Valpak to Give Away New Orleans Franchise at NAASF

Many people have aspirations of business ownership but only a few ever take the next step. The reasons why run the gamut, ranging from concept selection to cowardice, but it’s the often astronomical business startup costs that shift those entrepreneurial endeavors from center stage to second string.

For over two decades, Valpak has allowed consumers to make the most of their money with their blue envelopes filled with coupons. At this summer’s North American Association of Subway Franchisees (NAASF) Convention and Expo in New Orleans, Valpak will provide a tremendous opportunity for one individual who meets Valpak’s qualifications to help redevelop a market that has seen its share of misfortunes lately. Valpak will award their New Orleans franchise to one lucky entrepreneur for an unheard of price: free

“Normally, this franchise would have a one-time initial territory fee of well over $50,000, but we plan to waive this cost to give one individual an opportunity for a new beginning,” said Mark Liston, Valpak’s Director of New Franchise Development. “We are looking for an individual who meets our qualifications, is comfortable with direct sales, business-to-business and is looking to build a sales organization and be hands on with a full-time business. All the individual would have to pay is a one-time $15,000 franchise and training fee and the New Orleans franchise is theirs.”

Though the franchise is in New Orleans, interest from out-of-state residents is encouraged. An ideal candidate would be someone who once lived in the area that is looking to relocate back and contribute to the community they once called home.

Valpak is one of the nation’s leading direct mail companies and one that consumers are very familiar with. Each month, more than 40 million Valpak® envelopes are mailed to households in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Through its combined products, including online savings portal Valpak.com, Cox Target Media Inc. – which owns and operates Valpak – delivers a significant monthly advertising audience.

The Valpak® envelope is one of the most recognized direct mail brands in the United States and responsive consumer audiences have come to know and trust its nationally branded products. It has more than 100 different categories of coupons, but 80 percent of the envelope’s volume comes from 66 high-demand business categories. Studies have found the categories that are most appealing to consumers include groceries and grocery stores, sit-down and fast-food restaurants, mass retail and department stores, pizza, home improvement, video rental, entertainment and auto repair.

The average Valpak® envelope contains 35 national, regional and local coupon offers and, in one instance, the total number of coupon offers in the Valpak® reached 120. Envelopes are retained in the household for days, weeks and even months as consumers review their coupons frequently. More than half of households who receive the Valpak® keep their Valpak® coupons at least one month or until expiration. [*]

The NAASF will hold its Convention and Franchisee Business Expo in New Orleans at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside from July 23^rd through 26^th. The convention will be open to the general public on July 24^th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m . and Valpak invites aspiring entrepreneurs to visit the company’s booth at the show to receive more information about the giveaway. For those who can not attend and are looking to obtain additional information about Valpak’s New Orleans giveaway, send an email to franchiseinformation@valpak.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with “Gimme New Orleans!” in the subject line of the email and you will be sent instructions for entering the contest.

Written by Samantha Hart

Valpak Teams Up With Disney/Pixar to Promote Ratatouille

The biggest names in family entertainment, Walt Disney Pictures and PIXAR join with Valpak, the biggest name in direct mail, to promote this summer’s family movie event, Ratatouille.

For the fourth time, Walt Disney Pictures has selected Valpak to promote their film to help drive excitement and box office sales. The top seven PIXAR films, including hits like Cars, Toy Story II, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Monsters Inc., have generated revenues in excess of $1.7 billion.  These national promotions with Disney/PIXAR are a powerful testimonial of the success, the reach, and the results that Valpak delivers to advertisers.

Following are three reasons why Disney/PIXAR’s Ratatouille promotion will benefit Valpak of Austin advertisers:

1. FREE movie ticket vouchers featured inside the envelope are a powerful incentive for consumers to open the envelope and look through all the offers. Your offers will share the spotlight in the blue envelope

2. Disney/PIXAR is a recognized name that consumers trust and value. Your business will be in good company when you place your offer in Valpak.

3. This promotion is EXCLUSIVE to Valpak and Valpak.com – and there’s no extra cost to Valpak clients to be a part of the excitement. No other direct mail company does more for advertisers than Valpak. Valpak of Austin drives the results advertisers expect with their promotional campaigns.

Valpak and Budget Blinds Announce Partnership

Every month, the familiar blue Valpak envelope brings unique on-envelope promotions and sweepstakes to consumers that typically feature cash and prize giveaways.

During the month of May, Budget Blinds, a leader in custom window treatments, will appear on the Valpak envelope and give consumers the chance to win $100,000 in prizes.  44 million Valpak envelopes featuring Budget Blinds and Kathy Ireland Home by Alta will be mailed to households throughout the United States and Canada.

One grand prize winner will decorate their home with $25,000 in Budget Blinds products, and an additional 150 winners will receive Budget Blinds products in the form of $500 gift cards, totaling another $75,000. Entry forms can be found in specially marked Valpak envelopes and consumers can also register at Valpak.com.

Budget Blinds is including the promotion in a national commercial campaign airing during the month of May. The commercials are scheduled to appear on A&E, Discovery Home, DIY, HGTV, Oxygen, Soapnet, and TLC networks.
In addition, Budget Blinds is projected to mail approximately 100 million Valpak coupons over the next year.

“We are very excited about this opportunity with Valpak to showcase the great Kathy Ireland Home by Alta products Budget Blinds offers,” said Phil Mettra, Vice President of Marketing for Home Franchise Concepts, parent company of Budget Blinds. “Our goal is to help homeowners realize their dream homes by providing easy access to amazing window coverings and home décor products through free in-home consultations.”

Valpak Coupons Piled High at Chicken Express In Lakeway

Chicken Express Managing Partner Erik Rumfield, a Valpak of Austin client in Lakeway, Texas is all smiles with a big pile of Valpak coupons.

He saved all of the Valpak coupons in his cash drawers for 3 months.  When he counted them up, he had 867 coupons.

As you can see by the smile on Erik's face, he is delighted with the results of his Valpak campaign.

And Erik said there were many more coupons than the 867 we counted. He explained that whenever he saw a new customer in his restaurant, he would make their first Chicken Express experience a great one by handing the coupon back and saying with a big smile, "Come back and use it again."

Valpak of Austin is proud to work Erik to help him introduce Chicken Express to new customers in Lakeway.

Princeton Review Agrees – Valpak is a Great Place to Work

Valpak Direct Marketing Systems has been featured in the 2008 Princeton Review listing of best entry level jobs. Each year local Valpak offices hire several hundred people as local account executives, a position primarily responsible for selling marketing and direct-mail services to local business owners. Many each year are entering the sales field for the first time and receive extensive company sponsored training for their new role.

This year, Valpak is one of only 114 companies selected for this prestigious listing. Other companies include Google, Boeing, and Proctor & Gamble. The Princeton Review surveyed hundreds of companies throughout the country before selecting those recommended in the book.

“Being listed in the Princeton Review is a high honor,” according to Joe Bourdow, President of Valpak. “We want those considering a sales career to see the excitement, energy, and opportunities for success that Valpak has to offer. Many of our top achievers began their sales careers with Valpak and expect to grow with us for many years to come.

Best Entry-Level Jobs, 2008 Edition, is a premier employment resource for college seniors. It reveals where the best job opportunities are throughout the country and what the graduating student needs to do to get them.

For more information on career opportunities visit www.coxtarget.com/vp_careers or call 1-800-676-6878.

Valpak® of Austin and Cost Cutters Help “Stamp Out Hunger” In Central Texas

According to a recent USDA study, hunger continues to be an issue for more than 1 out of 10 American households. For many Americans, it is a daily struggle to provide adequate meals for their family.

On May 12, 2007, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will hold their annual food drive to Stamp Out Hunger. This is the 15^th year of the food drive and it is expected to be the largest to date. The donations will provide relief to millions of people by replenishing our nation’s food banks.

Once again, Valpak, one of the nation’s leading direct mailers, will be a national sponsor, promoting the event on over 44 million Valpak envelopes and on the company website www.Valpak.com throughout the month of April.

To promote the food drive locally, Valpak of Austin has partnered with Cost Cutters hair salons to deliver an insert about Stamp Out Hunger to 280,000 Central Texas homes.  Additionally, for those wishing to donate before the May 12^th collection date, Cost Cutters has placed collection bins for non-perishable food items in all of their Austin area locations.

The timing of the food drive is scheduled to meet the needs of children whose families rely on the government-subsidized school meal program. While food banks tend to receive large donations during the holiday seasons, they often run low during the summer months.

“We are pleased to again partner with the National Association of Letter Carriers for a fourth consecutive year,” said Bill Disbrow, CEO of Valpak. “It is our goal to raise awareness of the NALC’s convenient food donation collection program and encourage communities to come together to feed the hungry across America.”

Austinites can donate at any Cost Cutters location or by leaving non-perishable food items by their mailboxes or in post offices Saturday, May 12. Letter carriers will deliver all donations to local community food banks, pantries and shelters.

Valpak® Delivers the Adventure of a Lifetime

Promotes Disney’s New Family Film on Over 44 million Valpak Envelopes

Get ready for the ultimate time-travel voyage when the Valpak blue envelope featuring Disney’s new animated adventure, Meet the Robinsons, appears this spring in mailboxes nationwide. In addition, Valpak will run a national advertising campaign highlighting the on-envelope movie-themed sweepstakes, which is scheduled to air on ABC, CNBC, the Food Network, Lifetime, Turner and TNT throughout the month of March.

To add even more excitement surrounding the release of this animated feature, lucky consumers will find vouchers for FREE movie tickets inside random Valpak envelopes and will have a chance to win a dream vacation to the Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim, California.

Two grand prize winners will receive a 4-day/3-night trip to Los Angeles, round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, admission to the Disneyland® Resort and a “personal appointment” with Meet the Robinsons movie characters. Consumers can enter to win by filling out the entry form in their envelope, visiting www.Valpak.com or by calling 1-800-883-1274.

The Valpak envelope and television campaigns will encourage consumers to look for their Meet the Robinsons-themed envelope during the month of March to see if they are a winner and provide instructions on how to enter the dream vacation sweepstakes.

This is the third time in the past year Valpak has promoted a Disney theatrical release. The previous celebrated titles were The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

February Valpak Envelope Features $100,000 Giveaway Sponsored by Liberty Tax Service.

Valpak brings excitement to the envelope monthly and 2007 is going to be an incredible year! Liberty Tax Service is adding excitement to tax season with a $45,000 Grand Prize Sweepstakes and creating thousands more happy Valpak consumers with the $25 "Instant Refund" checks in the blue envelopes. The $100,000 giveaway will get everyone's attention - and add value to your business' Valpak offers!

Big sweepstakes, instant win opportunities, new promotional partners are all events that distinguish us from our competitors and get more response for our advertisers' offers.  This exciting sweepstakes will influence consumers to open the Valpak envelope and look through the offers.

Your business can benefit from the excitement this February with Valpak and the $100,000 Tax Giveaway Promotion! 

Call David Flash with Valpak of Austin at 512-532-6259 to start growing your business with highly effective advertising in the Valpak envelope.

Valpak and CBS Team Up for National Cold Case Promotion in January

Valpak and CBS have joined forces again to create an on-envelope event that puts your offers in the spotlight. CBS, the top-rated broadcast TV network with over 115 million viewers, returns to the envelope in January to feature one of its popular primetime shows. This National Promotion will be featured in TV commercials in your market during top-rated CBS shows. The familiar faces of CBS stars on the envelope will bring the promotion to life and draw consumers' attention to the offers inside!

When businesses put their offers in this Valpak envelope, they become a part of this major media promotional event! When people see CBS on the blue envelope, they connect this top-rated network with Valpak, increasing the awareness of the envelope, the promotion, and your offers.

Events like this one distinguish the Valpak envelope from its competitors and get more response for Valpak advertisers.  Put your business in the spotlight this January with Valpak and this CBS promotion!  Call David Flash with Valpak of Austin at 512-532-6259.

Valpak.com® Wins Coupon Promotion of the Year Award

Valpak.com, one of the largest local savings sites on the Internet, has been awarded the Visitor’s Choice Award in CouponInfoNow.com’s Coupon Promotion of the Year awards.

The promotion featured a partnership with Couponizer® in which visitors to Valpak.com could enter the weekly drawing for a free Couponizer. The Couponizer is an organizing and shopping system for coupons. It is the first product to offer more than just a holder for coupons, but it is instead a whole new way to organize savings.

The relationship between Valpak.com and Couponizer began in early 2006 and has proven to be successful for both companies. "Valpak.com is pleased to share the Promotion of the Year award with Couponizer.com. Our joint promotion allowed us to offer Couponizer’s valuable product on our website and introduce Couponizer.com consumers to Valpak.com," according to Todd Leiser, Vice President and General Manager for Valpak.com. "This has been an exciting partnership and we looked forward to continuing our relationship."

As the leading source of coupon promotion information, CouponInfoNow.com is dedicated to highlighting the best practices and most innovative uses of coupons. The 2006 Coupon Promotion of the Year Awards highlight the year's best promotions, as judged by a panel of coupon industry professionals. The Coupon Promotion of the Year offers coupon leaders the opportunity to showcase their work.