Disrupting the new norm: Why brands should shake up their media plans

Twenty years ago, the word ‘disruption’ in media planning meant one thing: digital.

Television was still king, offline channels dominated campaigns, and brands were urged to prove their modernity by piling into social platforms, testing new display formats and retargeting consumers across the web.

But fast forward to today, and the disruptor has become the establishment. Digital now absorbs the lion’s share of spend, social media has become table stakes and dashboards obsess over clicks and conversions. What once challenged convention has, ironically, become the convention.

And that raises a question: is media planning due for another shakeup? And if so, what constitutes a disruptive plan today? The evidence points to a much-needed change and part of the answer could be adding a physical medium like direct mail.

From digital-led to mail-led disruption

“Marketing in general suffers from a proliferation of messages, especially as we
live in a digitally always-on world,” says Sonia Danner, senior marketer at Marketreach. “Audiences are fatigued, attention is fragmented and it can be really difficult for brands to cut through.”

Despite these challenges, marketers continue to lean heavily on digital. The reason, Danner suggests, is familiarity.

Digital is seen as the reliable option: it delivers scale, short-term and instantly measurable results, and often comes with something new to try – whether AI or the latest ad format. But safe choices, she argues, don’t necessarily make the most effective media plans.

“We live in a digital-first world. So it stands to reason that brands and agencies would consider digital media the main channel to connect with customers, and may see it as the safest channel option,” Danner concedes.

“But there are different touchpoints within the buying journey that should be taken advantage of, rather than simply sticking to the status quo. Otherwise, it’s a missed opportunity.”

At a time when marketing budgets are under scrutiny and ROI is non-negotiable, missed opportunities can be costly mistakes. So brands should look beyond the obvious, Danner says – and in doing so, they may find that mail offers what they need.

“Media plans need to be much braver and more disruptive to drive attention and meaningful connections today. It’s no longer enough to focus on vanity metrics like impressions and clicks,” she explains.

“For me, a disruptive media channel is one that can capture attention in unexpected ways and challenge the flow of a campaign by adding an element of surprise and delight, delivering high engagement and impact. And whilst sometimes overlooked, adding mail to the mix can effectively optimise safe media plans of today.”

Why mail?

Mail’s standout quality is its tactility. It is the only mass-reach medium that quite literally puts a brand’s message directly into consumers’ hands – and in doing so, it triggers different neurological responses from seeing that same message on a screen. As Danner says: “It connects with audiences like no other channel.”

Research supports this. A Marketreach and Neuro-Insight study found that mail has a stronger effect on long-term memory encoding than digital alternatives, and this memory encoding directly influences decision-making. Compared to other channels, mail was 49% more memorable than email and 35% more memorable than social media advertising.

Mail also puts control into the hands of its audience, allowing them to choose when they want to engage with it. And it has staying power – according to JICMAIL, the average piece of direct mail remains in the home for seven days and is interacted with 4.4 times. And it has an impressively high engagement rate of 95% on average.

But Danner says one of the channel’s real strengths is driving audience attention.

“Active attention in the current media landscape is the holy grail and much more meaningful than clicks and impressions,” she argues. Indeed, multiple studies by renowned media researchers indicate that attention may be the best predictor of positive commercial outcomes for brands.

JICMAIL finds direct mail attracts 145 seconds of attention on average. That’s more than 10 times the 13.8 seconds secured by a 30-second TV ad (according to TVision), and almost one hundred times the 1.6 seconds of attention Lumen Research estimates for a Facebook in-feed ad.

It’s cost-effective too. Comparing the cost of acquiring one minute of consumer attention across various media, JICMAIL found direct mail was over 40% more efficient than social display ads. Door drops were nearly 65% more efficient.

A modern channel with modern tools

But if mail is so powerful, why is it often overlooked? As System1’s senior vice president Andrew Tindall wrote in a recent article: “It’s as if it doesn’t exist in modern marketing conversations. But for those who have cracked it, direct mail is a secret weapon for growth.”

Perception is a large part of the problem. For many marketers, lack of education means mail isn’t seen as modern, targeted or measurable enough, but that’s not the reality says Danner.

“We’re working in a modern media world. Every channel is modern,” she argues. “There’s a misconception that mail hasn’t evolved, but it has significantly. It’s a powerful targeted medium. It’s not broadcast and blast as perceived many years ago.”

In fact, mail offers increasingly sophisticated targeting capabilities. Geo-targeting, for example, allows brands to focus spend on the most relevant audiences within specific areas, reducing waste. Digital insights can also be overlaid onto postcodes, narrowing the focus even further.

For those who have cracked it, direct mail is a secret weapon for growth.

Andrew Tindall, System1

Alternatively, there’s the option of partially addressed mail. It enables household-level targeting without the need for personal data, and when combined with lifestyle overlays, it can pinpoint groups such as new homeowners or pet lover within a given postcode.

Brands are already seeing strong results. Land Rover, for example, used geo-targeted mail to promote the Range Rover Sport to customers coming to the end of their finance contracts – including those without email consent. By overlaying postcode data with insights on households likely to purchase an electrified vehicle, the campaign delivered an ROI of 140:1, generating 700 incremental sales.

AI is adding further capability. “Using genAI to test creatives in thousands of different ways has never been possible until now,” says Danner. “Some really minor changes can have a massive impact and the capacity to do this at scale will really accelerate campaign performance.”

And when it comes to measurement, Danner is clear: “It’s really not that hard at all. There are lots of ways mail can be measured.”

Match-back analysis can compare mailed groups with non-mailed groups to track sales, sign-ups or donations. A/B testing – whether on creative or regional campaigns – shows uplift in response. QR codes, vanity URLs, call tracking and voucher codes all provide direct response paths.

Industry research also points to mail’s commercial punch. WARC analysis shows that a third of campaigns using direct mail within a mix of channels see a revenue rise, compared with 23% for the average UK campaign. ROI is increased in 35% of campaigns, again above the UK average of 23%.

A campaign by furniture retailer Ikea demonstrates mail’s measurable impact. To boost store footfall after the pandemic, the retailer sent loyalty members a dot-to-dot mailer that revealed a discount voucher once completed. Within three weeks, 14,000 vouchers were redeemed, delivering an ROI of 4.5:1.

“Mail is not just a channel that drives attention,” Danner argues. “It drives meaningful commercial results. And that’s why I would say it’s such a significant disruptor in the marketing mix.”

System1’s Tindall came to a similar conclusion in his article, stating: “The mix of physical presence, emotional engagement, high attention, trust and creative potential makes direct mail a massively underutilised tool in modern marketing.”

Integration, not isolation

However, Danner is also clear that mail should never be seen in isolation.

“For me, it’s never about either/or when it comes to media selection,” she explains. “It’s more about diversity and selecting channels that have their own unique strengths, but complement each other to have the best chance of meeting a brand’s objectives.”

Mail’s effectiveness is compelling on its own, but its real value is revealed when integrated with other channels, she adds. Especially with digital.

From using AR and QR codes to drive audiences online, to incorporating mail into automated customer journeys within platforms such as Salesforce, it now fits seamlessly alongside digital. Creative optimisation and targeting can be enhanced by AI, while digital retargeting reinforces the messages that mail seeds in the home.

The result is not competition, but compatibility. “When mail and digital work together, magic can happen. Brands should experience how brilliant this integration can be,” says Danner.

The signs suggest momentum is building. The latest AA/WARC report shows direct mail spend increased by 3.6% in Q1 2025 – evidence that marketers are beginning to rebalance their mixes.

For brands planning into 2026, the message is clear: disruption will come neither from novelty nor chasing safe metrics, but from using a full mix of channels in the ways they work best. That includes mail.

“In a modern marketing world, direct mail has earned its place working alongside other channels in media plans,” Danner concludes. “It helps brands cut through, drive measurable results and build lasting connections. That’s the kind of disruption the industry could do with right now.”

To learn more about how mail can help brands meet their objectives, go to marketreach.co.uk.