Direct Mail
Get it opened first. Get your supplier to help pay for it.
Flat mail gets sorted over the trash can. A package with weight and shape gets opened, because it is the one thing on the pile that is not flat.
We build that package. When your supplier offers co-op money to cover it, we file the paperwork so you actually get the check. That is co-op direct mail done right: you send better mail and pay less for it.
The promise
What is lumpy mail, and what is co-op direct mail?
Lumpy mail is a mailer with weight, bulk, or an object inside, so it stands out in a flat stack and gets opened first. Co-op direct mail is a mailer your supplier helps pay for, because it features their brand and you both want it sold. We do both, and we connect them: design the piece that gets opened, then file the manufacturer's co-op claim so a chunk of the cost comes back to you. One shop builds the mailer and chases the money. You make one call.
Why a lumpy mailer gets opened
Curiosity beats the trash can.
Picture the stack of mail on a desk. Most of it is flat, and most of it gets fanned straight into the recycling. Then there is the one piece with something inside it: a little weight, a bump, a box. That one does not get sorted, it gets opened, because a person cannot help it.
That is what a lumpy campaign buys you: a few extra seconds of attention from someone who throws everything else away. The purpose is not to be clever. It is to get your offer into a hand instead of a bin.
- It survives the sort. A flat mailer competes with twenty others. A lumpy one competes with nothing, because nothing else on the pile feels like it.
- It earns a real open. The object inside gives the reader a reason to look, and a reason to keep your name on the desk for a day or two.
- It targets the few who matter. Lumpy mail costs more per piece, so you do not blanket a zip code. You aim it at the short list of accounts worth landing, and you spend where it pays.
Mail with something inside it
What we build into a lumpy campaign
The format follows the goal. Tell us who you need to land and what you want them to do, and we build the package around that.
Dimensional mailers
A shape, a fold-out, or a pop that a flat postcard cannot match.
Box mailers
They hold a small product, a sample, or a gift, and feel like a present, not an ad.
Package inserts
They ride along with weight you choose, so the envelope has a reason to be opened.
Kits and assemblies
We collate and pack them by hand in-house, so every piece goes out complete.
The flat mail to match. A lumpy hero often leads a follow-up postcard or a New Mover series, and we run that too. See Design, Print & Mail.
Photo to pull: a lumpy mailer kitA box mailer and package inserts assembled by hand for a co-op direct mail campaign. A real Weber-produced lumpy/co-op mailer, never stock. FLAGGED for the photo pull.
The co-op hook
Your supplier already set money aside. Most of it never gets claimed.
Here is money sitting on the table right now. Your manufacturers and suppliers run co-op advertising programs: they set dollars aside to help dealers and retailers advertise their brand. The catch is the paperwork. The claim forms, the proof of performance, the brand guidelines, the deadlines. It is a part-time job nobody on your team has time for, so the money expires unclaimed. Every year. Across the whole industry.
We are a bit different. We run a co-op department, and filing the paperwork is what it does all day.
Do we know co-op programs? Yes. Build the creative to the supplier's brand guidelines so the claim does not bounce? Every time. Track the proof of performance the manufacturer wants? That is the part everyone forgets, and we do not. Hit the claim deadline? You bet. File it for you and chase the reimbursement? That is the whole point. Handle a dealer with a dozen rooftops and a different program at each? That is a normal Tuesday.
So the math on a co-op mailer changes in your favor:
- You send better mail. The co-op money funds a bigger, nicer piece than your own budget alone would buy.
- You pay less for it. A real chunk of the cost comes back as a reimbursement, because we filed the claim correctly and on time.
- You stop leaving money on the table. The dollars your supplier set aside for you actually reach you, instead of expiring at the end of the program year.
We have managed co-op and trade-fund claims across 15-plus states, and our co-op department has been doing it since 1998. We have filed millions in claims on our clients' behalf.
One shop builds it and chases the money
Co-op direct mail breaks when two companies split the job.
Most agencies will design you a co-op-eligible ad and wish you luck with the claim. Most printers will print a lumpy mailer and never mention co-op exists. We do all of it, in one building.
We design the piece to the supplier's brand rules so it qualifies. We print it on our own presses in Lancaster, PA, in any quantity up to a 200,000-piece run, and assemble the lumpy package by hand. We mail it through Digital Express, our in-house print and mail arm. Then we file the co-op claim and track the reimbursement back to you. Design, print, assembly, mail, and the paperwork: one team, one invoice, one drop date.
That is why this sticks. When the mailer and the money both run through the same shop, nothing falls between two vendors. No designer who forgot the brand rules. No printer who cannot produce the proof of performance. No claim that misses the deadline because three companies were each waiting on the other.
- No double markup. You pay for the work once, not your cost plus a printer's markup plus a claims firm's fee.
- No rush charge as a reflex. When the press and the mail line are ours, a fast turn is a scheduling call, not a surcharge. Your tight deadlines do not scare us.
- No finger-pointing. If a claim is at risk, you call us, and we fix it. There is no one else to blame, so we do not.
Who this is for
If a manufacturer's name is on your sign, this is for you.
Co-op mail pays off most for the businesses whose suppliers want the product moved as badly as they do.
- Equipment and auto dealers. Every brand on your lot runs a co-op program, and each one has its own rules. We handle the creative, the mail, and the claims across all of them, for every rooftop. See Ag Equipment & Dealers.
- Multi-location retailers. A different supplier program at a different store gets complicated fast. One partner running all of it keeps the brand consistent and the claims filed.
- Food producers and grocers. Trade funds, FSI inserts, and brand co-op all work the same way: the manufacturer helps pay, if someone files. We file. See Grocery & Retail.
If your marketing is one cheap flyer once a year, a lumpy co-op campaign is more than you need. But if a supplier's brand rides on your mail and there is co-op money you have never claimed, this is the easiest win on your desk.
“We count on Weber to deliver value and execute quickly. They never say no, and they haven’t.”
Proof, not adjectives
One shop builds the mailer and files the claim.
- Lumpy mail assembled by hand, so the package goes out complete and gets opened first.
- A co-op department that builds supplier-compliant creative, tracks proof of performance, and files the claim on time.
- Co-op and trade-fund claims managed across 15-plus states, so a multi-rooftop dealer runs every program through one partner.
- 30 years in business, with dealer and retail clients who have stayed for two decades and more.
Keep reading
Where to go next.
More from Direct Mail
- Design, Print & Mail, the full in-house pipeline.
- Direct Mail, the hub.
Where co-op pays off most
- Ag Equipment & Dealers, co-op across every rooftop.
- Grocery & Retail, grocery trade funds and FSI inserts.
See it and learn why we are in-house
- How We Work, why everything is under one roof.