LIVONIA, Mich., March 26, 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 second consecutive year by Advertising Age magazine as one of the "Best Places to Work" in Marketing & Media. Valassis was 38th on Advertising Age's list of the top 40.

The Best Places to Work List was determined by the results of two surveys - one detailing hiring practices, benefits and pay and an employee survey, conducted by Advertising Age's research partner, Buck Consultants, LLC. The employee survey accounted for 60 percent of the overall score. The list includes agencies, media owners and marketers with more than 50 full-time employees.

Nearly 185 companies applied for inclusion on Advertising Age's third annual Best Places list. About 15,000 employees took the survey which measured aspects of the workplace environment that contribute to an engaged staff, including employee engagement and satisfaction; career development; total rewards; and work environment.

"The collaborative spirit, energy and innovative thinking of our associates make Valassis a truly great place to work," said Suzie Brown, Valassis Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. "This award is a testament to all of our dedicated associates who are the heart and soul of our company. Our team's passion and drive for excellence shine through to our clients."

There is a strong focus on the company's culture and emphasis on making its workplace inclusive, team-oriented and celebratory. Valassis rewards creativity through a variety of programs, including associate appreciation days and a Platinum Performer program in which 50 associates a quarter are recognized and rewarded with extra vacation days and cash payouts. Communication is also key to the company's collaborative work environment, and information is shared on an ongoing basis through daily huddles, CEO town hall meetings, Sales road shows, the Valassis Associate Council, which is dedicated to open communication and knowledge sharing and more. The company provides a host of convenient services, including onsite workout facilities and discounts, health fairs/flu shots, dry cleaning, postal services and discount tickets, to name a few.

As a company, Valassis has received numerous awards recognizing its workplace culture, diversity and innovation. In 2011, the company was recognized with 23 regional and national awards from Working Mother, InformationWeek, Diversity Employers and Printing Industries of America, to name a few. Earlier in the year, Valassis was named a "Top 50 Company for Executive Women" by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) and by AZ Magazine in Arizona where it has an office in Phoenix as a "Top 25 Workplace for Women."

Winners are detailed in Advertising Age's March 26th issue at http://adage.com. To read more about Valassis, go to: http://adage.com/article/special-report-best-places-to-work-2012/valassis-38-ad-age-s-places-work-list/233666/.

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 and NCH Marketing Services, Inc. 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