Hallmark
Hallmark is a company that assists people around the world reach out and establish a connection with each other. The company focuses on the production of cards to help people say thank you, heal, love, and laugh. Through the use of cards and other products, Hallmark Company allows for caring emotions and thoughts to have a voice through substantial reminders of appreciation, belonging and love. Hallmark Company was established by a teenage entrepreneur. This teenager only had several shoeboxes of postcards and an American dream in his heart. Today, Hallmark is a $ 4.1 billion company. Its greeting cards and other products are sold in more than 38,000 retail stores across United States and 100 countries throughout the globe. Hallmark products also get to people through television and online through the company’s website. Hallmark company is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. It is a privately owned company with family members being the founding members.
The growth of the company and the brand have been iconic. The company is characterized by closeness to people, an understanding of the universal needs in human heart and satisfying those needs with products and experiences that bind and unit them together. The DNA of Hallmark company is creativity while innovation is constant and is founded on the evolving needs of people- now and incoming days. Being a card and other products company, Hallmark capitalizes on innovation. Innovation is intended at meeting the seasonal or changing customer needs in the most satisfactory way possible. Hallmark’s products encompass client’s needs irrespective of age, race, ethnicity, point of view and personality among others. This paper explores Hallmark’s trends and countertrends, effect of trends on Hallmark’s strategies, other companies that could learn from Hallmark, and the drawback of Hallmark’s product description.
Trends and countertrends described
From the company’s website, all product produced at any given time are listed. These products include greeting cards, gifts, kids’ products, ornaments, holiday cards and gifts, party products and story books. The trends in the company products are oriented towards the Christmas season and towards elections. During the Christmas season, the biggest trend is towards business holiday cards and season greetings. Those at work send cards to invite others or inform them of their Christmas holiday plans. For people who are distant apart and are unable to visit, Christmas greeting cards are essential. Greeting cards are an excellent way of establishing personal connection to bridge the gap between home and work (Hallmark product, 2012). For Christmas preparation, the company is offering Christmas online guide with downloadable images and holiday products. The company is also developing cards and other gifts aimed at promoting the forthcoming elections. The company also has trends towards the Halloween holiday anticipated on 31 October (Hallmark product, 2012). Text wrist bands have been introduced to allow children to trade text messages wristbands by bumping fists. The company has moved towards the establishment of fan mail program and sweepstakes. In this program, customers are required to visit the company’s website and nominate the biggest Belieber who will then be crowned.
October is a month for breast cancer awareness. However, Hallmark has taken the month to run a celebrate dads! Cards contest. This should have been in June around world fathers’ day. In addition, students are already in school and in preparation for the Christmas holiday. The company is selling interactive story buddy books and characters. These characters have voice recognition technology.
Effect of trends on Hallmark’s strategy
For Hallmark, trends are intended at winning consumer confidence that the company understands their needs and will deliver them in a timely manner. Trends on the Halloween are intended to connect the company Halloween holiday lovers and observers (Hallmark product, 2012). Halloween lovers will have something like gifts and greeting cards to celebrate the holiday while Hallmark will establish and maintain connection with this group of consumers. The fact that Halloween cards will be available at Hallmark prior to the celebration day will help spread the word and curious consumers will purchase them.
Trend towards elections in cards and gifts is extremely timely. American is in preparation towards a general election. This will affect Hallmark’s strategies especially since it is once in four years season. However, people will have something to remember the elections. As people purchase these products. The company will make money and attract new consumers who have never bought from them. The reputation of the company will also grow to be associated with creativity and timeliness. Clients want to associate with companies that are aware of what is happening around them and uses the most captivating and creative way to bring this out (trend spotter, 2012). At Hallmark, the strategy is to be better first than best. The company understands that any delay can cost them their customers and profitable sales. This is a terrific strategy as, most companies wait until they have everything right to get to the market. With the product in the market, Hallmark endeavors to better the product or just have it as it is. Through being first, Hallmark becomes the first to meet the clients’ unmet needs.
Through the act of being first in the market, Hallmark is assured of owning the category other companies that introduce such a product later is viewed as imitation (Wesely, 2012). The company also believes in the creation of innovative products. Innovation data are obtained from in-house research quantitatively and data obtained from qualitative observation. With these data, Hallmark is guaranteed of providing clients with the products and services that meet their needs and are timely and on trend. For those not so much into trend, Hallmark ensures there are products and services to participate (Hallmark blog, 2011). Trends are also intended on products such as decorations on desks or bookshelves. For office people, trendy products will depict the kind of person one is based on their interaction with current events and situations.
Lessons to other companies
Other companies should encourage consumers to take up membership in their organization to have full access to product descriptions (trend spotter, 2012). Based on the product descriptions from Hallmark website, other companies should also adapt using descriptive titles for products such that consumers will be curious to learn more about the product and purchase others that please them. Product images should also be clear such that one can define the product’s category (Hallmark products, 2012). For instance, images with kids are convinient for children. Product description should also be categorical such that the at first glance, the client can have the superficial intention of the product which then prompts him or her to sign in for detailed descriptions.
What is specially missing in these descriptions?
These descriptions lack the full meaning intended at promoting product knowledge to website visitors (Websolutions, 2012). Reading about a product provide clients with an understanding of what the product is; the manner through which it works and other key points essential for customers. Excellent product content creation benefits search engine optimization. The current product images are also not unique.
In addition, these products lack adaptability to social media websites. Successful online business today leaves room for easy integration to top social media websites. Social medium is changing e-commerce at an extremely high rate (Websolutions, 2012). Successful marketing of products and services is experienced where organizations allow customers to share their products or comment about them. Potential customers to Hallmark lack the option to distribute a product with other friends through social media websites. Through the incorporation of social media websites, Hallmark products will remain in front of company customers on numerous platforms.
These product descriptions do not have options for multiple images and features to allow customers to zoom images to obtain a clearer design of the products they want to purchase. The company needs to understand that different customer s visit their website (Websolutions, 2012). Each of these customers has his or her qualities which one expects to find in the product. Failure to have features allowing for product zooming is denying potential clients the opportunity to have a clear picture of the product they want. Commitment by the product to purchase a given product depends on the idea they obtain from product display and description.
It is not easy to purchase products from this website now. The product description lacks the price tag or other purchase options. This leaves consumers with limited purchase choice and has them moving ahead to purchase from competitors (Websolutions, 2012).
References
Hallmark blog, (2011). 2011 trends in holiday business cards. Retrieved from http://blog.hallmarkbusinessconnections.com/2011-trends-in-holiday-business-cards/
Hallmark product, (2012). Hallmark products. Retrieved from http://corporate.hallmark.com/Product
Trend spotter, (2012). People behind our products. Retrieved from http://corporate.hallmark.com/PeopleBehindOurProducts/Marita-Wesely
Websolutions, (2012). Qualities to look for in ecommerce software. Retrieved from http://www.rswebsols.com/tutorials/ecommerce-tutorials/ecommerce-software-qualities
Wesely, M., (2012). 2012 and beyond: emerging and evolving trends. Retrieved from http://corporate.hallmark.com/News-From-Hallmark/2012-and-Beyond-Emerging-and-Evolving-Trends
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