Just how big is BIG? The annual Swimsuit Issue (on newsstands now, by the way) is so big that it has become a significant economic indicator.

“When the cover model is from the United States, the S&P is supposed to show a return for the year above it’s historical rate,” says CNBC.  “With a non-American cover model, the S&P 500 will underperform. From 1979 to 2008, the average S&P return was 8.87 percent. When the cover model was American, the average return was 13.9 percent, but just 7.2 percent when non-Americans made the cover.” Financial tip: This year’s cover is Brooklyn Decker from Middletown, Ohio.

In the United States this past year, 350 magazines folded. Advertising was down 18% for the industry. It was not a good year. But the SI Annual Swimsuit issue goes on and on. No small part of today’s continuing success is that SI has used social media at all levels to broaden and expand its franchise.

The 2010 swimsuit special is SI’s 46th annual edition, though it wasn’t a standalone product until 1997. In 1964, the editors were looking for an idea that would add interest to the grey winter sports scene. Efforts before then saw SI covers featuring cars or dogs, of all things. The swimsuit “test” featured a pretty model and five pages inside the issue with photos of girls in swimsuits.

The 2010 version is 186 pages of swimsuits, pretty girls, exotic locations, and tons of dramatic advertising tie-ins. It carries a newsstand price of $6.99. So you can pretty much imagine the growth line.

Here’s the money line: More than 1 million copies sold on newsstands, a very healthy advertising footprint and a bottom line that makes it the single most profitable issue in the Time Inc. group. This “swimsuit thing” has produced more than $1 billion in revenue since its beginning.

This year’s issue has sparked 64 Facebook groups, is alive on Twitter and has blog interest coming out the wazoo. But these are just the fans. SI has been heavily promoting the issue buzz on Twitter and across all social media as a prelude. The follow-up is even more dynamic.

The SI Swimsuit app downloads for $2.99 on all Apple products, Verizon, AT&T and Alltel smart phones, and makes the issue… and bonus content, portable and available at a touch. It is all over SI.com (and stays there the whole year) and Youtube. The Swimsuit Calendar is a big seller. But in fact, only 60% of the revenue produced will come from the print media. Web, video (last year’s online version had 46 million views) and digital promotions account for 30%… and that number is growing. Events and “other” add the final 10% slice.

Yet, the social networking phenomenon is just beginning to push old promotional concepts. PepsiCo’s Global Chief Marketing Officer at the time, Jill Beraud, said, “It is critical that we move beyond TV and magazines. You have to think about it (marketing) as an integrated experience… 360 degrees at every consumer touch point.” (Hint: SI someday hopes to offer a hologram. Would you call that a “touch point?”)

The agency for another very involved SI marketer, Miller-Coors, says  “media is not just buying placements any more, but creating engaging environments that entice consumer experiences.” Heavy advertiser Miller Lite has tied-in an extensive ancillary consumer promotion, both online and in print.

The SI Swimsuit closet has over 25,000 to choose from… plus all the jewelry, accessories and anything else it could dream of at its disposal. Why? Because to be featured in this broadly promoted issue, even in a small way, is big business. And the same goes for locations. Every sandy beach in the world beckons with open arms.

As for the models… many have gone to bigger and better things… Cheryl Tiegs, with a Sears clothing line and Kathy Ireland (featured on the 1989 cover which sold a record 2.7 million copies), with a line of footwear and $1.4 billion in sales, to name just two.

It seems that what’s good for SI’s Swimsuit Issue is good for everyone involved. That’s called “pushing the brand.”

Reference again the circle of life. Every touch from every angle… publisher, model, reader, vendor, advertiser, locale… all tied together in an expanding web of old fashioned print on the wings of today’s social networking future.

Still a doubter of growing social networking options? Some information for this story came from the CNBC website which ran a TV special, “Business Model: Inside the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.” If you wanted to send that link to someone else, CNBC offers Buzz, Digg, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Delicious, AOLMail, Bebo, Bloggy, Hipstr, Orkut, Kaboodle, Faves, LiveJournal… and about 220 other social networking icons to click! Get the idea?

Jerry Constantino, March 5, 2010

Jerry Constantino was President and Publisher of PJS Publications, a group of 20 special interest magazines owned by VS&A Venture Capital and later, Primedia. He now writes fiction and blogs irrelevantly at itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com.

Note: Post not sponsored.