Valassis Recognized by the American Advertising Federation for Workforce Diversity

LIVONIA, Mich., Aug. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI), one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, announced today that it has been recognized for the third time by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) with a Mosaic Award for its Workforce Diversity program, "ECHO: Driving Success and Inspiring Cultural Change."

Through ECHO, the company is committed to creating a culture where an increasingly multicultural associate population is welcomed, supported and encouraged to reach its full potential. ECHO's mission is to:

• Drive success and inspire cultural change;
• Achieve a workplace where every associate feels included, valued and respected;
• Provide an environment that is diverse in thought, experience, people and action; and
• Enhance relationships with co-workers, customers, suppliers and the community through greater understanding and appreciation of differences

"We recognize and value different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds in our everyday decisions and actions as we embrace diversity and inclusion in all we do," said Rob Mason, Valassis President and Chief Executive Officer. "Through greater understanding and appreciation of our differences, we continue to build a stronger community as well as a more vibrant and sustainable community."

The AAF Mosaic Awards celebrate companies that have demonstrated the success of their multicultural marketing and diversity efforts within the advertising industry. The Workforce Diversity category recognizes companies that demonstrate a strong effort to recruit, retain and promote employees from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds and develop programs that enhance employee sensitivity, knowledge and understanding of the various ethnicities and cultures within the corporate environment. Valassis also was recognized with Mosaic Awards in 2009 and 2006.

"Valassis takes tremendous pride in being a workplace where every associate feels included, valued and respected," said Todd Wiseley, Valassis General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Administration.  "It's an honor to be recognized by the AAF, the premier voice of the advertising and marketing industry. We believe diversity and inclusion are business imperatives as well as ethical and social responsibilities that are grounded in our culture."

ECHO is focused on creating more inclusive organizational structures and policies; educating and developing leaders and associates; investing in community outreach; and researching and developing communication avenues.  In 2011 Valassis established a committee of senior leaders who are responsible for setting actionable and measurable goals. As part of this initiative, Valassis also established its first Business Resource Group (BRG), the Valassis Women's Network, to foster women's professional development, connectivity and outreach within Valassis. Since its inception, the BRG has gained more than 300 members and continues to grow. In addition, Valassis expanded its Mentoring Program and established a Talent Steering Committee.

As a company, Valassis has received numerous awards recognizing its workplace culture, diversity and innovation. Earlier this year, Valassis was recognized on Advertising Age's Best Places to Work List; by Working Mother magazine as a Best Company for Hourly Workers; by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) as a Top 50 Company for Executive Women and more.

Mosaic Award recipients will be honored at the 2012 Diversity Achievement and Mosaic Awards & Forum in October at The Hilton New York. The Mosaic Awards are held in conjunction with AAF's District Two Diversity Achievement Awards during Advertising Week in New York.

About Valassis
Valassis is one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, offering unparalleled reach and scale to more than 15,000 advertisers. Its RedPlum® media portfolio delivers value on a weekly basis to over 100 million shoppers across a multi-media platform – in-home, in-store and in-motion. Through its digital offerings, including redplum.com and save.com, consumers can find compelling national and local deals. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan with approximately 7,000 associates in 28 states and eight countries, Valassis is widely recognized for its associate and corporate citizenship programs, including its America's Looking for Its Missing Children® program. Valassis companies include Valassis Direct Mail, Inc., Valassis Canada, Promotion Watch, Valassis Relationship Marketing Systems, LLC, NCH Marketing Services, Inc. and Brand.net. For more information, visit http://www.valassis.com, http://www.redplum.com and http://www.save.com. To learn about advertising opportunities with RedPlum, please call 1-800-437-0479.

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