New Findings Point to Continued Rise in Coupon Distribution and Usage

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Mon Nov 9, 2009 10:15am EST

Shoppers Save $600 Million More in 2009




LIVONIA, Mich., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI), 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.


SOURCE  Valassis

Mary Broaddus, Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications,
+1-734-591-7375, broaddusm@valassis.com
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