Valassis Digital Builds on Momentum, Continues to Attract Top Silicon Valley Talent

LIVONIA, Mich., Jan. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI), a leader in intelligent media delivery, continues to build on the momentum of its digital business and infuse new talent with a focus on innovation.

Valassis strengthened its digital presence in 2012 with the acquisitions of  Brand.net and Circle Street; the launch of the first fully-integrated Facebook couponing app in RedPlum Social Savings; and the introduction of Purchase Precision Technology. A first-of-its-kind technology, it combines proprietary and syndicated online and offline geographical and behavioral data. These advancements enable Valassis to live its vision of creating the future of intelligent media delivery by offering blended solutions that connect and engage consumers to help clients achieve their best ROI. Valassis has a 40-plus year history of delivering targeted media and helping its clients identify, locate and connect with their most valuable consumers. Its expansion into digital and social media is a continuation of efforts to drive results for their clients and reach consumers where they plan, shop, buy and share.

"We are all about intelligent media delivery. We have a unique ability to deliver advertising and promotional messages by combining precise targeting, powerful insights and proven media to influence purchase behavior," said Valassis President and CEO Rob Mason. "As part of our vision, we are focused on shaping the right team to continually create new and better ways to help our clients connect with and engage consumers and drive their greatest success."

Valassis further elevates its digital expertise with the hire of Silicon Valley innovator Rajat Shroff as Vice President, Product Development for Brand.net, a Valassis Digital Company. Shroff, who has a deep understanding of the digital advertising landscape, is a successful and strategic product leader with expertise in digital advertising, mobile, video and ecommerce. He combines product management experience with strong technical skills. Most recently, Shroff served as the Head of Personalization, Advertising and Merchandising Products for Reardon Commerce, where he led the strategy and delivery of products for analytics, personalization, search, advertising and merchandising. His prior experience includes product management leadership positions with Permuto, Rhythm NewMedia and Oracle Corporation. 

"Rajat's extensive background, detailed understanding of mobile technology and proven track record of success make him a huge asset for Valassis' continued digital advancement as we push the boundaries of technology,"  Valassis Chief Digital Officer Jim Parkinson said.

"As more people turn to mobile and online for their shopping needs, at Brand.net, we have the industry's most precise targeting technology to drive consumer action," Shroff said. "Brand.net is a real innovator, mixing proprietary offline data with sophisticated hyper-local online data to deliver unsurpassed results for our clients. With access to billions of shopping transactions and consumer behavior over the last 40 years, as well as impressive client relationships, I could not be more excited to join the team."

In addition to Shroff, Valassis has attracted key digital talent from leading companies including Google, Oracle, Sun, Nokia and Yahoo as it grows its digital footprint and continues to invest in the future. Savvy marketers are encouraged to view client case studies at Valassis.com and see how their own marketing campaigns stack up using Valassis' ROI calculator.

About Valassis
Valassis (NYSE: VCI) is a leader in intelligent media delivery, providing over 15,000 advertisers proven and innovative media solutions to influence consumers wherever they plan, shop, buy and share.  By integrating online and offline data combined with powerful insights, Valassis precisely targets its clients' most valuable shoppers, offering unparalleled reach and scale.  Valassis subsidiaries include Brand.net, a Valassis Digital Company, and NCH Marketing Services Inc. Valassis consumer brands include RedPlum® and save.com. Its signature Have You Seen Me?® program delivers hope to missing children and their families. To learn more, visit Valassis.com.

About Brand.net
Brand.net, a Valassis Digital company, uses the most precise targeting technology – delivering probability over possibility and action over exposure. Brand.net is Re-Imagining Reach™ for its global clients integrating offline and online data to provide the best targeted reach in the digital industry.  With Brand.net, advertisers are empowered to reach their target audiences at scale, across quality, high-impact display, video and mobile environments. Brand.net consistently exceeds the campaign objectives that matter most to brand advertisers, proving success through online engagement, awareness and offline purchase.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: price competition from our existing competitors; new competitors in any of our businesses; a shift in client preferences for different promotional materials, strategies or coupon delivery methods, including, without limitation, as a result of declines in newspaper circulation and/or increased competition from new media formats including digital; an unforeseen increase in paper or postal costs; changes which affect the businesses of our clients and lead to reduced sales promotion spending, including, without limitation, a decrease of marketing budgets which are generally discretionary in nature and easier to reduce in the short-term than other expenses; our substantial indebtedness, and ability to refinance such indebtedness, if necessary, and our ability to incur additional indebtedness, may affect our financial health; the financial condition, including bankruptcies, of our clients, suppliers, senior secured credit facility lenders or other counterparties; certain covenants in our debt documents could adversely restrict our financial and operating flexibility; fluctuations in the amount, timing, pages, weight and kinds of advertising pieces from period to period, due to a change in our clients' promotional needs, inventories and other factors, including, without limitation, high levels of coupon redemption rates; our failure to attract and retain qualified personnel may affect our business and results of operations; a rise in interest rates could increase our borrowing costs; possible governmental regulation or litigation affecting aspects of our business; clients experiencing financial difficulties, or otherwise being unable to meet their obligations as they become due, could affect our results of operations and financial condition; uncertainty in the application and interpretation of applicable state sales tax laws may expose us to additional sales tax liability; and general economic conditions, whether nationally, internationally, or in the market areas in which we conduct our business, including the adverse impact of the ongoing economic downturn on the marketing expenditures and activities of our clients and prospective clients as well as our vendors, with whom we rely on to provide us with quality materials at the right prices and in a timely manner. These and other risks and uncertainties related to our business are described in greater detail in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including our reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and the foregoing information should be read in conjunction with these filings.  We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Valassis