Research Urges Media Planners To Recognise Direct Mail
Advertisers must recognise that direct mail is more than a direct response medium and can be highly effective at raising awareness and communicating brand identity, according to new research from Carat.
The Changing Face of Direct Mail study examines consumer attitudes towards mail as an advertising medium. It predicts a major shift in consumer behaviour and calls for a new approach towards direct mail.
The study shows that by considering DM audiences according to their lifestyle choices and attitudes, rather than against traditional demographics, marketers can communicate with consumers more effectively.
Carat has identified a number of attitudinal groups that exist within the UK population. Each has unique traits and characteristics, which are intended to help inform planning and creative decisions relating to direct mail.
The research claims that two groups, The Style Seeker and The Endangered Shopper, will be instrumental in influencing the future landscape for direct mail.
The Style Seeker is identified as a new breed of consumers who interact with direct mail in a new ‘creatively challenging way’. The study claims that advertisers must significantly update their approach to successfully communicate with this group.
The Endangered Shopper is described as an attitudinal group that currently accounts for 13% of the direct mail population and is set to disappear with ‘severe implications’ for advertisers reliant on this segment.
Other groups identified by the study include the down market Calculated Responder; the adventurous Culture Chaser; the more traditional Moral Buyer; the brand disloyal Mail Hopper and the career minded Alpha Mail.
Commenting on the findings, James Northway, data planning director at Carat, said: “It is all too easy for marketers to become too focussed on constantly refining the details of individual direct mail campaigns. By using consumer insight to get the bigger picture we can explore new avenues and audiences and new ways of using different channels.”
Carat claims the research emphasises why direct mail should be reconsidered by marketers for its abilities within an integrated communications strategy.
The latest figures from the Advertising Association show that direct mail saw expenditure increase by 3.4% year on year to £545 million during the second quarter of 2003, as advertisers continue to turn towards more targeted and cost effective forms of marketing (see Growth In UK Adspend Slows During Second Quarter).
Carat: 020 7430 6000 www.carat.co.uk
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