Whistl Joins JICMail

The Mail Industry Launches JICMail

A new media metric for mail
The mail industry and key trade bodies have collaborated to create the first-ever currency for mail, providing a comprehensive understanding of the channel for media planning. According to ad spend, advertising mail is the third-largest media channel in the UK, worth an estimated £1.7 billion annually. Still, it has remained the only one without a currency to support media planning. Until today, the Joint Industry Committee (JIC) for Mail has launched the first-ever currency for mail, based on comprehensive readership research for the channel, JICMAIL. JICMail provides robust audience data for mail, measuring the readership, reach and frequency of exposure to each item that comes through the letterbox. In partnership with Kantar TNS, this data is captured using a diary that follows each piece of mail for 4 weeks in a nationally representative sample of 1,000 households per quarter across the UK.

Key insights from the first 6 months of research conducted before launch included:

• On average, 51% of all mail is read immediately, whether addressed or door drop, with a further 19% followed up on later
• In addition, each piece that enters the home is revisited 3.8 times on average across either format
• 21% of all addressed mail and door drop items go on to create commercial actions, for example, prompting a purchase, visiting a website or going to a physical store

The JICMail Board comprises representatives from key industry bodies and businesses, including the DMA, IPA, ISBA, Royal Mail, and Whistl, the owning company of Posthub. Similar to currencies and equivalent organisations representing other channels, the board fully represents the advertisers who use mail and the industry that supplies the channels.

The JICMail Currency

The new currency will enable both media buyers and sellers to understand the power of mail, with data of the same standards as similar metrics for television, radio, outdoor and press. Helping to create a level playing field for all media channels and delivering a clear understanding of their respective value. Following the initial launch of the first six months' worth of data, a quarterly report will be issued highlighting the latest insight from the panel data, administered through Kantar TNS, which can be found at www.JICMail.org.uk

Findings for Addressed Mail:

• Over half of all addressed mail (57%) items are opened immediately by consumers, with a further 21% opting to open in the days after they receive it
• Almost half (49%) of all addressed mail is read, looked at, or glanced at immediately, with a further 23% viewed later
• The average reach for a piece of addressed mail is 1.2, meaning that for every 100 people receiving a mail pack, it is shared with another 20
• The average piece of mail is also revisited over four times (4.2), with government and council communications topping (4.8), followed closely by utilities (4.7), medical information (4.6), supermarkets/grocery (4.5) and financial services (4.4) leading the way

While the report found the following about door drops:

• 61% of all door drops opened are read, looked at, or glanced at after their receipt
• On average, for every 100 items received, 10 are passed on and shared
• The average door drop is shared around 3 times (3.0) within the household, with the leading content types being government and council communications (3.7), supermarkets (3.1), restaurants or takeaways (3.1) and local tradespeople (3.0)