Consumer insights – direct mail and people aged 65+ and grandparents

People over 65 make up 16% of the population - a figure that's expected to grow to 23% by 2030.

This age group is an increasingly important audience for marketers – they are frequent holidaymakers and keen savers, with many of them owning investment products such as ISAs and unit trusts.

Using BMRB, Ebiquity, Mintel, Office of National Statistics and TGI data, this 2011 MMC report investigates the attitudes and responses to different media of this heavily-mailed customer segment, three-quarters of whom are also grandparents.

Key insights include:
• They are 32% more likely than the average UK adult to have been on more than six holidays in the past 12 months.
• Three-quarters of adults aged 65+ have grandchildren.
• Mail order is the most common type of mail sent to adults aged 65+, along with charities and general insurance post.
• 92% of grandparents and adults aged 65+ open all their mail; they particularly like post that contains a free sample or money-off coupons and vouchers.
• 6.3m grandparents and 4.5m adults aged 65+ responded to direct mail in the past 12 months.
• More than 3.9m grandparents and nearly 2.9m adults aged 65+ bought or ordered something in response to direct mail in the past 12 months.