LIVONIA, Mich. and AUSTIN -- Valassis, one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, and the Austin American-Statesman, the leading media company in the Austin, Texas market, today announced a powerful, innovative alliance that changes the way advertisers reach households in the Austin designated market area (DMA).

Through the alliance, the Austin American-Statesman will combine its advertising inserts with Valassis' RedPlum Direct Mail Package, creating a single, shared offering that will reach 595,000 households weekly in the Austin market. The RedPlum Direct Mail Package consists of individual, relevant offers from various businesses that are combined into a single package and delivered to consumers' mailboxes to help them make savvy buying decisions by providing them with savings and value. The familiar Have you Seen Me? Missing Child photographs and information are featured on the back page. Beginning in March 2010, the RedPlum Direct Mail Package will be delivered to over 86,000 home subscribers of the Austin American-Statesman, and mailed by Valassis to the balance of the 507,000 non-subscriber households.

This alliance is the latest of successful collaborations Valassis has entered into with 32 newspapers across the United States, changing the way advertisers reach out to 9.5 million U.S. households. Advertisers benefit from the efficiency of the newspapers' delivery channel and the precision of Valassis targeting and reach via direct mail. Consumers benefit from advertising that is delivered by trusted, reliable sources -- the Austin American-Statesman and Valassis.

"We are building upon the success we have achieved through similar newspaper alliances across the country that provides value to both advertisers and consumers alike," said William Blackmer, Valassis Senior Vice President, Strategic Sourcing. "The Austin American-Statesman follows its sister newspaper, The Palm Beach Post in Florida, and becomes the second Cox Newspaper to harness the power of newspaper and mail delivery to deliver even more robust packages, and ultimately, more savings to consumers seeking valuable deals and offers. We are very pleased to continue building our relationship with the Austin American-Statesman in this important market."

"The combined package will offer unparalleled values for consumers and will provide our advertising customers the ability to reach more households than ever before," said Austin American-Statesman Publisher Michael Vivio. "Wednesday newspaper subscribers will now receive even more value with their paper because of the additional preprints that will be delivered with the Statesman."

The alliance will leverage Valassis' proprietary sub-ZIP code consumer targeting platform. This allows advertisers to maximize their response rates by delivering the right information to consumers. The Austin American-Statesman's newspaper subscribers will receive their merged RedPlum Direct Mail Package on top of the Wednesday newspaper, ensuring high visibility for the advertising offers, while those who do not receive the newspaper will receive their RedPlum Direct Mail Package in their mailboxes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The package will be co-branded RedPlum and the Austin American-Statesman.