The consumer’s relationship with the mailbox has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. With most aspects of daily living going digital, the volume of meaningful mail has decreased and the white mail that does arrive is often viewed with skepticism and opened in proximity to the family shredder.
Does that mean direct mail is dead? Hardly. In fact, the opposite is true as we see direct to consumer retailers, travel companies and local merchants taking advantage of the slimmer mailbox to deliver their brand message with authority and power.
Earlier this month, Wise Marketer hosted a webinar with Home Chef, the Kroger owned meal kit company to talk about their successful use of direct mail as a key part of their acquisition and growth campaigns. Home Chef has a stated goal to “bring people together around the table,” which is an important and distinct advantage of direct mail.
The company that has been leading innovation in direct mail as an effective consumer connection tool is Valpak. St. Petersburg, FL based Valpak is the nation's premier direct mailer and for more than 50 years has introduced millions of consumers to exciting offers and opportunities.
Valpak pioneered the idea of connecting consumers with local retailers with the goal of “shop local,” long before it became the theme of nationwide marketing campaigns. The result? Valpak may be the highlight of the month for many consumers as they visit their mailbox. Local execution has been made possible through a network of about 140 local offices which provide customer service and market knowledge to business owners in neighborhoods across 42 U.S. states.
Today, Valpak announced the launch of Premier Plus, a powerful new national brand advertising solution that converts the back of Valpak’s iconic Blue Envelope into an eye-catching billboard. The solution will leverage Valpak’s reach of 100 million impressions across high-value U.S. households with 100 percent viewability.
The full text of the press release is included below. We had the opportunity to connect with Jay Loeffler, Valpak’s Chief Revenue Officer and Mandy Febus, Vice President, Customer Engagement & CRM Operations to get some additional information about this new product launch.
Jay shared that Valpak has experienced 15 percent growth since Covid and that its reach now extends to 41 million homes. Mailers are set for a monthly cadence, though some markets may receive 2-4 per month depending on demand and opportunity. Valpak has been using the reverse side of its outside envelope for promotional purposes for some time, but the Premier Plus product will leverage the entire OE as a billboard. With a 93 percent open rate in its current mailings, Valpak received strong support from its retail partners for this approach and bolstered interest with national research.
“We’re quantitatively driven” said Jay, “we employ research to make sure are strongly on target with specific merchant offers and use a combination of tracking phone calls, unique coupon codes and barcodes to measure conversion rates.”
Valpak is already working with a diversity of brands including DTC retailer Harrys and Walmart Plus and already has scheduled much of the 2023 calendar for promotion using Premier Plus.
Mandy Febus shared “We are announcing the product now and have our first partner scheduled for a national launch in December 2022. You’ll see this vision come to life during 2023 as our national retail partners clearly see the value of leveraging the entire back of envelope. There will be 100 percent readability for every offer.”
Editor’s Note:
Jay Loeffler, Valpak’s Chief Revenue Officer is responsible for the National, Franchise and local sales strategies for Valpak, including the retail grocery, CPG, and consumer healthcare business segments for SKUlocal.
Mandy Febus, Vice President, Customer Engagement & CRM Operations is responsible for Marketing and Communications strategies at Valpak. Mandy brings 15 years of experience working in marketing and marketing technology platforms, with B2B experience from the healthcare and life sciences industries where she spearheaded a variety of global marketing efforts.
For more information, read the full press release below.
ValPak Press Release
Valpak Launches Premier Plus, Powerful Omnichannel Advertising Solution that Transforms Iconic Blue Envelope into Billboard for National Brands
Solution Combines Data-driven Insights Across 41 million High-Value Households with Impactful Advertising and Omnichannel Marketing Integration to Deliver Exceptional Results for Leading Brands Like Tennis Channel, HGTV, Legoland, Shutterfly and Panera
St. Petersburg, Fla. (October 25, 2022)—Valpak, the leader in American household data, direct marketing and omnichannel media solutions, today announced Premier Plus, a powerful new national brand advertising solution that converts the back of Valpak’s iconic Blue Envelope into an eye-catching billboard that receives 100 million impressions across high-value U.S. households with 100% viewability. Advertisers can utilize Premier Plus to deliver the right message to the right households while integrating a range of digital and omnichannel marketing extensions.
Valpak’s outside-the-envelope ads are proven to drive exceptional recognition and measurable results for national brands, such as Tennis Channel, HGTV, Legoland, Shutterfly and Panera. With the introduction of Premier Plus, Valpak has now dramatically expanded the size and graphic appeal of these ads to take over the entire back of its Blue Envelope, creating opportunities for striking visual advertising. The Valpak Blue Envelope delivers a rich and valued array of targeted national and local advertising content and offers to homes across America. It is widely recognized and anticipated by consumers nationwide, with tests showing it has an open rate of 92% of all targeted households.
“This partnership continues to yield great benefits, and we hope all our friends at Valpak are as enthused as we continue to be,” said Cory Chapman, VP of Marketing for HGTV. “This partnership is a perfect opportunity in the campaign mix.” HGTV’s show “Farmhouse Fixer” saw a 29% increase in viewers and a 20% rise in female viewers in just six weeks following its advertisement on the Valpak envelope.
"Valpak has been an instrumental partner in supporting our television and streaming programming objectives,” said Neil Roberts, Executive Director of Marketing at Tennis Channel, a subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. “Leveraging various Valpak products, we’ve run both very targeted programs all the way up to presenting our coverage of the French Open on the cover of all 41 million Valpak envelopes.”
In addition to its breakthrough envelope billboard advertising, Premier Plus reaches millions of households through a variety of digital channels, including the U.S. Postal Service’s Informed Delivery Service. Informed Delivery is a free USPS service used by some 50 million households. Subscribers receive preview images of their mail directly to their mobile devices via email and a user-friendly dashboard. Through its partnership with the Postal Service, Valpak can create fully enhanced graphics of its envelope displaying Premier Plus advertising, giving consumers another channel for brand engagement.
“We hope national brands and their advertising agencies take a close look at Premier Plus as they assess the best media buys to reach and engage consumers,” said Jay Loeffler, Chief Revenue Officer of Valpak. “Valpak reaches over 41 million homeowners and families with an average income of $130,000, offering advertisers a powerful alternative to television or out-of-the-home advertising. Advertisers achieve some 100 million media impressions and 100% viewability among targeted households.”
“Valpak’s unmatched household data insights and targeting capabilities at scale across demographics, location, income, home value, purchasing history and much more create opportunities for segmenting a brand message to increase its impact. Valpak’s wide range of digital media and measurement tools and solutions provide even more value and accountability to advertisers,” Loeffler added.
ABOUT VALPAK
Valpak is the leader in American household data, direct marketing and omnichannel media solutions for local and national businesses and brands. The nation's premier direct mailer, Valpak is trusted by 34,000 businesses to drive sales and brand awareness through easy-to-measure, results-oriented direct marketing and digital advertising solutions that work. Its deep data insights into American households allow Valpak to segment and target consumers and neighborhoods to maximize ROI for advertisers and deliver the highest levels of transparency and accountability. For decades, Valpak has helped consumers save, businesses grow, and neighborhoods thrive. Its network of nearly 140 local offices provides unparalleled customer service and market knowledge to business owners in thousands of neighborhoods across the U.S. Each month, its Blue Envelope of savings mails to 41 million demographically targeted households in 43 states. Visit valpak.com/advertise to see what Valpak Direct Marketing can do for your business, and connect with Valpak on Twitter: @Valpak and Facebook: @ValpakAdvertising.
