Daily Mail to up DM as ads crash

Oh the irony; the Daily Mail & General Trust – owner of the Daily Mail – is likely to ramp up its use of direct marketing after revealing that its ad revenues are weaker than “Little Weed” from the Flowerpot Men.
The company, whose publications love nothing more than a bit of direct marketing bashing, has warned that profits will be “towards the lower end of expectations” due to a weaker UK advertising market.
Over the past few months, the Daily Mail has been on a crusade against direct marketing firms, naming and shaming businesses it claims are exploiting loopholes in the law.
However, its own marketing department is growing faster than Japanese knotweed. Last month, Daily Mail combined forces with WPP, and SnapChat to launch content agency Truffle Pig, while it has also launched DaliyMail TV. Meanwhile it runs its own loyalty scheme and sells its data to anyone who wants to buy it.
Total advertising revenues in the media division fell by 6%, though the company claimed this was partly because it sold digital recruitment business Evenbase last year.
Analyst Roddy Davidson at Westhouse Securities told This is Money: “From a short-term perspective this is a disappointing update.”