In the midst of the emotional and economic devastation of the coronavirus crisis, the number of creative people and businesses stepping up to support those in need has brought much-needed positivity. Social impact creative consultancy Fox and Hare has been consistently and consciously focusing on providing creative solutions for brands and charities during the crisis. A support that was vital for The Big Issue, a charity which urgently needed help following lockdown. Recognising how devastating the crisis was for the social enterprise, the consultancy created ‘#TheBigMissYou’ a social campaign designed to urgently fill the funding gap it was facing. 

Craig Hares, Co-Founder at Fox and Hare says that the concept for the campaign came from the fact that the homeless population often gets overlooked and becomes an invisible part of society. He explained: “We wanted to shine the light on their situation and show the UK population how much it means to them to sell the magazine on the streets every week. After all, the connection between some of the sellers and their regulars ended, but the support shouldn't.”

Zoe Hayward, Group Marketing and Communications Director at The Big Issue, says that public support for The Big Issue is critical to secure the future of the magazine. “It will make a real difference to the lives of vendors across the country,” she added.

The Big Pivot

The campaign encourages supporters of The Big Issue to subscribe or support the magazine by a one-off payment through the crisis, or through subscribing to have the magazine delivered to their homes. As Hares explains, because of coronavirus, The Big Issue took the decision to safeguard its network of vendors by asking them to stop selling on the streets across the whole of the UK. A decision, which he says had a “devastating impact on their income, as well as The Big Issue's chance of surviving this crisis.”

The ‘Sell a Sub’ challenge encourages consumers to sell three subscriptions to The Big Issue in seven days. The campaign includes social assets and a welcome pack of tips and suggestions. Lord John Bird, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Big Issue, urged people to get involved.

He explains, “By taking on our Sell a Sub challenge, you can help sell The Big Issue online on behalf of our vendors who can’t sell on the street right now. By supporting us and our vendors in this way, we’re hoping to use the power of the people to keep providing support for our vendors.” “Be part of this movement and give back a moment of your time to those who need us the most,” he adds.

A labour of love in lockdown

The campaign was a labour of love in lockdown for the Fox and Hare team. “We have been working from home since March, so we’ve had plenty of time to get a great rhythm in place,” explains Hares. He says that the agency has become “very much accustomed to using collaboration tools like Slack, Hangouts, Zoom, Evernote, WhatsApp and others, so it's not been a huge challenge.”

In fact, he believes that in some ways, this new way of working has actually brought the agency together and given a sharper focus to the work. He explains: “Your priorities, and in some ways qualities, really do come to the forefront when you're faced with an outbreak that changes everything about the way the agency and clients operate.” 

The only major difference is the need to be super resourceful, particularly when it comes to production in the midst of lockdown. This means that rather than doing shoots for the campaign, the team made the best of stock footage. 

Building communities in crisis

The strength of the campaign lies not just in the agile approach but the way in which the work is seeking to connect with people who are furloughed or working from home and engage them as volunteers. According to Hares there are many people from all walks of life who have been furloughed, made redundant or are adapting to new ways of working. He explains: “While that's scary for a lot of people, one positive to come out of this crisis is the love, care and compassion for those around us.”

While ‘#TheBigMissYou’ primarily focuses on telling the story of the sellers, the team wanted to make sure that this was an inclusive campaign. Hares explains that this is why the team is launching the 'Associate Big Issue Seller' initiative too. “This enables everyone with spare time, from regular readers to those who have never bought a copy in their life, to sell on behalf of the sellers who can't right now,” he adds. Those who take up the 'Sell a Sub' challenge and become an Associate Big Issue Seller are provided with tools to take part in the challenge by downloading a welcome pack and seller’s kit.

The target audience is split into two key categories; regular readers and people who are likely to stand side-by-side with a social enterprise of this kind. The latter, the team believes, tends to be made up of 18-35-year-old city dwellers. The campaign focuses heavily on social media and digital outreach, as well as endorsement from celebrities and influencers while The Big Issue magazine is also being displayed in a number of supermarkets.

Importantly, 50% of net proceeds will go to vendors needing their help. This includes supermarket vouchers, top-up electric and gas keys, ongoing social and emotional support and helping vendors to understand and access all the support services available, such as access to universal credit. The remaining 50% will enable The Big Issue to continue its vital work with vendors now and in the future.

Creativity under constraint

There are few greater myths in the current pandemic than the notion that ‘we are all in it together’. For those most vulnerable members of society without a safety net, the economic and social impact of this virus is acute. Yet this campaign underlines the ability of the creative industries to step up to support a magazine which for so long has done so much for those who need it most. 

“For me, creativity is one of the most precious tools in the box in times like these,” explains Hares. “From a creative point of view, we’ve managed to reframe this situation not as a problem but as an opportunity to do shit-hot work to help support a social enterprise in crisis, which we have done remarkably well."

Hares holds his hands up to the reality that, as a co-founder and creative director, he was very worried about the impact of the crisis. He adds, “don’t get me wrong, I still am. But with every crisis, lessons are learnt and it’s now about how we apply these lessons to society and the workplace moving forward.”