ADVO Announces New Plans to Extend Its Print Advertising Offerings Within and Beyond the Mailbox.

WINDSOR, Conn.,--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 28, 1999--

Direct Mailer to Partner With Newspapers, Add New Mailing Dates 

ADVO, Inc. (NYSE: AD), the nation's largest targeted direct mail marketing company, with annual revenues of over $1 billion, today announced strategic plans to extend the company's print advertising offerings within and beyond the mailbox.

The company announced it plans to begin forming partnerships with large metropolitan area newspapers - traditional ADVO competitors - in select markets in order to offer clients a wider range of products and to leverage its unmatched targeting and distribution capabilities. The company reported it is already in discussions with several newspapers. In addition, ADVO, which distributes highly-targeted versions of its shared, or co-op, mail advertising package to approximately 60 million households nationwide each week, also announced it plans to add second mailing dates in strategic markets around the country. The company has established a new, stand-alone Strategic Business Development group to actively pursue these initiatives and plans to announce initial ventures in each category shortly. The new group is headed by Henry Evans, who has served as ADVO's Senior Vice President of Operations since 1997.

"As the nation's largest single distributor of targeted print advertising, we have a tremendous opportunity to grow our business by expanding ADVO's product offerings beyond the mailbox," said Gary M. Mulloy, ADVO's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that strategic newspaper partnerships and incremental delivery dates will give our clients more advertising options while also maximizing our state-of-the-art distribution capabilities and capacity. With his significant expertise in our business and strong success in improving ADVO's productivity, Henry Evans is uniquely qualified to lead our new Strategic Business Development team."

As ADVO's Senior Vice President of Operations, Mr. Evans is credited with integrating major technology and process improvements throughout the company, helping significantly to increase the company's productivity and profitability. Among his contributions are the deployment of ADVO's new "Alphaliners" - sophisticated, computerized mail sorting machines. The new machines are enabling the company to triple its production capacity in branches where they have been introduced.

"We believe that by partnering with newspapers and introducing strategic new in-home delivery dates, we can provide our clients with a fuller spectrum of print advertising options," said Henry Evans. "In addition, because of significant improvements in our distribution system, we are well-positioned to handle incremental volume. Our new initiatives will help ensure that we are maximizing our opportunities for increased revenue and profits."

ADVO is the nation's largest full-service targeted direct mail marketing services company with annual revenues of over $1 billion. ADVO specializes in shared and solo direct mail services and provides customized Microtargeting(R) solutions at an affordable price for its clients' print advertising needs. The Company's Mailbox Values(R) branded shared mail program is distributed nationally to approximately 60 million households weekly. An additional 24 million households can be reached on a shared mail basis through ADVO's National Network Extension (ANNE). ADVO's wholly-owned subsidiary, MailCoups, Inc., produces Super Coups, a cost-effective, direct mail-based advertising solution for local neighborhood businesses in an envelope format. ADVO has 20 mail processing facilities and 65 sales offices nationwide. ADVO's corporate headquarters are located at One Univac Lane, Windsor, Connecticut 06095. The Company can be visited at its current Web site at www.advo.com.