How Hallmark Media is balancing innovation and tradition with a new brand experience
Hallmark Media is undergoing a dynamic transformation, seamlessly blending its rich heritage with modern media strategies to deepen consumer engagement. At the 2024 Summer TCA Press Tour in Pasadena, Hallmark President and CEO Mike Perry, along with his executive team, unveiled their forward-looking strategy for the brand.
Their new approach focuses on expanding Hallmark’s reach through innovative programming, the launch of a comprehensive streaming service and a renewed commitment to nurturing brand loyalty. This strategy of both innovation and tradition, outlined below, underscores Hallmark’s agility in adapting to evolving consumer preferences while maintaining its core values in a competitive landscape.
- Integrated brand experience: Hallmark is reconnecting its media, retail, and online touchpoints for a unified brand experience.
- New programming and service: Hallmark is enhancing its linear cable lineup and launching Hallmark+, a new streaming service.
- Hallmark+ offerings: The service will include exclusive content, rewards, discounts, and special gifts.
- Expanding audience reach: New partnerships and reality programming are targeting younger viewers.
- Adapting content: Upcoming content will include male-led stories, international settings to meet evolving preferences.
- Emotional engagement: Hallmark remains steadfast on fostering deep emotional connections and balancing tradition with innovation.
Reconnecting Hallmark’s brand ecosystem
Hallmark is a 114-year-old business, privately owned by the Hall family, and its mission to help people create meaningful connections continues to this day. This purpose has been the cornerstone of Hallmark’s success, extending beyond greeting cards to include a wide range of products and experiences that resonate with millions of fans.
Hallmark’s storytelling heritage began in the 1930s and was solidified with the launch of the Hallmark Hall of Fame series in 1951. “Hallmark created an interconnected ecosystem that linked all of our products, retail, and media experiences together across the brand,” said Perry.
But somewhere along the way, Perry continued, that interconnected ecosystem was lost, despite how robust and seamless those brand touchpoints have become.
It’s important to note that last year, 50 million people watched Hallmark movies on cable networks in the fourth quarter alone. Meanwhile, the company rang up over 14 million transactions across 1100 of its Gold Crown stores. Moreover, Hallmark.com saw 20 million visitors.
“Our viewers are our shoppers, and our shoppers are our viewers,” said Perry. “So today, as linear cable is being disrupted by streaming platforms, we actually see this as an opportunity to expand our storytelling and to align all of our brand touchpoints once again.”
Enhancing programming and rewarding loyalty with a lifestyle service
Noteworthy is Hallmark’s continued investment in new programming for its linear cable business, particularly the highly anticipated annual Countdown to Christmas event, now in its 15th year.
“We have another great lineup of 40 new original Christmas movies,” Perry shared, underscoring Hallmark’s commitmen
t to its core audience.
However, the most significant development for Hallmark this year is the launch of Hallmark+, a new streaming service set to debut in September. Hallmark+ will replace Hallmark Movies Now and will serve as a one-stop platform for all things Hallmark, or as Perry said, “it will be the very best of Hallmark all in one place.”
But Hallmark+ will go beyond just streaming. In fact, it represents a comprehensive lifestyle offering. “This is not just a streaming service with some discounts attached to it; we look at this as a lifestyle bundle,” described Hallmark’s Chief Brand Officer Darren Abbott.
The service will offer exclusive content, membership rewards, monthly discounts to use in-store and online, surprise gifts throughout the year, free monthly greeting cards, access to special Hallmark experiences and events, and more.
“Hallmark+ will give members all the content to inspire their lives and the rewards to help them live it,” Perry added. The service, priced at $80 a year, offers benefits valued at over $400 annually, making it a compelling proposition for Hallmark’s most dedicated fans.
Reaching new audiences and adapting to evolving preferences
Then there is Hallmark’s partnership with Peacock, which has been instrumental in reaching a younger and more diverse audience. Perry acknowledged that this collaboration has informed their programming strategies on streaming.
Hallmark Executive Vice President of Programming Lisa Hamilton Daly also noted that Hallmark is expanding into reality programming, aiming to engage younger viewers who are avid consumers of this genre. “We really felt that we could infuse the Hallmark DNA into reality in a really fun and different way and give our audience more of what they want to see.” Hallmark is currently working on a reality competition and DIY shows for the future.
Additionally, Daly shared insights from their analysis of last year’s Christmas movies, revealing a growing interest in international settings and more male-led stories in addition to their female-centric content. In fact, Hallmark+ is debuting a movie trilogy this fall, “The Groomsmen,” that centers around love from a man’s perspective.
“We realize that our viewers really like seeing men talk about their emotions, be fathers, be in love, have emotional experiences, have male bonding … We have discovered that not just female stars attract our audiences,” said Daly.
Balancing tradition with innovation
Moreover, Hallmark’s executives highlighted the emotional connection that Hallmark’s content fosters with its audience. “This brand is a psychographic brand,” Perry stated. By focusing on the aspirations and values of their viewers, Hallmark aims to create content that resonates deeply and rewards fans for their loyalty.
As Hallmark moves forward, it continues to balance its brand’s commitment to spread joy, warmth, and positivity with innovative strategies that meet the evolving needs of its audience. The launch of Hallmark+ represents a bold step into the future, offering fans a more integrated and rewarding way to engage with the brand they love.