Latest Direct Marketing (DM) News contains information on the most recent direct marketing news stories http://www.clearbluegroup.net/directmarketingnews.html New research from the Direct Mail Information Service shows that UK consumers purchased over £27 billion worth of goods in the last twelve months as a result of Direct Mail promotions This is a 0.9% increase on the previous year. The study reveals that the average UK consumer spent just under £595 in the last year as a result of being mailed. Of the 42% of the sample quizzed who had purchased through Direct Mail, 20% spent between £1 and £100 with 21% spending between £101 and £300. Of the overall £27.1 billion, just over 50% - £13.6 billion - is spent on clothes with £2.4bn being spent on electrical goods. Expenditure on books accounts for £2bn with £1.4 billion spent on household items. Some 38% of the overall spend was generated by those in the ABC1 segment with the remaining 62% from the C2DE segment. Geographically, those in the North continue to spend more through Direct Mail, accounting for 57% of the total compared to 43% in the South. Those in the 35-54 age bracket are most likely to purchase through Direct Mail with 46% purchasing at least once in 2005. This compares to 41% for the 16-34 age group and 37% for the 55+ age group. Commenting on the research, DMIS Managing Director, Jo Howard Brown, says: “This research once again shows just how much of an integral part Direct Mail plays in people’s lives – even if they sometimes don’t realise it. The medium is key to the prosperity of many UK businesses and a trusted purchasing channel for many millions of consumers.” http://www.clearbluegroup.net/directmarketingnews.html A major reduction in direct marketing spend by the UK’s banks has impacted on direct mail volume and expenditure, according to figures just released by the Direct Mail Information Service. Elsewhere the picture is largely encouraging with government mailings increasing by 36.2% and volume from the health sector up 26.7%. Charities also increased their use of the medium with volumes up from 75.4 million items to 84.2 million – a rise of 11.7%. Car companies and dealerships sent 13.41 million items, up 11.5% year on year. Official statistics for the January to March 2005 period show that UK banks reduced their mailing volumes by 40% compared to the same period in 2004 – down from 153 million items to 91.8 million. Overall, total volume for the first quarter was down 7.8% year on year at 1.36 billion items. Total expenditure fell by 7.2% to £259.65m. The reduction in volume by banks goes against the overall first quarter trend in the financial services sector, with mailings from building societies, insurance companies and other financial institutions all on the increase. Further analysis of the figures shows that when examined over a twelve month period, the decrease for volume reduces to 3.4% and expenditure to 3%. Commenting on the figures, DMIS Managing Director, Jo Howard-Brown, says: “The extent of the cutback by the banks, while against the first quarter trend in the financial sector, fits in with what the industry has been telling us. There is a general retrenchment going on and no-one is quite sure how temporary or otherwise it may be. Relatively new users of the medium, such as health companies and the government, are, however, significantly increasing spend and this has to be encouraging for the future.” http://www.clearbluegroup.net/directmarketingnews.html Direct marketing planning and buying agency, Go Direct Marketing, has just secured a major Christmas insert campaign for leading charity gift catalogue company, Webb Ivory (Burton) Ltd. Go Direct Marketing’s specialist insert planning and buying team will use its extensive knowledge of the UK insert market in order to effectively target charity responders with Christmas gift catalogues on behalf of 12 charities including Save the Children Fund, NSPCC and Cancer Research UK. The Autumn/Winter 2005 campaign will run in September and October, during which 700,000 one-stage catalogue inserts will appear in key third party titles including the Book Club Associates, Yves Rocher and Cotton Traders. Go Direct Marketing already handles Webb Ivory’s list planning and buying for its direct mail campaigns. Graham Martin, marketing manager for Webb Ivory (Burton) Ltd, said: “We have appointed Go Direct because it has developed a highly targeted and cost effective insert campaign to ensure we hit the right people with our gift catalogues, in order to raise vital funds for the charities in the run up to the festive season.” http://www.clearbluegroup.net/directmarketingnews.html The ListLab Inserts Division now enables you to book insert space through us into one of their many insert programmes! In total, you could reach more than 14 million individuals. Listlab also provide insert planning and brokerage services where we help you source insert space and book your campaigns, ensuring an efficient and cost-effective campaign for you. http://www.clearbluegroup.net/directmarketingnews.html