Valassis
Valassis Communications was a U.S. marketing services company that delivered print, digital, and mobile promotional media — including free-standing inserts, digital coupons, and programmatic advertising — primarily to consumer packaged goods advertisers and retailers, before being acquired by Harland Clarke Holdings in 2014.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1970
- HeadquartersLivonia, United States
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Valassis does
Valassis Communications, Inc. was a U.S.-based marketing services company founded in 1970 and headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, that specialized in digital marketing and web-based information services, with a core franchise in promotional media — free-standing inserts (FSIs), direct mail, digital coupons, mobile promotions, and programmatic advertising. The company built its distribution scale principally through the 2006 acquisition of Advo Inc for $1.3 billion, which gave it a national shared-mail network, and progressively extended into digital and mobile channels via a series of bolt-on acquisitions including Brand.net (2012, $17.5M), Spotzot (2015), Clipper Magazine and Printed Deals (2015), and MaxPoint Interactive (2017, ~$95M). It was publicly traded on the NYSE under ticker VCI before being acquired by Harland Clarke Holdings in 2014 and ceasing independent operations.
Valassis firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Valassis
- Legal name
- Valassis Communications, Inc.
- Website
- https://valassis.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1970
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Short description
- Valassis Communications was a U.S. marketing services company that delivered print, digital, and mobile promotional media — including free-standing inserts, digital coupons, and programmatic advertising — primarily to consumer packaged goods advertisers and retailers, before being acquired by Harland Clarke Holdings in 2014.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Valassis industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Marketing Services
- NAICS
- Direct Mail Advertising (54186), Advertising Agencies (54181)
- SIC
- Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Loyalty, Rewards & Incentive Programs (BPAFAMAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Corporate Incentive, VIP & Hospitality Programs (HSACADAN)
Keywords
Where Valassis is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Livonia
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Valassis business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain
Valassis product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Valassis is a marketing services company that delivers consumer promotional media solutions to brands and retailers across print, mail, and digital channels. Its portfolio includes digital coupons, free-standing inserts (FSI), direct mail advertising (Val-Pak), and digital advertising platforms such as Brand.net, MaxPoint Interactive, and Spotzot that connect CPG advertisers and retailers with target consumers.
Product overview
No product and services information available for Valassis in the provided sources. Valassis Communications was acquired by Harland Clarke Holdings in 2014 and is mentioned only in historical investment context and as a market player in the digital coupon space.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Direct Mail Advertising (Val-Pak) Shared-mail advertising envelope program that delivers promotional offers to local consumer households; the founding Valassis product established by George Valassis in 1970.
- Free-Standing Inserts (FSI) Print inserts distributed via Sunday newspapers that deliver coupon and promotional content from advertisers to consumers; a legacy Valassis product category.
- Digital Coupons Digital coupon distribution platform offered to consumer packaged goods brands and retailers; positions Valassis as a key player in the digital coupons market alongside RetailMeNot, Groupon, and Rakuten.
- MaxPoint Interactive Hyper-local digital advertising platform that targets consumers based on geographic and purchase intent signals; acquired by Valassis on 2017-08-28 to expand digital ad-tech capabilities.
- Brand.net Digital advertising network offering online display advertising capabilities to brands; acquired by Valassis on 2012-06-21 for approximately $17,500,000.
- Spotzot Location-based mobile marketing platform that delivers targeted offers based on consumer location; acquired by Valassis on 2015-02-10.
- Clipper Magazine Local advertising magazine featuring coupons and promotional content distributed to households; acquired by Valassis on 2015-11-05.
- Printed Deals Printed coupon offering acquired by Valassis on 2015-11-05 to expand the print coupon distribution portfolio.
Companies that use Valassis
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles2 records
Valassis technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Valassis partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Valassis competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- RetailMeNot: Consumer-facing digital coupon and deals marketplace; named alongside Valassis as a key digital-coupon market player. Competes for brand-funded coupon redemptions and digital offer distribution.
- Harte-Hanks: Direct and data-driven marketing services firm serving B2C brands across direct mail, email, and digital channels. Comparable in offering integrated direct marketing and database-driven promotions to consumer brands.
- Groupon: Deals, coupons, and local offers marketplace; explicitly listed with Valassis as a key digital-coupon competitor. Overlap is strongest in merchant-funded offer distribution and consumer redemption funnels.
- Catalina Marketing: Shopper marketing and targeted in-store/printed coupon platform for CPG brands and retailers. Direct competitor in retailer-funded coupon targeting, especially at point-of-sale.
- News America Marketing (SmartSource): Operator of the SmartSource free-standing insert (FSI) and in-store coupon programs; historically the closest competitor to Valassis in print-insert and FSI coupon distribution.
- Rakuten Group: Cashback, coupons, and loyalty rewards platform named alongside Valassis as a competitor in digital coupons. Comparable on reward-program mechanics and advertiser-funded consumer incentives.
- Quotient Technology (now Neptune Retail Solutions): Digital coupon and promotions platform for CPG and retail brands; explicitly named alongside Valassis as a key player in the digital coupon market. Directly competes for the same advertiser spend on retailer-loaded digital offers.
Emerging players
- IRI (Information Resources Inc.): Market-research and shopper-data analytics provider for CPG/retail. Partial overlap with Valassis via retailer/CPG data assets and promotional-analytics adjacencies.
Broad incumbents
- Epsilon (Publicis): Large data-driven marketing services platform inside Publicis Groupe spanning customer data, loyalty, and direct marketing. Comparable at the loyalty/rewards and direct-marketing-services layer though operating at much broader portfolio scale than Valassis.
Others
- LiveRamp (formerly Acxiom): Data connectivity platform used to power identity, audience targeting, and measurement for advertisers. Adjacent/ecosystem role rather than direct competitor, but enables many of the same brand-marketing outcomes.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Valassis social profiles
Digital presenceValassis financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Valassis leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Valassis funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Valassis M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A10 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Valassis
What does Valassis do?
Valassis is a marketing services company that delivers consumer promotional media solutions to brands and retailers across print, mail, and digital channels. Its portfolio includes digital coupons, free-standing inserts (FSI), direct mail advertising (Val-Pak), and digital advertising platforms such as Brand.net, MaxPoint Interactive, and Spotzot that connect CPG advertisers and retailers with target consumers.
Is Valassis a public or private company?
Valassis is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Valassis founded?
Valassis was founded in 1970. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Valassis based?
Valassis is headquartered in Livonia, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Valassis's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are RetailMeNot, Harte-Hanks, Groupon, Catalina Marketing, News America Marketing (SmartSource), Rakuten Group and Quotient Technology (now Neptune Retail Solutions). IRI (Information Resources Inc.) is listed as an emerging player. Epsilon (Publicis) is listed as a broad incumbent. LiveRamp (formerly Acxiom) is listed as an others.
Does Valassis have an API?
No public API is recorded for Valassis.
What industry is Valassis in?
Valassis's product category is Marketing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAMAE, Loyalty, Rewards & Incentive Programs, with a secondary code of HSACADAN, Corporate Incentive, VIP & Hospitality Programs. Its NAICS code is 54186 and its SIC code is 7331.