Published by the DMA Door Drop Council; industry facts and figures for 2010.

1.
UK Door Drop Industry
Facts & Figures: 2010
The DMA Door Drop Council has released the latest annual Door Drop facts & figures, including
advertising volumes and expenditure, for 2010.
The results are based on the Council’s 17th annual survey of the UK Door Drop Communications Industry
and show that advertising expenditure and volumes for Door Drop communications material recorded a
small, but significant, year on year increase in 2010. This is the first annual rise in door drop expenditure
since 2005.
The annual Door Drop survey measures and
Size and Growth of the Door Drop Market - Volumes
identifies the size of the UK market in terms
of volume and spend from advertisers who 14,000
directly, or through an agency, fund the 12,000
distribution of their pre‐printed
Volume (Items) - Millions
communications material (i.e. advertiser 10,000
spend on Door Drops).
8,000
For a second year the survey has been 6,000 11,870
extended to include estimates of the annual 10,880 10,220
9,036
weight of Door Drop material, with a view to 4,000 7,763 7,905
understanding the impact of various 2,000
developments and industry initiatives on the
overall amount of material produced and 0
delivered by the sector. 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Year
Volume (Items) - Millions
Volumes
Size and Growth of the Door Drop Market - Expenditure
The survey recorded that Door Drop volumes
rose by 1.8% to 7.905 billion items in 2010. 325
300
This followed declines of 14.1% in 2009 and
275
11.6% in 2008.
250
Expenditure - £ Millions .
225
Expenditure 200
Trends xx
175
150 301 297 292
For the fourth year in succession, expenditure 277 260
125 253
performed more favourably than volume, 100
with spend on Door Drop distributions 75
recording an increase of 3.1% to £260 million 50
25
in 2010.
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
This followed expenditure reductions of 8.9% Year
and 5.1% for the two preceding years. Distribution Expenditure - £millions
The values reported here are based solely on Door Drop Media spend i.e. the amount spent by
Advertisers on the distribution element of the campaign. Figures do not include the cost of print and
production or related activities such as Independent Validation.
DMA Door Drop Council – Annual Door Drop Facts & Figures 2010 Page 1 of 5

2. Trends Size and Growth of the Door Drop Market: % Year on Year Movements
10.0%
Following a period of robust and sustained 6.0%
% Year on Year Movement
5.0% 3.9%
growth from the late 90’s to 2005 the 3.1%
1.8%
0.0%
industry had contracted from 2006 to 2009. -1.5% -1.5%
Over those four years volumes consistently -5.0% -6.1% -5.1%
contracted at a faster pace than spend. This -10.0%
-8.3% -8.9%
trend reflected a number of factors -11.6%
-15.0% -14.1%
including:
-20.0%
 Improved use of client data and
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
targeting techniques to enhance
Year
relevance and reduce volume
% Year on year increase in Volume % Year on year increase in Distribution Revenue
 Growth in digital / online share of
advertising spend
 The recession which has particularly impacted on the retail and financial sectors
 A steady reduction in the free newspaper circulation base and a transfer of some activity to
more expensive Door Drop channels
Whilst the above factors continue to be influences on the medium, the encouraging return to growth in
2010 reflects two further factors:
 Door Drops participating in the general recovery of advertising expenditure during 2010
 Service and capacity enhancements introduced by Royal Mail Door to Door
Door Drops and Total UK Door Drop Growth compared with other Media
Advertising Expenditure 25%
20% 17.8%
Growth 13.1% 13.0%
14.9% 14.0% 13.6%
15%
9.2%
11.2%
% Increase Year on Year
10% 6.5% 5.4% 6.0%
3.1%
5%
The Door Drop industry noticeably 0%
-1.5% -1.5%
-5.1%
-5%
outperformed total UK advertising -10%
-8.9%
expenditure during the late nineties -15%
-20%
and early noughties. This reflected -25%
the increasing maturity of the -30%
-35%
medium and its growing popularity as 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
both a strategic and a tactical Year
communications tool. Door Drop Press Television Radio Total Advertising
Its ability to work with other media Door Drop Growth compared with other Media - The Internet: 2005 - 2010
and almost uniquely offer both 70%
precision and penetration were also 60%
50%
important contributors to growth
% Increase Year on Year
40%
against the background of increasing
30%
media fragmentation. 20%
10% 6.0%
3.1%
With spend on digital media growing 0%
-1.5% -1.5%
-5.1%
-8.9%
at a significant pace, Door Drops, in -10%
common with most other traditional -20%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
media, performed less well than total Year
advertising expenditure from 2006 to Door Drop Internet Total Advertising
2008.
Improved use of client data and targeting techniques to enhance relevance also contributed to a below
average growth rate over that period.
DMA Door Drop Council – Annual Door Drop Facts & Figures 2010 Page 2 of 5

3. With the recession taking a heavy toll on traditional advertising channels, Door Drops performed better
than total UK advertising in 2009.
For 2010, Door Drops have returned to growth. However, following a more shallow ‘trough’ in 2009, the
rate of year on year growth in 2010 is about half that for total UK advertising.
Door Drop Communications Per Size and Growth of the Door Drop Market
Letterbox Per Week
10.0
9.0
8.0
Over the last five years, the number of GB
7.0
households has grown by an estimated 3.8% 6.0
Items.
whilst Door Drop volumes have decreased by 5.0
9.1
33.4%. 4.0 8.3
7.7
6.8
3.0 5.8 5.8
The average number of Door Drop 2.0
1.0
communications delivered to the average GB
0.0
household on an average week has, 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
therefore, fallen from 9.1 items in 2005 to 5.8 Year
items in 2010 ‐ a reduction of 35.9%. Average Volume (Items) Per GB Household Per Week
Door Drop Promotional Material Facts & Figures: 2005 to 2010
As part of the DMA’s overall policy towards environmental affairs, which has included the introduction
of the Your Choice Preference Scheme for unaddressed mail, Environmental Best Practice Guidelines
and BSi’s PAS2020:2009, the Door Drop Council has undertaken to monitor the total amount of
promotional material delivered annually via Door Drop campaigns.
The scope of the industry survey was expanded in 2009 to include the size and weight of Door Drop
items. This identified that the size and pagination of Door Drop material had reduced and that the
overall weight of material sent out had dropped by more than was indicated by the reduction in the
volume (quantity) of Door Drop items delivered. This exercise has been repeated in 2010 and the results
compared with figures from 2005.
For 2005/06, Postcomm estimated that 13 billion items of unaddressed direct mail were sent out and
that a combination of unaddressed Door Drops and Inserts (advertising material in magazines and
newspapers) totalled 368,500 tonnes of promotional material.
The Door Drop Council’s survey has identified the following key figures for 2005 and 2010:
Average Item Weight Door Drop Industry Weight Estimates
- Average Item Weight - gms
20.0
The average weight of a Door Drop 18.0
communication item in 2005 was 18.7 gms 16.0
14.0
(equivalent to an A4‐12pp item on 50 GSM
12.0
paper or an A4‐8pp item on 75 GSM paper). Average Item Weight -
Gms
10.0 Average Item Weight -
gms
8.0 18.7 gms
6.0 16.0
For 2010, the average weight of a Door Drop
4.0
item was 14% less at 16.0gms (equivalent to 2.0
an A4‐10pp item on 50 GSM or an A4‐7pp 0.0
2005 2010
item on 75 GSM).
Year
Average Item Weight - gms
DMA Door Drop Council – Annual Door Drop Facts & Figures 2010 Page 3 of 5

4.
Door Drop Industry Weight Estimates
- Volume (Items) - millions
Volumes 14,000
12,000
Between 2005 and 2010 Door Drop
Volume (Items) - millions
10,000
volumes have fallen by 33% from 11.870
8,000
billion items to 7.905 billion items. Volume (Items) -
6,000 Millions
11,870 Volume (Items) -
4,000 Millions
7,905
2,000
Total Door Drop Material
0
2005 2010
Year
As a result of a reduction in Door Drop
Volume (Items) - Millions
volumes together with a reduction in the
size / weight of Door Drop items the total Door Drop Industry Weight Estimates
amount of Door Drop communications - Total Weight - Metric Tonnes
material being sent out has fallen by 43% 250,000
from 221,565 tonnes to 126,725 tonnes.
200,000
Metric Tonnes
150,000
Total Weight - Metric
Tonnes
100,000
221,565
Recycling of Direct Marketing Total Weight - Metric
50,000
Tonnes
126,725
A report produced for Defra by Royal Mail 0
and the DMA was published in April 2010 2005 2010
entitled ‘Direct Marketing Material Waste Year
Prevention – Report on industry Total Weight - Metric Tonnes
performance – Full Year 2009’.
Door Drop Industry Weight Estimates
- % Movement 2005 to 2010
This is a detailed report and includes the
10%
results of a comprehensive survey 5%
regarding the level of recycling of Direct 0%
Average Item Weight -
-5%
Marketing Material. gms
-10% -13.9% Volume (Items) -
% Movement
-15%
Millions Total Weight - Metric
-20% -33.4% Tonnes
The research identified that recycling -25% -42.8%
rates for Direct Marketing Material had -30%
-35%
grown from just 29% in 2005 to 76% in -40%
2009. -45%
-50%
2010 % Var 2005
The results significantly exceeded the
Average Item Weight - gms Volume (Items) - Millions Total Weight - Metric Tonnes
industry recycle rate targets agreed with
Defra, which were 55% by the end of Recycling of Unaddressed Door Drop Mail
2009 and 70% by the end of 2013.
Due to the relatively basic materials used
in production; the non‐personalised
nature of the communications and the
Non-
fact that items are delivered individually Recycled
Recycled
76%
to consumer’s homes, Door Drop 24%
Communications are recycle‐friendly and
tend to be recycled at an above‐average
rate.
Recycled Non- Recycled
DMA Door Drop Council – Annual Door Drop Facts & Figures 2010 Page 4 of 5

5.
Scope of the Annual Industry Survey:
For data published from 2005, the survey was redefined seeking to measure and establish the size of the UK market in terms of
volume and spend from advertisers who directly, or through an agency, fund the distribution of their pre‐printed communications
material (i.e. advertiser spend on Door Drops).
This includes revenue and volumes for pre‐printed communications where the Advertiser has directly or indirectly (e.g. via an Agency)
commissioned and funded the door to door delivery of their prepared (i.e. pre‐printed or produced) communications material which
has then been distributed on a commercial basis. This includes leaflets, catalogues, newsletters, product samples etc for commercial
organisations, local authorities, charities, central government, locally‐sourced directories etc.
The survey specifically excludes volumes and distribution expenditure for:
 Local Free Weekly Newspapers.
 Items inserted mechanically into paid or free publications.
 National Directories, where these are effectively publications with advertising space sold by the media owner (e.g. Yellow
Pages, BT Phonebooks, Thomson Directories).
The above three ‘excluded’ categories measure their own advertising revenue separately and have control over their own recycling
and waste control arrangements, liaising directly with DEFRA.
Sources:
Door Drop Volumes and Expenditure: DMA Door Drop Council Annual Survey 2010
Door Drop Promotional Material Weights: DMA Door Drop Council Item Weight Survey 2010
Recycling Levels: Royal Mail and the DMA Direct Marketing Material Waste Prevention Report 2009.
Other Advertising Expenditure: Advertising Association
GB Household Figures: Estimates based on data from the Office for National Statistics
© Copyright DMA Door Drop Council, April 2011
DMA Door Drop Council – Annual Door Drop Facts & Figures 2010 Page 5 of 5