Wonderwall? Try Wonder-mail: how direct mail connects to the big media themes of the year

From Oasis making a comeback to the Lionesses lifting their second UEFA Women’s Euro trophy and even glimpses of the Northern Lights, 2025 had plenty of headline grabbing highlights. 

But if you had to pick one word to sum up the year for marketers? Uncertainty. 

Faltering consumer confidence, tariffs and cost-of-living pressures put a squeeze on marketing budgets. Marketers were searching for clarity on how to make effective media investments amid fragmenting audiences and an erosion of trust.

Marketreach was in the thick of debates about media planning and commercial impact over the past 12 months. From our Round Table with UKAEG at Cannes Lions, to the Festival of Marketing panel titled From Scroll to Keep and our Mail Unleashed videos featuring industry experts, we explored how mail fits into a digital first world. We also took a deep dive into the trust conundrum with our The Trust Factor report.

The rise of the tangible

One big trend stood out in 2025: people craved real-world experiences. Brands, both B2C and B2B, put more focus on physical interactions, activations and immersive experiences (like those supersonic Oasis gigs). Accenture’s Life Trends Survey¹ found 42% of people said their most enjoyable experience of the previous week was physical, which plays into mail’s strength as a tangible, personalised experience and something people enjoy receiving. B2B conferences and events are also thriving: 68% of B2B marketers² say events are their most effective lead source.

The ability to speak directly to potential customers unmediated by platforms is reflected in budgets. The IPA quarterly Bellwether report across last year showed that when marketers are confident, they lean on Direct Marketing and Events to deliver real results. Direct Marketing, which includes direct mail, notched up 11 consecutive quarters of growth up to October’s Q3 Bellwether before settling at the same spend in Q4.

Five trends to bring into focus in 2026

Here’s what we see shaping the year ahead, and why mail matters more than ever: 

• Trust: it’s a much-discussed attribute in recent months, as seen in the IPA-Financial Times Bridging The Trust Gap report and our own The Trust Factor report, and it will remain at the fore this year. Understanding the value of brand trust and how to build it is foundational to enjoying a commercial competitive advantage – it’s as important as quality and price to the purchase consideration³ (Edelman). Our report identified the eight interconnected pillars of trust and how the different channels relate to these pillars, and independent research showed direct mail ranked as the most trusted channel. To help marketers, we’ve developed a data-driven strategic tool, The Trust Explorer, which recommends the best channels for different sectors to strengthen the trust pillars that relate to a chosen marketing objective.
• Engagement: relevant metrics that help understand the path to purchase will take more priority next year over vanity metrics that play little role in assessing the customer journey. Mail’s role in ‘the alchemy economy’ was highlighted at our Cannes Lions Round Table⁴; its ability to cut through the noise and get attention is indisputable with 81% of all direct mail received being opened (JICMAIL).
• Commercial outcomes: every media channel has its own attributes and strengths, but combined, they should contribute to driving a commercial outcome. WARC data shows that campaigns with mail in the mix are 52% more likely to report ROI, while the amount of mail prompting purchases (half of which are transacted online) in 2025 increased 7% year on year (JICMAIL).

• Creativity: this is the heart of great marketing and is swinging back into view as the science of AI levels the playing field. With technology optimising segmentation and targeting optimisation, the inventiveness and playfulness of marketing content will be the differentiator for comms impact. Mail provides a marvellous canvas within a media mix for brands to highlight their personality and compelling creative ideas.
• Curiosity: it’s easy to default to the standard tick box when campaign planning, but adding something new to the mix can freshen up the overall impact of activity. Marketers are showing more receptivity to ideas that help achieve genuine engagement and drive long-term loyalty rather than a spike in interest. System1’s Andrew Tindall summed up the power of mail succinctly in his Mail Unleashed interview⁵, “Mail is a super touchpoint… and including mail in your campaign dramatically lifts the trust building power of that campaign.”

2026 will have its share of surprises, but big moments like the FIFA World Cup offer huge opportunities. The challenge is to build a campaign that firmly puts your KPI goal in the back of the net. 

Marketers and agencies that keep an open mind, dig into the big themes we’ve identified and are willing to experiment with their media investments should be able to create strong and engaging campaigns that convert customers. Disruption won’t come from novelty or chasing safe metrics, but from using a full mix of channels in the way they work best.