1. Best December for Response to Marketing Since Records Began!
The British Marketing Survey started collecting data on the number of people who responded to marketing
back in 2008. Since then things have tended to be fairly bleak - as luck would have it we started just before the
global meltdown! The charts below show the way in which the economic situation has affected people’s
relationships with marketing - Their recognition of having received messages; Their recent response; Their
willingness to respond; and Their acceptance of marketing - all via 17 different channels.
The clear picture is that things bottomed out in about September 2009, and have been generally showing signs
of improvement ever since.
So, what of 2011? These charts only show the overall picture. In these days of increasingly complex multi
channel communication it is only by looking at the individual channels and channel combinations, for
particular target segments, that the answers can be found. Some channels are in the ascendancy, and some
on the decline. But it’s not ‘across the board’, different groups are changing at different rates.
The British Marketing Survey will continue to monitor this every month to provide marketers with robust and
up to date information on which to base even more informed decisions.
2011 will be nothing if not interesting!
Source - BMS Source - BMS
Mar 08 - Dec 10. CHANNELS RECEIVED Mar 08 - Dec 10. CHANNELS RESPONDED TO
34,009 respondents 2008 / 2010 34,009 respondents 2008 / 2010
100 30
95 25
% POPULATION
% POPULATION
90 20
85 15
80 10
SEP
SEP
SEP
SEP
SEP
SEP
JUL
JUL
JUL
JUL
JUL
JUL
NOV
NOV
NOV
NOV
NOV
NOV
JAN
MAR
JAN
MAR
JAN
MAR
JAN
MAR
MAY
MAY
MAY
MAY
MAY
MAY
Source - BMS Source - BMS
Mar 08 - Dec 10. CHANNELS FUTURE RESPONSE Mar 08 - Dec 10. CHANNELS ACCEPTABLE
34,009 respondents 2008 / 2010 34,009 respondents 2008 / 2010
50 80
45 75
% POPULATION
% POPULATION
40 70
35 65
30 60
SEP
SEP
SEP
JUL
JUL
JUL
SEP
SEP
SEP
JUL
JUL
JUL
NOV
NOV
NOV
NOV
NOV
NOV
JAN
MAR
JAN
MAR
JAN
MAR
JAN
MAR
MAY
MAY
MAY
MAY
MAY
MAY
The four charts above show the % of the population who have Received or Responded to one or more of the
channels monitored recently and the % of the population who find it Acceptable to receive marketing or would
Respond via one or more of the channels.
The charts show the 3 month rolling averages in each case.
© The British Marketing Survey January 2011

2. Channel League Tables
The charts below show the % of the population who Received a channel, Responded to a channel recently, find
it Acceptable to receive marketing via a channel and would Respond to a channel. They are all based on the last
three months combined totals.
Source BMS Source BMS
Oct 10 - Dec 10 RECEIVED Oct 10 - Dec 10 RESPONDED
2,967 Respondents 2,967 Respondents
LEAFLETS - DOOR LEAFLETS - DOOR
TV TV
LEAFLETS - PAPERS / MAGS NEWSPAPER / MAGAZINE ADVERTS
MAIL - HOUSEHOLDER EMAIL - CO'S DEALT WITH
NEWSPAPER / MAGAZINE ADVERTS INTERNET
MAIL BY NAME - CO'S DEALT WITH MAIL BY NAME - CO'S DEALT WITH
POSTERS LEAFLETS - PAPERS / MAGS
MAIL BY NAME - CO'S NOT DEALT WITH CUSTOMER 'MAGAZINES'
INTERNET EMAIL - CO'S NOT DEALT WITH
TELEPHONE MAIL - HOUSEHOLDER
RADIO MAIL BY NAME - CO'S NOT DEALT WITH
EMAIL - CO'S DEALT WITH TELEPHONE
LEAFLETS/SAMPLES - STREET POSTERS
CUSTOMER 'MAGAZINES' LEAFLETS/SAMPLES - SHOPS
EMAIL - CO'S NOT DEALT WITH SMS
SMS LEAFLETS/SAMPLES - STREET
LEAFLETS/SAMPLES - SHOPS CINEMA
CINEMA RADIO
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% 7.0% 8.0%
Source BMS Source BMS
Oct 10 - Dec 10 FUTURE RESPONSE Oct 10 - Dec 10 ACCEPTABLE
2,967 Respondents 2,967 Respondents
TV TV
NEWSPAPER / MAGAZINE ADVERTS NEWSPAPER / MAGAZINE ADVERTS
MAIL BY NAME - CO'S DEALT WITH POSTERS
LEAFLETS - DOOR RADIO
EMAIL - CO'S DEALT WITH LEAFLETS - DOOR
INTERNET MAIL BY NAME - CO'S DEALT WITH
LEAFLETS - PAPERS / MAGS LEAFLETS - PAPERS / MAGS
POSTERS INTERNET
CUSTOMER 'MAGAZINES' CUSTOMER 'MAGAZINES'
RADIO EMAIL - CO'S DEALT WITH
LEAFLETS/SAMPLES - SHOPS CINEMA
CINEMA LEAFLETS/SAMPLES - SHOPS
LEAFLETS/SAMPLES - STREET LEAFLETS/SAMPLES - STREET
MAIL BY NAME - CO'S NOT DEALT WITH MAIL - HOUSEHOLDER
MAIL - HOUSEHOLDER MAIL BY NAME - CO'S NOT DEALT WITH
EMAIL - CO'S NOT DEALT WITH EMAIL - CO'S NOT DEALT WITH
SMS SMS
TELEPHONE TELEPHONE
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
The British Marketing Survey conducts 1,000 face-to-face interviews per month with a nationally representative sample
of the adult population, it is conducted as part of The British Population Survey.
For full details of the survey go to www.thebps.co.uk
The survey can be accessed in a fully analysable format, complete with comprehensive demographics and ACORN,
MOSAIC, CENSATION and OAC classifications.
Free access to the analysis software complete with the complete database for the whole of 2008 is available from
www.thebps.co.uk Updates to the latest data (including all back data are available for £250)
© The British Marketing Survey January 2011 www.thebps.co.uk/news