Banks find direct mailers most effective

ADMANGO   DIRECT MAIL   BANKING

Hong Kong - In a trend report to find out which industry uses the most direct mailers, Banking and Investment services came up tops with Hang Seng Bank, HSBC and DBS the top three advertisers in Hong Kong to use this marketing tool for 2009.

AdmanGo data shows the banking & investment industry was the heaviest user of DMs at close to 2,400 pieces compared to the overall number of DMs sent throughout 2009 at 11,200.

Jennifer Ma, director of sales & marketing for admanGo, said the key reason financial companies find DM a more effective tool is it requires a lot of text explanation such as sophisticated terms and conditions.

The education & training industry came in second, followed by the cosmetics & skincare industry sector.

The top advertisers that use direct mail include Hang Seng Bank, HSBC and DBS Bank with City Telecom coming in fourth position.

City Telecom was the only teleco company that made it to the list, which sent out close to 200 different direct mailers last year.

From those mailers, close to 40% were delivered between November and December 2009 in line with its aggressive campaign for "Awesome speed. For everyone".

Stephen Hay, regional director for ICLP, Asia Pacific, said the marketing and advertising world is so noisy these days, a well executed, well targeted DM piece is going to cut through and get consumers' attention.

He said DM has historically been a very effective sales tool but with all the background noise today, it is still effective at selling but also serves as an important tool for brand building, customer education and engagement.

"Good targeting, quality execution and relevance of message is critical, it is what differentiates an engaging and valued customer experience from junk mail," he added. 

He said everyone is concerned about the environment, but when you compare a well executed and precisely targeted DM pack with say newsprint, the environmental credentials of DM are actually rather good.

"One of the great things about DM is the ability to customise, making the message more personal and the offer or proposition directly relevant for the customer. Again its all down to targeting, right message, to right customer at the right time".

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