A survey in fellow Haymarket title Marketing found that high-volume sales of cold mail data were in decline, but there was an increase in demand for "warmer transactional data and quality email lists".

Brian Jeal, head of procurement at recruitment and consultancy firm Badenoch & Clarke, said this would lead to more sophisticated direct mail (DM). He said the growing emphasis on targeted data would promote digital print.

Jeal admitted he was surprised there was still so little personalised print, especially as it cuts print costs in the current climate. "Why aren't printers pushing it more and knocking on more doors?"

EDF Energy marketing services manager Richard O'Brien said: "Someone should stand up and take the lead for pushing the return on investment of digital print."

O'Brien added that his focus was on finding and consolidating prospects: "It's all about greater sophistication and doing more with less volume."

DMA director of media channel development Robert Keitch told PrintWeek the move away from cold lists would mean less volume but more value in printed DM.

"Acquisition data used to be big but consolidation data is rising in profile," Keitch said.

"This would push print buyers toward more creative printers. You don't need to do the full whizz bang four-colour to be creative. But those that have a full range are going to be much more attractive," he added.

Also see: CDMS: print and online mix best for DM responses

Unaddressed DM considered 'more environmentally harmful'