DIRECTWATCH: A monthly analysis of the direct marketing field

October figures show an overall rise on September, taking spend to

£121.23m.

In addition, spend is spread evenly across the top 20 table although the

top five continue to dominate the total.

October's spend by the top 20 (exclusive of direct mail) is down 8.8% on

the same month last year. This is less a reflection of overall sector

trends than it is of individual strategies of the major players.

Again, the COI heads the top 20, spending a total of £13.84m

against £17.53m in September. Procter & Gamble also reduced its

spend on September with the total dropping by £3.11m to £10.61m.

BT's spend is up on the previous month as increased competition from

cable networks across all areas of its business, including internet

service provision, means it must compete for market share.

Mobile phone networks feature heavily in October's spend with Orange,

One 2 One and BT Cellnet spending similar amounts at the lower end of

the top 20.

One 2 One's spend is up 600% on October 2000, with Orange up 15.4%. BT

Cellnet shows a drop of almost half with 48.1%.

MBNA upped its direct mail spend significantly on previous months in the

lead up to December, while NatWest entered the table on the back of its

direct mail spend.

Mattel is also a new entrant in the run-up to the festive season,

choosing to spend heavily on TV advertising rather than other media.

TOP 20 ADVERTISERS OCTOBER 2001 (POUNDS M)

Company Press Cinema Radio Out- TV DM Total

door

COI 2.30 0.69 2.33 0.61 7.90 0.00 13.84

BT 3.51 0.00 1.19 0.71 6.21 0.07 11.69

Procter & Gamble 1.82 0.00 0.27 0.02 8.38 0.12 10.61

Lever Faberge 1.60 0.00 0.37 0.87 6.86 0.00 9.68

MBNA 0.34 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.10 6.44

Mattel 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 6.31 0.00 6.32

Vauxhall 1.30 0.00 0.18 0.04 4.40 0.22 6.14

L'Oreal 1.01 0.07 0.00 0.25 4.58 0.00 5.91

Peugeot 1.50 0.00 0.09 0.21 3.74 0.08 5.62

Ford 1.19 0.00 0.07 0.00 4.20 0.15 5.61

Sainsbury's 1.13 0.00 0.28 0.91 2.73 0.52 5.57

Kellogg 0.24 0.00 0.23 0.00 4.51 0.00 4.98

NatWest 0.42 0.00 0.03 0.18 2.69 1.52 4.84

Pedigree

Masterfoods 1.38 0.00 0.33 0.15 2.02 0.93 4.81

Guinness UDV 0.13 1.22 0.02 0.26 2.96 0.04 4.63

One 2 One 0.37 0.46 0.20 0.63 2.80 0.00 4.46

Orange 1.02 0.11 0.19 0.75 2.37 0.00 4.45

BT Cellnet 1.45 0.74 0.65 0.00 1.41 0.04 4.29

BMW 1.40 0.77 0.01 0.49 1.60 0.00 4.27

Renault UK 1.75 0.31 0.16 0.00 1.96 0.08 4.26

Total 22.06 4.38 6.25 5.75 72.92 9.87 121.23

ACNielsen MMS monitors direct mail activity and spend using a panel of

10,000 people profiled and weighted to be representative of the UK

population. Spend is estimated by multiplying grossed-up mailing volumes

against average post and production costs for mailpacks in each area.

Data does not include requested items, door-drops or inserts. Detailed

information on direct mail is available via marketmovements.com.

This article was first published on Marketing