The Big Issue vendors can now accept contactless payments

News -
The trend towards digital transaction affects us all. Vendors of The Big Issue, familiar to those who walk the streets of Australia’s major metros, are no exception. Our new campaign announces that The Big Issue is now available by contactless payment.

If you missed Wednesday’s story on the ABC’s 7:30, then we hope you don’t miss the advertising campaign we have created, which launches today with TV, cinema, out of home, radio, transit, digital and social, donated by many media partners and curated by our friends at Carat.

To create a digital payment system for a national network of self-employed, homeless and disadvantaged people is a project of massive complexity. Hats off to the team at The Big Issue for pulling this off – a timely initiative to address the universal trend towards digital transaction. Town Square is proud to support this important development in the 23 year history of The Big Issue in Australia. With so much complexity behind the innovation, we decided that radical simplicity was the best approach to the communication challenge. Visa and MasterCard have come to the party so the campaign can leverage the familiarity and trust that these two brands enjoy across Australia. And it’s the simplicity of the campaign that makes it flexible enough to run across the many media channels our friends at Carat have secured from a wide range of supportive media partners. We’re proud to be collaborating with so many parties to give vendors the support they need to earn an income.

Town Square has been working with The Big Issue on a pro bono basis for a number of years. This campaign is The Big Issue’s proud announcement that vendors are now trading with contactless technologies, as well as cash. Town Square put the campaign’s creative focus firmly where it should be – on the vendors.  Each self-employed Big Issue vendor buys copies of the fortnightly magazine for half the cover price and retains the retail margin as their income. After consulting with vendors, The Big Issue has adopted two new payment systems to enable customers to pay without cash from November: Airpay – a tap and go credit/debit card terminal powered by NAB that the vendor wears on a lanyard and Beem It – an app that allows transactions between vendor and purchasers’ mobile phones. However they choose to pay, readers can enjoy the magazine, knowing that each transaction is helping marginalised Australians to earn a living in the community.

If your brand needs help distilling a complex story into a simple message, please contact Harry on 03 8534 3333 or email now.