Just like a classic romcom tale, Hallmark wants fans to fall in love with them year-round.
This month, Hallmark announced an expansive slate of original movies and series across various genres, as well as more immersive fan activations and experiences. And of course, the company will have new holiday content, all of which is available on the Hallmark Channel and streaming platform Hallmark+.
Ed Georger, evp, ad sales and digital media, Hallmark Media, said with a lot of fragmentation in the market today, it’s important for a company to have a consistent brand lens.
“There’s a lot that we’re doing, but it stays within the contextual relevance of the brand,” Georger told ADWEEK. “We tell that story in the marketplace in a few different ways.”
As the industry heads into upfront season, Georger said conversations are quickly changing, which is reflective of how quickly the global markets are shifting.
“We’re going to hear words like ‘flexibility,’ ‘tariffs,’ and ‘uncertainty,’” Georger said. “While we navigate that type of marketplace together, I would encourage us all to remind ourselves that brands and content matter, contextual relevance matters, and good storytelling is ultimately what drives our business. It drives viewership, it drives engagement, and helps our advertising partners sell more product, or grow their business, so we lean on those topics.”
Ultimately, conversations are a bespoke process, as clients’ wants and priorities vary across brands.
“What’s important for us is to listen to what our clients’ needs are, where their businesses are going, how we can help them,” Georger said.
Hallmark gets into reality TV programming
Among its content, Hallmark’s reality slate offers various ad opportunities.
Hallmark began getting into reality TV over the last year, and the company is embracing it even more moving forward.
“We call it ‘Reality TV with Heart,’” Georger said. “It’s reality programming with a Hallmark flavor—or a Hallmark brand essence coming in through that type of programming—because we think there’s an opportunity there as well.”
Hallmark is planning to release a new slate of unscripted series, from competition to community building to home and lifestyle enhancement shows.
