Hallmark Channel announced Monday that it will support its holiday
programming events with the "Hallmark Keepsake Sweepstakes," an integrated
promotion with Hallmark Gold Crown Stores that will be supported with $10
million in consumer advertising.
That campaign -- including a special holiday Web site accessible from www.hallmark.com and www.hallmarkchannel.com -- will start in early November,
Hallmark Channel executive vice president of worldwide marketing and brand
strategy Chris Moseley said.
The watch-and-win sweepstakes will include instant-win prizes redeemable only
at the Hallmark Cards-owned retail chain. In addition, eBay Inc. (www.ebay.com) will offer a tie-in online "Holiday
Instant Win Game."
More than 60 million sweepstakes game pieces will be distributed via Hallmark
Gold Crown Stores and ads in such magazines as Entertainment Weekly,
People, TV Guide and Us Weekly. Another 84 million
downloadable virtual game pieces will be available online via eBay and www.hallmarkfortheholidays.com.
Each game piece will include two peel-back windows -- one for an instant win
and the other showing a number and driving consumers to watch six Hallmark
Channel holiday events, during which winning numbers will be displayed.
The instant prizes will include a total of 2 million Hallmark Home
Entertainment family-movie videos and Hallmark Chocolatier Trio boxes.
The weekly grand prize will be a Dodge Viper (as seen in the movie Santa
Jr.), $100,000 in "cold cash" (tied into Snow Queen) and a magical
trip to a castle (linked to Merlin), Hallmark Channel said.
Those movies and other specials will air between Nov. 23 and Dec. 21. Other
titles will include Silent Night, A Christmas Visitor and the
recently announced Christmas with Tony Bennett -- Behind the
Scenes.
