As Parents Ramp Up for Back to School Season, Valpak Offers BackPack Giveaway

LARGO, Fla., July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- It's almost time to start catching that big yellow school bus again and that means parents will be forking over an average of $635 for their K-12 children and $837 for college-aged children.

According to the National Retail Federation, parents spent a whopping $72.5 billion last year, making the back-to-school shopping season now second only to Christmas in the amount of annual sales it hauls in for U.S. retailers.

Deals are on everywhere on every level - from pencils at grocery stores, tablets and phones at electronic stores to gently used clothes at thrift stores.

According to the Google and Ipsos Back to School Shopping Intentions Survey, 14% of Americans have already started mid-to-late July, with the majority shopping in August.

To help give parents a break, Valpak kicked off its back to school campaign, where parents can find savings on all their school essentials and a chance to win the Valpak BackPack Giveaway all in one place. Consumers can shop and enter now through August 30^th at valpak.com/school for a chance to win one of three $1,000 backpack prize packs filled with school supplies and gadgets, including a tablet. Twenty additional winners will receive a $100 gift card for sharing their school memories on Twitter, using #BackPak.

Consumers will have even more chances to win prizes on August 12 at 1 p.m. ET, when Valpak (@valpakcoupons) hosts a Twitter party, hashtag #Pak4School.To participate, register for the Twitter party at the Behind the Blue blog on August 8.

According to the NRF, more than a quarter of families plan to take advantage of late-summer deals and shop one to two weeks before school starts. Because we know parents are savvy spenders and are always on the lookout for deals during this time, Valpak.com will also feature back to school related deals on its website, with retailers such as Kohl's, Best Buy, Chegg, Walmart and Sears.

In addition to online offers, Kohl's will run inserts in The Blue Envelope® throughout the country, with offers that can be used either online or in local stores.

The savings leader will also share tips and advice on its Behind the Blue blog, with advice from super shoppers at the DealPro blogger network, Valpak's sister company, Savings.com.

Blog posts to look for include:

• Mom Tested Ways To Master Sack Lunch
• Back to school shopping: Tax free weekends
• How to Make Homework Fun for Kids
• The Secret to Saving on Back to School Shopping
• 5 Strategies for Having Last Minute Summer Fun on a Budget
• Tips for Stocking Up on School Supplies to Last Through the School Year
• Cost Saving Tips: School Supplies & Uniforms
• Surviving the First Day of School in the Milestone Grades

About Valpak®
Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America, is owned and operated by Cox Target Media. With nearly 170 franchises across the United States and Canada, the signature Blue Envelope® delivers coupons and savings to nearly 40 million households each month. Annually, Valpak will distribute some 20 billion offers inserted in more than 500 million envelopes. Valpak also offers digital solutions online through http://www.Valpak.com and http://www.valpak.ca, sites offering free coupons, e-commerce and coupon codes. Additionally, the Valpak coupon mobile coupon app for smartphone platforms delivers easy to find savings for consumers. For more information about advertising with Valpak, please contact 1-800-676-6878.

About Cox Media Group
Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of CoxReps.  Additionally, CMG owns Cox Target Media, which operates Valpak, one of North America's leading direct marketing companies, and Savings.com, a leading online source for savings.  The company's operations currently include 14 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 57 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services.  CMG currently operates in more than 20 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including more than 30 million TV viewers, more than 3.5 million print and online newspaper readers, and more than 14 million radio listeners.  For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com.

Contact information:
Marsha Strickhouser
8605 Largo Lakes Drive
Largo, FL 33773
727-399-3175 – office
[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140728/130651

SOURCE Valpak