New Findings Point to Continued Rise in Coupon Distribution and Usage

Shoppers Save $600 Million More in 2009

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LIVONIA, Mich., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI - News), one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, announced today that shoppers saved $600 million more in the first nine months of 2009 compared to a year ago, according to the Third Quarter 2009 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Coupon Industry Facts Report recently released by NCH Marketing Services, Inc., a Valassis company. This upward trend - a 30% greater savings - points to a permanent change in the mindset of today's value-seeking shopper.

"The year-to-date results are most remarkable when compared to the first three quarters of 2008," said Charlie Brown, NCH Vice President of Marketing. "Redemption did not start to increase until the fourth quarter of 2008, following the financial crisis that began in September 2008. Since then, redemption volumes have consistently been up throughout 2009 due to dramatically changed consumer shopping behavior with coupons."

Coupon distribution among CPG manufacturers is up 11% year-to-date through the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year, resulting in the distribution of 231 billion coupons in the marketplace to date in 2009. Shoppers are responding favorably leading to a 23% increase in year-to-date coupon redemption volume during this same time period.

Additionally, marketers are increasing the face value of coupons - up to $1.43 from $1.31 in the third quarter compared to a year ago. Offer durations average 10.8 weeks.

While online coupons have historically represented a small percentage of coupons in the marketplace, their distribution continues to grow at a fast pace as well. NCH reports online coupon distribution is up 41% in this same period. With more coupons available online, consumer usage continues to rise as evidenced by a 51% increase in coupon prints on redplum.com and its affiliate sites in September 2009. Likewise, at year-end 2008, online coupons represented 4.8% of all coupons redeemed in the United States compared to 6.3% at mid-year 2009.

In response to the increased demand for value, the Nov. 15 RedPlum(TM) free-standing insert coupon book will include an estimated savings of up to $70. At an average size of 49 pages, RedPlum's Nov. 15 coupon book will be 81% larger than cooperative coupon booklets delivered in 2009. Rich in CPG and traditional grocery coupons, the book will deliver value during the heavy holiday spending time.

"The significantly larger coupon booklet translates into a great savings for shoppers who have let marketers know loud and clear that they are seeking value and will spend money when given the opportunity to also save money," said Suzie Brown, Valassis Chief Marketing Officer. "Savings of approximately $70 from coupons delivered in just one week couldn't come at a better time as families are planning their holiday meals and gatherings. Our RedPlum portfolio delivers the value that is crucial to today's shopper."

The RedPlum FSI is distributed to nearly 60 million homes in markets across the country 42 times a year. Consumers can visit www.redplum.com/gooddeal, click on the coupon finder, enter their full address, and the finder will let them know where to find their RedPlum coupon book.

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 interactive offering - redplum.com - consumers will find compelling national and local deals online. 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 and NCH Marketing Services, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.valassis.com or http://www.redplum.com. To learn about advertising opportunities with RedPlum, please call 1-800-437-0479.

Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements found in this document constitute "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 preference for different promotional materials, strategies or coupon delivery methods, including, without limitation, as a result of declines in newspaper circulation; 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; our ability to comply with or obtain modifications or waivers of the financial covenants contained in our debt documents; certain covenants in our debt documents could adversely restrict our financial and operating flexibility; ongoing disruptions in the credit markets that make it difficult for companies to secure financing; 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; we may be required to recognize additional impairment charges against goodwill and intangible assets in the future; court approval of the settlement agreement among the parties to the pending ADVO securities class action lawsuit; our current litigation with News America Incorporated may be costly and divert management's attention; possible governmental regulation or litigation affecting aspects of our business; the credit and liquidity crisis in the financial markets could continue to affect our results of operations and financial condition; reductions of our credit ratings may have an adverse impact on our business; counterparties to our secured credit facility and interest rate swaps may not be able to fulfill their obligations due to disruptions in the global credit markets; 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.