LIVONIA, Mich., July 1 -- Valassis, the leading company in marketing services and Connective Media(TM), announced today that MaryAnn Rivers, Executive Vice President of Targeted Print and Media Solutions, was named Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Rivers' role was expanded to include responsibility for the entire sales and marketing effort at Valassis. This position will continue to move Valassis toward its Vision of providing integrated solutions for its customers. Since joining Valassis in 1988, Rivers has served in various positions throughout the company and quickly proved herself as a leader. Rivers created and developed Valassis' newspaper-delivered product sampling division. Under her leadership, the sampling business has grown at a rate six times faster than the sampling industry. In her most recent position, Rivers' sales leadership grew Valassis' cluster targeted revenue to almost $200 million in 2002. "Based on her track record and history of sales leadership, MaryAnn is the ideal person for this newly created position," said Alan F. Schultz, Chairman, President and CEO. "We are excited about the opportunity to increase the alignment of sales and marketing within our organization. This new role will allow us to better serve our customers by offering them more effective integrated marketing solutions."