The Hallmark Cards brand is a consumer phenomenon of some scale. In the US, there are allegedly more Hallmark-branded retail outlets than McDonald's restaurants and for millions of Americans, the distinctive crown device on the back of cards is acknowledged to be an assurance of quality and decency.
But Hallmark, Inc.'s voyage into television raised fundamental questions about how well the brand would travel. Hallmark Channel launched in the UK first and later emerged with over 120 feeds worldwide. For each feed, the mix of shows was largely dictated by the availability of licensed content.
As a result "Hallmark Channel" was a distinctly different offering from country to country. In the US, it was safe, warm and family-oriented drama. In Latin America, it was an English-language TV movies channel. And in the UK the gritty procedural dramas including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Of course, the escapist, fantasy epics were still in the daytime schedule but British viewers, like many other Europeans, were most interested in fast-moving cops 'n' lawyers shows. The Brand Perception and Product Attributes of the channel were increasingly diametrically opposed. Unprompted awareness was high but even loyal viewers couldn't reconcile the channel's content with its fluffy, schmaltzy parent brand. This video shows both the rationale and production work behind one of several campaigns which I led and were designed to redress the balance. The logic behind this advertising was clear and post-campaign research suggested it did make some impact on perceptions.
The campaign also gave me the chance to work with the brilliant Joss Ackland CBE, although judging by this photo taken during the shoot, Mr Ackland wasn't quite as excited about the project as we were!
But with hindsight, this was a largely quixotic undertaking. The Hallmark brand has evolved over nearly 100 years. Even millions of dollars worth of our advertising was never going to make it seem appropriate for a modern, mass-market, international TV channel.
As a result, every new campaign we ran was part of a never ending re-positioning strategy! Notably, the channel grew and prospered in spite of the disconnect with its parent brand, establishing a 1.2% share and a monthly reach of 5.2 million viewers in the UK alone.
In an era where the array of entertainment distribution channels and devices is continuing to grow, and scheduling can no longer be a significant part of the armoury, the battle to differentiate and protect 'channel brands' is tougher than ever. Fragmentation and disintermediation abound! It would be fair to assume that NBC Universal, the current owners of Hallmark Channel outside the USA, are giving careful consideration to the merits of retaining this brand.