Valpak has found a unique way to ensure customers open its signature blue envelopes.
The St. Petersburg, FL-based direct marketing business, which mails coupons to 37 million addresses each month, is randomly inserting $100 checks in some envelopes.
The no-strings-attached checks are made out to “Cash.” The odds of finding a check are about 1 in 50,000.
“The program creates excitement,” said Lindsay Anderson, Valpak’s promotions manager. “It not only gets consumers to open up their monthly Valpak, but it also gives them a reason to look through all of the coupons and all of the advertisements.”
Valpak, which is marking its 50th anniversary in 2018, has been slipping checks into its coupon envelopes for the past 20 years, but only in select markets.
Now consumers in all 150 Valpak markets across the United States have a chance to receive checks, along with discount restaurant, entertainment, automotive and home services coupons.
“The program is really all about rewarding our loyal consumers for continuing to look for their Valpak envelope in the mail every single month. Not only do we help them save money, but we make money, too,” Anderson said.
The initiative aligns with the Postal Service’s efforts to encourage business customers to try new approaches, part of the organization’s effort to add value to the mail.
Consumers who’ve received checks say they were surprised — and delighted.
“It feels great to win,” one Seattle resident wrote in a testimonials section on the company’s site. “At first I thought it was a joke … or that there was a catch, but the check cashed and is in my bank.”
Although Valpak also offers coupons for consumers to download from its site, the firm’s mailings remain popular.
“Print is still a very strong medium for us. Consumers enjoy doing the ‘Valpak shuffle’ when they look through their envelopes,” Anderson said.
