Hot on the heels of picking up four Calies awards in the UK Calendar and Diary Awards, last week Danilo has revealed the findings of a major consumer research study into the calendar habits of the nation.
The research project instigated by Danilo, which involved over 1,000 UK households, has highlighted how mum is still very much the holder of the ‘family diary’, with 63% of all appointments marked on the calendar or family organiser being down to mum. The findings confirm that children’s activities dominate, taking up 40% of the space on the family organiser or calendar.
As to the type of paper calendars the UK public buys, it seems there are some regional differences.
As Claire Bates, Danilo’s marketing manager reveals: “the majority, (especially in areas like Wales, the North West of England and Yorks and Humberside) prefer wildlife/nature calendars such as BBC Blue Planet, closely followed by personalised calendars and then movie/entertainment calendars.”
London seems to have the biggest preference for football calendars, Scotland favours more towards music artists calendars and those in the North East of England lean more towards model and celebrity calendars.
According to the Danilo research, while 46% of those surveyed use a family-friendly planner, a standard wall calendar is used by 54% of the respondents.
However, as Claire pointed out this split should take into account that many people log their appointments in more than one place: “54% state that they use more than one planning tool to keep themselves and their family organised – with a third of these claiming they use a pocket diary in addition to their calendar.” This chimes with Danilo’s diary sales, which have soared 25% in the past three years.
Showcasing how technology can work alongside traditional paper products, another third of people who use more than one planning tool, claim they have a digital calendar linked to their email account in addition to their paper calendar.
This is reassuring in modern society, especially given that 78% of UK adults now own a smartphone (and 95% among millennials) and 71% say they never turn off their phone.
This resilience of paper calendars, planners and diaries is supported by David Pike, director of Calendar Club, the UK’s leading calendar retailers, who states that calendars are here to stay: “The overall calendar market in the UK remains around £75-80m [per annum] and customers continue to see calendars as a relevant, personal and a good value gifts, especially for Christmas.”
As Danilo’s research findings reveal, almost 80% of UK household calendars are purchased as gifts, mostly by mums followed by friends, with 40% being bought in December.
Top: Danilo won four Calies awards last week! (Left-right) Danilo’s Symon Machin, calendar designer; Daniel Prince, md; Laurence Prince, founder and chairman and Christine Statham, calendar designer.
