Valassis Earns Recognition for Innovation, Culture and Printing Excellence

LIVONIA, Mich., Sept. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI), a leader in intelligent media delivery, announced today a multitude of awards recognizing its workplace culture, innovation and printing excellence. To date in 2013, Valassis has received 14 national and regional awards.

Innovation
For the fourth consecutive year, the company had been named to the  InformationWeek 500 – a list of the top technology innovators in the United States.  Each year, InformationWeek identifies and honors the nation's most innovative users of information technology.

Printing Excellence
Valassis recently received three Gold Ink Awards from Printing Impressions magazine, sponsor of the 2013 Annual Gold Ink Awards competition, which recognizes the winners of  North America's most prestigious print competition.  This is the 18^th year that Valassis has received Gold Ink Awards.  Three of the five winners in the 2013 Newspaper Insert category were printed by Valassis printing division in Livonia, Michigan and Wichita, Kansas.  The winning submissions were chosen from more than 900 printed pieces in 50 categories.

Culture
For the seventh consecutive year, Valassis earned recognition for its adoption benefits and has been named to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption's 2013 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces List. The company has been named to the list since its inception and ranked third in the advertising, marketing and PR industry category. Valassis offers its associates up to $5,000 toward the adoption of a child and paid time off.

Additionally, company locations earned regional recognition for workplace practices. Valassis has been named a Top Workplace in the Hartford, Connecticut Metro area by the Hartford Courant/FOX CT, based on a comprehensive analysis conducted by Workplace Dynamics. This list recognizes the best places to work in the Hartford, Connecticut region. Valassis has two offices in Windsor, Connecticut.

In Michigan, Valassis has been named to the Best and Brightest In Wellness™ list, which is an initiative that recognizes and celebrates companies that are making their businesses more healthy, the lives of their employees better and their community a healthier place to live. The award is presented by Michigan Business and Professional Association, Michigan Food and Beverage Association, Wellco and Corp! magazine, based on a WellCompanies assessment.

Both NCH Marketing Services Inc., a Valassis subsidiary in Deerfield, Illinois, and its Houston, Texas location have received the 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility. The Sloan Awards are unique for their rigorous, two-step selection process, which involves an evaluation of employers' flexibility programs and practices, and a confidential employee survey on the key ingredients of an effective and flexible workplace. All applicants are measured against national norms from the National Study of Employers. The company expanded its flexible workplace offerings last year.

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.

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; possible consolidation in our client base, a significant decrease in the number of stores in our in-store retailer network or 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; 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; governmental regulation or litigation affecting aspects of our business, including laws and regulations related to the internet, internet-related technologies and activities, privacy and data security; potential security measure breaches or attacks; 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; a reduction in, or discontinuance of, dividend payments or stock repurchases; 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