Royal Mail: British automobile industry sees 12.3 percent increase in DM

The automotive industry in Britain has experienced a 12.3 percent increase in direct mail volumes in the second quarter of this year, according to figures released on Oct. 6 by Royal Mail.

Between April and June 2006, volumes rose to 12.32 million, up from 10.97 million in the same period in 2005, London-based Royal Mail said.

Other sectors to perform well were charities with an increased volume of 10.5 per cent to almost 97 million direct mail pieces, the health sector with a 10 percent increase to 13.89 million pieces, and the travel and tourism sector with an uplift of 7.8 percent to 52.04 million pieces.

Banks also fared well, with an increased volume of 5.9 percent to 77.78 direct mail pieces, as did the retail sector with a year-over-year volume increase of 1.1 per cent to 88.91 million, and the education market, which saw a 30 percent volume increase to 5.35 million direct mail pieces.

Overall direct mail volumes between the April and June 2006 time frame have experienced a slight drop in comparison to the same period in 2005, as businesses across all sectors improve targeting by moving away from mass mailings towards greater segmentation of consumers, Royal Mail said. This enables them to send lower volume, more relevant campaigns to their prospects.

As a result, direct mail volumes, in general, have fallen by 1.6 per cent from 1.329 billion in 2005 to 1.307 billion this year.

Interestingly, there has also been a significant lift in volume of direct mail sent to the 55 to 64 age bracket, Royal Mail said. This is a result of the marketing community identifying the “grey market” as a responsive and valuable target audience.