
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ALTERNATIVES:
Adapt to the demand and environmental situation:
-‐ Development of digital alternatives, more online news site, smartphone applications and social media communication.
-‐ Increase in popularity among customers, digital age (due to the unwillingness from customers to pay for news, where it is available somewhere else for free).
-‐ Highly reduce the production costs
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The future: Uncertain as the UK is still in a recession state and technology as well as social changes can largely impact on the market.
Possibility: Sports event such as the Olympics, which show the customer’s immediate need toward accurate news. Advertising investment would also naturally increase. Keynote Statistics has predicted that the newspaper industry in the UK will decline by 4.9% between 2011 and 2015 to an estimate value of £5.49bn in 2015.
UK Newspaper Circulation
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COMPETITORS TABLE
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COMPARATIVE STRENGTHS
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Cheaper Prices No charity or social involvement
High Market Share No additional consumer end-‐benefit / satisfaction
Content / Consumer needs No Direct Marketing engaged Brand Awareness Higher availability Bigger Budget
RECOMMENDATION
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
Increase the number of advertising space purchase: Businesses are the one buying space in the magazine to promote their brand for The Big Issue Target audience, which naturally match with their target audience. -‐ Because we are in a recession period, people and business have restricted budgets. With limited funding, businesses will cut down on their marketing budget and would prioritize sure and efficient media channel to get their message through, such as TV ads through BBC1 (high traffic and established brand). The Big Issue has to show it can be trusted and the outcome of published advertisement will bring some positive results to the company. Nevertheless predicted results are very hard to estimate, however The Big Issue has a competitive advantage: It’s social promises and engagement.
TACTICS: Gain trust and credibility
-‐ Carefully target their clients: Companies who have the same audience as The Big Issue.
-‐ Clients that are socially concerned and engaged or maybe companies such as Nike, Primark or Top Shop, who have suffered from press releases in the past and need to re-‐position their brand. If such brands appear on The Big Issue Magazine it would change how people perceive it and the audience would more likely forget about past “disasters” and “unethical faux pas”.
⇒ In brief it would mean that The Big Issue would take advantage of personal brand
issue to offer them with an opportunity to re-‐position and re-‐brand. They would attract clients through “social pressure” and convince them to advertise with them in order to be able to identify themselves as being “concerned”, “respectful” and “socially engaged” and build a new image into customers’ mind.
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BUSINESS TO CUSTOMERS
Increase the number of sales, through vendors or subscriptions: The Big Issue does not have a strong presence on the newspaper, magazine market. A good part of the population does not know the brand or if they do a majority do not know what the brand stands for.
TACTICS: Marketing Mix
Product: • Re-‐design the magazine to make it more visual and attractive to the target
audience • Usefulness of the magazine (pictures, texts, information) • Ameliorate the quality: Chinese producer (cheap prices)
Price • The Big Issue: £2.50 / Much cheaper alternatives = Decrease production cost to
reduce vendors buying price and consumer selling price. • Economic crisis = Less disposable income = Too expensive product
Place • Invest in research to see the most effective selling places
People • Train vendors and teach them about strategic places • Vendors have to be presentable, credible and “educated” = Respectful
PROMOTIONAL MIX
One of the strategies I want to go include the promotional mix as a tool to re-‐enforce the brand in terms of its presence, position, identity, image and message. Main goals: Build Trust and Credibility / Create social implication and consumer self-‐actualization.
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The brand does not sell a need but sell the opportunity for the audience to self-‐actualize themselves.
• Need to create them self-‐actualization needs (targeting the top 3 stages of Maslow’s pyramid of needs).
⇒ In order to achieve these goals, The Big Issue has to be highly involve and use
different promotional mix tools. However as we imagine, they have a limited budget, however some investment have to be made in order to install trust, credibility, create essential feelings and re-‐enforce their position to at the end increase their profit as well as the vendors’ profits.
ADVERTISING
• Increase their presence online and offline.
Online: Through blogs, social media and adverts Offline: Leaflets, billboards and posters distributed in shops, restaurants
• Ask for donations, free ad for social cause and partnership to increase brand awareness.
PUBLIC RELATION
• Install trust and make apparitions
Through press releases Be involved in events, competitions and charity
• Organize competitions with all the vendors and benevolent to raise funds. An example widely used by a lot of companies who are looking to raise funds is a race around town or in the park. It can be a marathon as well as an afternoon of activities such as football, basketball, where teams would compete. This would raise charity funds as well as help vendors to re-‐socialize and gain self-‐confidence.
DIVERSIFICATION
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
• Cross selling: Additionally to the traditional The Big Issue magazine they could
offer other products, still in a close market: Stickers, pens, hat, t-‐shirts… • As seen previously the top reason why people are buying the magazine is because
it make themselves feel better, however they are not that much interested in the content. As a result I recommend The Big Issue to re-‐new their content by proposing consumers with more attractive and engaging content.
MARKET DEVELOPMENT
• The Big Issue is already present in a lot of countries and should not stop expending
their market. Developing countries is an opportunity for The Big Issue to expand to as they still have a high number of homeless people, however as their economy is growing, a fair part of the population would have the money to big it.
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SOURCES
Baker, C (2012) “What’s The Big Issue” Available at: http://www.thebubble.org.uk/causes/what-‐s-‐the-‐big-‐issue
Frangi, L. (2010) “The UK’s Media Consumption Habits” in We are social. Available at: http://wearesocial.net/blog/2010/08/uks-‐media-‐consumption-‐habits/ Handley, L (27 sept 2011)”Why The Big Issue brand needs a rethink”, in Marketing week. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/blogs/lucy-‐handley/why-‐the-‐big-‐issue-‐brand-‐needs-‐a-‐rethink/3030458.article
Hanks, S & Swithinbank, T (1997) Environment and Urbanization “The Big Issue and other street papers: a response to homelessness” Published by Sage.
Homeless Worldcup Statistics . “AN ESTIMATED 100 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE ARE HOMELESS. SOURCE: UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, 2005.”Availabe at: http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/homelessness-‐statistics Keynote statistics: https://www.keynote.co.uk/market-‐intelligence/view/product/10515/newspapers Marketing, Strategy, and Competitive Analysis: http://www.abahe.co.uk/business-‐administration/Marketing-‐Strategy-‐and-‐Competitive-‐Analysis.pdf
McLeod, H. (June 19, 2012) “A Big Issue? Your views on homelessness in the UK” in YouGov, what the world thinks. Available at: http://yougov.co.uk/news/2012/06/19/big-‐issue-‐your-‐views-‐homelessness-‐uk/ The Big Issue Foundation (2012) Financial Report. PDF: http://www.bigissue.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/bif_financial_statements_year_ending_31_march_2012.pdf
The Big Issue Rate Card: http://www.bigissue.com/sites/bigissue/files/Ratecard.pdf The Big Issue Presentation PDF: http://www.bigissue.com/sites/bigissue/files/TheBigIssuePresentation.pdf
The Big Issue website: http://www.bigissue.org.uk The Guardian “Big Issue Magazine goes digital”. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2012/oct/25/the-‐big-‐issue-‐digital-‐media
UNESCO (n.d) “The Big Issue United Kingdom” Available at: http://www.unesco.org/most/westeur6.htm
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