Valassis Whitepaper Examines how Marketers can Customize Path to Purchase for Their Brands

LIVONIA, Mich., Aug. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In a newly released whitepaper, Valassis (NYSE: VCI), a leader in intelligent media delivery, delves further into today's path to purchase (P2P), to offer insights on how marketers can make it work for their brands.

The marketing community has been closely monitoring the evolution of the path to purchase and its impact on not only reaching, but influencing and engaging consumers. P2P has become a key reference point for media planning, resulting in major changes to the way consumers buy and the way marketers plan their campaigns. In this "new media mix," consumers have emerged as a critical partner in media planning.

The whitepaper, "Path to Purchase – Making it Work," points out that while the long-standing "funnel" has now been abandoned, the challenge remains on how to operationalize the new "cycling" model. In the New Valassis Planning Model, the goals of the advertiser are aligned to the consumer P2P steps, framing  the selection, ranking and weighing of the media. Branding and activation media are integrated in the new planning model. Marketers must recognize:

• Multiple touch points on the P2P
• Integrated multi-channel media planning
• Different levels of consumer engagement in each channel touch point
• Personalization and localization with the growing presence of wall-less retailers

This whitepaper was developed by Valassis' College for Advanced Media Planning (CAMP) Publishing, the educational arm of Valassis. CAMP is dedicated to advancing and innovating media planning through state-of-the-art education, publication and certification.  For more information and to download the whitepaper, visit

http://www.valassis.com/path-to-purchase-white-paper-email.aspx.

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

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED