How beacons kept Big Issue vendors visible

The brief

The Big Issue, the UK’s number one street magazine, is sold by homeless and vulnerable people. The last few years had an incredible impact on The Big Issue’s street vendors, with footfall lower than previous norms. It needed to reengage communities with vendors in order to generate volume on sales.

Hear what the winners had to say about their award-winning work above.

The idea

Using beacon tech, street vendors are tracked through the city. When vendors were in the range of digital screens, they directed the public. this included how many meters away they are, accompanied by a moving image of the person. The I’m Here campaign made invisible people visible.

Hundreds of assets featuring dozens of different gestures from vendors were created, so there was often a fresh piece matching the digital creative. It then targeted top sites.

The results

During the campaign, sales of the magazine increased by 400%, quadrupling the average daily sales of The Big Issue. In addition, the daily effective circulation of our campaign – or the real-world ‘impressions’ – was 460,000. Social engagement on The Big Issue’s social channels increased by 860%, starting a conversation without any paid media. And positive brand sentiment increased by 26%.

This campaign was a winner at The Drum Awards for Out of Home 2022. You can see all the winners here. The Drum Awards for Marketing are currently open for entry. Find out how you can enter now.