Product sampling custom mailers
Sample packs built around the product: a box, carton or shrink-wrapped pack, assembled with your marketing materials, addressed from your data feed and mailed by a Premier USPS Customer.
- Pack formats
- Box, carton or shrink wrap
- Contents
- One product or several, plus marketing materials
- Address data
- Data feeds accepted
- USPS status
- Premier USPS Customer
Overview
A pack built for the product inside
Providing samples to consumers or businesses has proven to be a highly effective way to familiarize them with your products, which naturally can lead to increased sales and brand loyalty. In the 60 years MGA Innovation has been in business, we have helped companies of all types and sizes reach new audiences through our product sample fulfillment services.
A custom mailer is the physical half of a sampling program: the box or carton the sample travels in, the printed pieces that travel with it, and the postage rate it is engineered for. Sample mailers sit alongside the postcards, flyers, catalogs, letters, die-cut mailers, gift card mailers and solo mailers in our direct mail work.
Start to finish
What we handle
Custom packaging to meet your unique needs
No matter the type of product samples you want to distribute into the marketplace, MGA can create the packaging to help you accomplish your goals. We can handle a wide variety of product samples and combine them with other marketing materials to reach new customers. Whether you want product samples to come in a box, carton or shrink wrap, you can count on us to put our decades of marketing experience to work for you.
Tailor-fit assembling and kitting
No two products are alike, so neither should their sample packaging be. We are proud of the reputation we have earned for listening to our customers, so we can create product sample campaigns that meet their specific business requirements. Whether you are sending prospective customers a single product to try or several in one package, our team can handle everything from start to finish. Our assembly and kitting services are designed to create sample packs that engage your recipients and start them on the road to being loyal product users.
Labeling and design
MGA will work with your existing packaging labels and designs.
Mailing services
As a Premier USPS Customer, we can arrange the most competitive shipping rates for getting your product samples to their intended audience. We also accept address data feeds, so your samples are delivered accurately and efficiently.
Sample mailer questions
General notes
Can the mailer be designed around the postage rate?
Yes, and it usually should be. For Sanofi’s Xyzal program, MGA designed and produced a carton engineered for the best USPS rate available, then mailed once a week to cut fulfillment cost while holding a two-week in-home window. Read the Sanofi program.
Can one pack carry several products and printed pieces?
Yes. One diaper brand’s expectant-parent pack was plain white outside, with a carton printed on the inside, printed tissue paper, multiple brochures and coupons, and large samples of diapers and wipes. Read the program.
Can we choose between mailer formats before committing?
For Reynolds’ energy bag launch in Atlanta, MGA developed several mailer types to carry the sample and the brand message, so Reynolds could choose its preferred format before the drop. Read the Reynolds program.
Can sample packs ship outside the United States?
They have. For the diaper brand’s program, MGA built the infrastructure to fulfill in the US and distribute throughout Canada, and the program ran in three variations over three years.
Where do the addresses come from?
From your list, sent as a data feed, or from a list built to your targets and sorted by geography, demographics and customer interests. See mailing list and database management.
On the line
The processes behind a sample mailer
| Zone | Process | Equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Production area | CartoningItems enclosed in corrugated, chipboard and folding cartons for retail, sampling and mail. | Kodiak vertical cartoners · Adco semi-automatic horizontal cartoner · PMI Kyoto semi-automatic vertical cartoner |
| Production area | KittingSeparate items combined into one unit under one SKU: subscription boxes, promotional kits, sample packs. | Portable custom-built assembly lines |
| Production area | Shrink wrappingTransparent shrink film for multipacks and single items, small to large orders. | Shanklin shrink wrappers |
| Production area | Inkjet printing and addressingVariable-data addressing, personalization and coupon codes printed in line. | Inkjet printing · Address systems |
Proof
Sample mailers in the field
Sampling a whole metro area ahead of a retail launch
Energy bag samples and educational material, mailed across the entire Atlanta, Georgia area to support a retail launch — inside the requested window.
- Client
- Reynolds
- Exit
- To the Mailbox
- Market
- Atlanta, Georgia metro
- Processes
- Mailer development, co-packing, targeting, distribution
Taking a diaper brand to number one on shelf in Canada
One of the best known diaper brands was not number one on shelf in Canada. Three program variations over three years later, it is.
- Client
- A leading diaper brand
- Exit
- To the Mailbox
- Market
- Canada, fulfilled from Gurnee
- Duration
- Three variations over three years
- Processes
- Printed cartons, kitting, fulfillment, cross-border distribution
An OTC sample program engineered around the postage rate
A carton designed for the best available USPS rate, mailed weekly to hold a two-week in-home window — then an order-capture page that ended duplicate requests.
- Client
- Sanofi
- Exit
- To the Mailbox
- Category
- OTC allergy
- Mail cadence
- Weekly
- In-home window
- Two weeks
We've been working with the team at MGA for the last 28 years… and from my POV, no one works with a company that long unless it's ultimately a 'partnership' relationship vs a 'vendor' relationship. MGA has earned a partnership relationship with Brandshare, as they consistently deliver unique solutions to our creative ideas, helping to bring these ideas to life for our key clients… and they are not a 9:01am to 4:59pm partner… they make it happen based on our clients' timeline, not theirs.
Co-Founder and Director of Strategic Development, Brandshare
Related pages
- Product sampling programs
Targeting, inventory, packaging and postage, planned together.
- To the Mailbox
The mail hub: sampling, lettershop and formats.
- Bespoke packaging
Packaging that is part of the product experience.
- Kitting
Separate items combined into one unit under one SKU.
- Affixing
Samples bound to cards and printed literature.
- USPS mail operations
Optional Procedure, commingling and presort.
Contact us today
If you are looking for a cost-efficient and effective way to run a product sample campaign, MGA handles it under one roof. Let us take the burden of the sample fulfillment process away, so you can focus on running your business. To learn more about our product sample services, contact us today.