While consumers have always been able to access Valpak.com through their SMART phones, some recent enhancements to the mobile interface have made it even easier to use. Media sources have picked up on this great opportunity, resulting in some exciting news coverage promoting Valpak.com. This is great news for Valpak of Greater St. Louis advertisers who will experience increased visibility for their business thanks to more awareness in the marketplace and additional ways to access their Valpak.com offers.

Some of the great prizes are: a trip to New York City to see "The Martha Stewart Show" and attend the first day of our Cooking School series, a $250 gift card from Macy's, a complete collection of cookware and cooks' tools from the Martha Stewart Collection at Macy's and Martha's newest book, "Martha Stewart's Cooking School."

In addition to promoting the entry form in the Valpak envelope on her show, she is promoting the sweepatakes and the blue envelope in her popular blog:

Recently, on my TV show, I introduced the "Martha's Cooking School Sweepstakes," which you can enter at marthastewart.com/cookingschool. Valpak is helping to spread the word about this sweepstakes by mailing 43 million blue Valpak envelopes all across the country. Spin the Wheel of Good Things! You can win instantly! Too bad they're not allowing me to play –- I love a good sweepstakes!

The sweepstakes promotion with Martha Stewart is a win for Valpak advertisers. Valpak households are 20% more likely to watch The Martha Stewart Show than the average U.S. household according to Simmons Market Research. That's why we know the Valpak audience will be watching Martha - making our product relevant to our consumers.

This summer, get your sales sizzling when The Blue Envelope features Food Network's hot new show Grill It! with Bobby Flay!

On-air announcements during Grill It! with Bobby Flay and other Food Network programming will stir consumers to open The Blue Envelope and see your offer. Others will be drawn by an exciting sweepstakes to win a trip to see Bobby Flay at the 2008 Food Network NYC Wine and Food Festival.

A recipe for success: Valpak consumers crave money-saving offers from local businesses like yours. And, it's a fact that dining and food-related categories are the most requested by the Valpak predominantly upscale, female audience. This summer, satisfy the demand and make business plentiful again with an offer in The Blue Envelope.

Valpak is partnering with HGTV, the number 1 cable network for home and garden, to promote the new season of Design Star. By advertising in Valpak, your business can benefit by being a part of this special promotion. Valpak will receive national exposure through promotional spots airing daily on HGTV.

Design Star and the HGTV network are highly favored among upscale female consumers. Think of the added exposure you’ll receive when millions of HGTV viewers look to Valpak and Valpak.com for a chance to win  $5,000  for a room makeover compliments of HGTV.

Make sure you are advertising in The Blue Envelope and on Valpak.com® – and take advantage of incredible exposure that Valpak always delivers.

Starting this week, more than 43 million U.S. households will begin receiving Valpak envelopes promoting this highly anticipated movie from Fox and announcing this unique national promotion.

The familiar blue envelopes of savings will provide Valpak consumers with a variety of prizes, such as:

• Sweepstakes Grand Prize: Consumers can register to win “IHOP Family Dinner for a Year” on Valpak.com.  Two lucky winners will each receive 52 IHOP gift cards at $50 each (total value $2,600).
• Instant Win: 1,000 consumers will receive a $25 “IHOP Be My Guest” gift certificate randomly inserted inside Valpak envelopes that can be redeemed at nearly 1,400 IHOP locations across the country.
• Everyone Wins with Valpak: The blue envelope can be redeemed at participating local IHOP restaurants for a FREE Kids' Meal, or short stack of IHOP’s famous buttermilk pancakes.

A “who’s who” of comedy, led by Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Carol Burnett, bring to life “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!” opening in theaters everywhere March 14.  This national promotion with Twentieth Century Fox, IHOP and Valpak is supported by a $3 million TV ad campaign, premiering across the country this week.

The Valpak envelope has become a popular vehicle for film studios to help drive ticket sales for new movies.  This is the 7th time that Fox, creators of “Ice Age,” has partnered with Valpak to feature one of its theatrical releases in an on-envelope national promotion.

CNN covered the event live, broadcasting from the VMC. The event was also attended by a variety of national and local news media and about 130 Valpak employees and guests. Romney and members of the press took a tour of the VMC and then convened in the community room where the candidate gave his remarks.

Following the event, video footage and photos of the candidate, Valpak executives and the VMC appeared in many other news outlets, including ABC, Good Morning America, newspapers and local television stations across the country.

Rick Baker, Mayor of St. Petersburg, recommended the VMC to Romney as a must-see destination in St. Petersburg.

Although Romney's visit was not an endorsement of the candidate by our company, we were extremely pleased to host this event to show off our new flagship facility on a national platform and to give our employees a unique opportunity to participate in our country's democratic process.

In his welcome letter to the dealers, Bobby's comments reflect the focus that has made him so successful in local direct mail advertising: "We dealers need to keep listening to our sales people in the trenches and stay focused on the most important issue: what best serves our customers and makes them money. If we stay close to our customers by solving their problems and never stop thinking of them first and foremost, the dealers and Val Pak DMS can build something special and spectacular."

Bobby and his wife Gloria each have over 25 years experience in the direct mail industry and currently own Valpak franchises in Austin, Kansas City, San Diego and St. Louis.

Bourdow, whose career began as a broadcaster and radio station owner, joined Valpak Direct Marketing Systems in 1978 as a sales representative, then became a successful franchisee before joining the franchisor in 1991 and became president in 1996.  Bourdow has been responsible for the sales development of the franchise network, encompassing some 200 offices in the United States and Canada.  He also serves as executive vice president of Cox Target Media, which acquired Valpak in 1991.

Launched nearly 50 years ago to protect, enhance and promote the franchising industry across the globe, the IFA serves a membership of nearly 10,000 franchisees, 1,300 franchisors and 500 suppliers.

Your business wins when you advertise with Valpak

• Valpak is the most recognized brand name in direct mail and each month, consumers rely on the blue envelope for savings.
• Valpak creates even more interest in the envelope by giving recipients the chance to win money, in addition to saving money, as part of the fun with Crosswords.
• In-show mentions of the Valpak sweepstakes, and inclusion of the blue envelope in television commercials promoting the show, will remind consumers to look for their blue envelope.
• Consumers interact with product for a chance to win the $5,000 sweepstakes.

In recent years, Valpak.com has made major strides to position itself as the online local savings leader and a resource to help small and medium businesses market themselves on the web.  In August 2006, Valpak made headlines as the inaugural content provider when Google launched online coupons on Google Maps™.

Along with a new look and feel, Valpak.com now incorporates best practices such as search engine optimization, helping to give a smaller business a larger online reach.

“Many business owners need help in keeping up with the changing online marketing environment,” said Michael Martino, Director of Valpak.com.  “We do our best to help them do just that, in both online marketing and traditional marketing through the Valpak envelope, so they can be competitive in their market.”

Valpak expects the site enhancements to not only help online advertisers now, but also lay the groundwork for the future as online advertising technologies continue to evolve.

Other key enhancements to the site include Google Maps, making it easy to print a map and directions along with the coupons; and navigational changes enabling consumers to find, sort, view, and print the coupons they want with fewer clicks.