Consumer insights - direct mail and the wine sector

Author: MMC
Date: 01 June 2011

There has been massive growth in the number of wine drinkers over the past 25 years, although research shows this growth has now stabilised.

According to Wine Intelligence research, the frequency of wine consumption among regular wine drinkers has started to settle out and the amount they drink is reaching a 'natural ceiling'.

Wine Intelligence also found a drop in consumer confidence and a rise in the number of people who believe wine is an expensive drink, from 22% in March 2008 to 35% in April 2011.

So what are wine sellers doing to market their products?

This 2011 report looks at the demographics of wine drinkers, how wine sellers are currently marketing their products and how wine drinkers respond to direct mail.

Key insights include:

• Wine sellers favour press, TV and direct mail. Direct mail volumes grew by 4.4% in 2010, compared to 2009.

• September was by far the busiest month for sending direct mail promoting wine in 2010. Wine sellers posted more than 800,000 items that month.

• The next busiest months - with around half a million items sent - were February, July, October and November.

• Slightly more than half of all direct mail (53%) was sent to existing clients, while 47% was sent to prospects.

•ABC1s received 60% of mailings, while C2s received 26%.