Valassis and Alliance Marketing Announce In-Store Marketing Partnership

LIVONIA, MI—April 26, 2011—Valassis, one of the nation’s leading media and marketing services companies, and Alliance Marketing, the nation’s largest independent ad group (representing over $2 billion in annualized retail sales), announced an arrangement to develop and execute in-store marketing and media programs, starting in the second quarter of 2011. Alliance Marketing and its affiliates represent independent supermarkets in 15 states.

The new partnership brings more than 200 independent retailers to Valassis’ In-Store network, representing 70 retail banners. Valassis will help Alliance Marketing emphasize promotional pricing at the shelf, heighten the effectiveness of brand messaging at point of purchase and streamline the way consumers find information about products and how they can be used.

“We are tremendously excited about our partnership with Alliance Marketing and the retailers they bring into the Valassis In-Store network,” said Michael Kowalczyk, Valassis vice president and general manager of In-Store Marketing. “I would expect that, in combination with Alliance Marketing’s creative and analytical prowess, Valassis will be able to deliver an in-store experience previously unavailable to consumers in those respective markets.”

“We are excited about our partnership with Valassis,” said Joe Wolf, president of Alliance Marketing. “Every week, more than 3.5 million people shop our stores and we represent a great vehicle for the consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to reach valued consumers. Valassis brings the tools necessary to help us market on behalf of those CPG companies, but more important, improves the shopping and customer service experience our customers have come to expect daily in our stores.”

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 multimedia 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, Valassis Canada, Promotion Watch, Valassis Relationship Marketing Systems, and NCH Marketing Services. For more information, visit www.valassis.com, www.redplum.com and www.save.com. To learn about advertising opportunities with RedPlum, please call (800) 437-0479.

About Alliance Marketing
Alliance Marketing and its affiliates represent over 350 independent supermarkets in 15 states, bringing the marketing and negotiating power of independents together. The Goodlettsville, TN-based company negotiates on behalf of 2.2 billion in annualized retail sales, working to improve the competitiveness of its members in the marketplace as well as increase the value and the experience the consumers have when they shop Alliance stores. Alliance is a full service company that also provides advertising services and software solutions for independent supermarkets across the nation.

Source: company release.