Expressions from Hallmark makes greeting card history

Drug Store News, April 29, 1996

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Hallmark is sending a milestone message to retailers and consumers by launching Expressions from Hallmark, its first new branded line in 37 years. It is being positioned squarely between the original Hallmark line and the Ambassador brand of social expression, launched for the mass market in 1959.

The new brand, Expressions from Hallmark, is designed to leverage Hallmark's high-recognition brand name. For this reason the company prefers its brand phrase be used rather than the shortcut version, Expressions.

Drug Store News recently talked with Steve Paoletti, vice president of mass retail teams, and Jim Welch, marketing vice president of drug channel, about product, positioning and distribution of the new line - and how it will fit in the drug channel.

The new brand is being developed from the ground up by Hallmark's creative team and will feature new designs and merchandise, such as a new alternative card line comparable to Shoe Box, the popular humor line that ranks as the second most preferred line after Hallmark itself.

Mahogany cards, with an African-American motifs, and the Hispanic line Primor will be available across all the three Hallmark brands - Hallmark, Expressions from Hallmark and Ambassador - as will Party Express. Expressions from Hallmark will also have its own cards, gift wrap and some specialty seasonal gift items.

Focus on distribution

The launch of Expressions from Hallmark focuses on distribution, as well as on product. Hallmark expects the new brand to open up more retail outlets for the Hallmark name in the mass channel. The supplier also believes the launch will draw more attention overall to greeting cards, or as Paoletti put it, "encourage consumer participation in the category."

Who gets to carry Hallmark, Expressions from Hallmark or Ambassador why?

"We don't see the landscape for the Hallmark brand changing in chain drug," Paoletti said. "Other customers who have Ambassador or another line now have another option."

In general, when it comes to the three Hallmark brands in the drug chain channel:

* A current Hallmark-brand drug chain will probably remain one.

* A mass market retailer interested in doing business with Hallmark, but which does not currently carry the Hallmark flagship brand, is more likely to carry Expressions from Hallmark or Ambassador.

* A drug chain or other mass retailer not positioned for brand equity is more likely to remain an Ambassador account.

The Hallmark brand, including the Hallmark Crown line, Shoe Box and Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments (all exclusive to the Hallmark flagship brand) is now carried by 5,000 drug chain outlets, including American Drug, Walgreens, CVS, Fay's, Genovese, Lewis and Longs, as well as 9,600 department and book stores and 8,200 independently owned card and specialty shops

If a drug chain is interested in switching from a competitive brand or in changing among Hallmarks three brands, each case will be decided individually, Welch indicated.

"Whether it be Hallmark, Expressions from Hallmark or Ambassador we look primarily a their commitment to the category, chain image and what the retailer's objectives are in terms of driving their business," he said. All those are taken into account in deciding which is the right brand for them."

Ambassador will continue to be offered to mass channel retailers whose marketplace positioning does not include a focus on brand equity. But the decision about which brand to offer is more than just a square footage issue. It focuses just as much on "the positioning of the department in a dominant, up-front location that makes a statement to the consumer," Welch said. "It's a

The launch of Expressions from Hallmark will also provide a branded differentiation for the company's 8,200 Hallmark Gold Crown network of card specialty shops.

Ambassador's fate

The Ambassador brand, sold in more than 22,000 stores, will get a boost from new products including new cards and gift wrap, which will debut at the upcoming FMI show. "We feel Ambassador will continue to outperform the competition," Paoletti said. There will continue to be leading chains in this country that will want Ambassador and will expect Ambassador's performance to be as strong as it has been in the past."

The Expressions from Hallmark launch was hush-hush until a coordinated announcement last month, timed to align with a road trip by Hallmark executives. Paoletti reports that retailer response has been very gratifying." Among comments he's heard is, is is something we've anticipated would happen."

Building up to that campaign to focus consumer attention on the logo found on the back of greeting cards. By the time Expressions from Hallmark is launched in early 1997, the company expects more consumers than ever turn a card over and peek at the brand on the back.

To reinforce the Hallmark brand (technique called brand insistence), the supplier is running a year-long ad campaign on trendy TV programs such as "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "ER". In addition, there is a national print campaign with pun appeal on the back covers of more than 100 different national magazines.