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Hallmark Media, the studio behind dozens of romantic and holiday films a year, is ramping up its output and experimenting with new forms of entertainment as demand for the brand reaches a fever pitch.
The Big Picture: While Hallmark can be the butt of a lot of jokes in media and entertainment circles, the brand’s expanding fanbase shows that catering to a niche community is a great business model and that family-friendly entertainment is underserved by Hollywood.
Behind The Scenes: Hallmark wants to entertain you on land, sea, and, we assume, one day, air.
- It launched its Hallmark+ streaming service last month, which doles out Crown Rewards points by just watching content on the app.
- It struck a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, culminating in the movie Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, which will feature Chiefs coach Andy Reid, several players, and even Travis Kelce’s mom, Donna. It premieres November 30th.
- November 30th is also the beginning of Hallmark’s first “Christmas Experience” — a four-weekend-long extravaganza featuring a holiday market, product drops, and nightly tree lightings that’s expected to bring in 80,000 attendees.
- Also, the maiden voyage of the “Hallmark Christmas Cruise” (a four-night trip from the Bahamas) kicks off in November. It sold out in hours and broke Norwegian Cruise Line records with 70,000 people on the waitlist — a second cruise sold out in under 24 hours.
Closing Credits: If you’re thinking, “That’s a lot of Hallmark,” well, that’s kind of the point. But it’s also strategic. Take the Chiefs partnership, for example. It’s common knowledge that the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift relationship brought in a huge number of new female fans for the team. But according to Chiefs president Mark Donovan, there are apparently more female Chiefs fans than male fans… and they have a huge crossover with Hallmark’s audience. Over half of the audience of Hallmark’s popular “Countdown to Christmas” movie series also watch sports.
In other words, watch as Hallmark becomes a Disney-like entertainment empire. Where do you think the company will build a theme park?
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