Crown Media’s Michelle Vicary on the Power of the Brand

As Executive Vice President of Programming andamp160Publicity for both Hallmarkamp160Channel and Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteriesamp160Michelle Vicary is responsible for everything from the strategic oversight of all production and originalamp160programming and the supervision of acquisitions to programamp160scheduling and talent relations along with the execution of programamp160publicity strategies which incorporates the networksamp8217 impressive social media platformamp160numbersVicary took time out from her busy schedule to talk about the networksamp8217 continued growth and plans moving forwardSteve Gidlow amp160Hallmarkamp8217s continued success with regard to its movie franchises over both channels is staggeringamp160 What can you say about the brandamp8217s constant growthMichelle Vicary amp160Iamp8217ll be honest it39s a little overwhelming continually increasing the output of our movies and our focus on high qualityamp160 It39s by no means a volume play amp160Every movie is treated as a highquality endeavor and always has the brand in mind as well as people39s expectations around the brandamp160 Even though there are 89 movies being made this year each one is treated as importantly as the one before itamp160 Setting such a high mark and achieving it along with growth yeartoyear with not only the number of movies weamp8217re doing but also ratings is a phenomenal feeling amp160It39s truly a team effort our programming team is knocking it out of the parkSteveamp160 Eightynine movies in production is impressive to say the least and more than a lot of Hollywood studiosMichelle amp160It39s an impressive number to say every day for sure Seeing growth on both networks has been very rewarding amp160In addition those 89 movies we have three primetime scripted series and Home ampamp Family an everyday twohour endeavor all year long and a handful of specialsamp160 So having the creative onair and publicity teams all come together amp8230 everyone at Hallmark is feeling pretty good right now especially looking across the landscape and seeing a decline with many of our competitorsSteveamp160 How has your ratings growth for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries been over the last yearMichelle amp160We are up 6 in total viewers for Hallmark Channel and 37 for Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries amp160When you think about a mature fully distributed network having continued growth like Hallmark Channel I think it39s incredibly impressive amp160Looking at Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries which is approaching 79 million subscribers having 35 growth in our original premieres is pretty stellarSteveamp160 What kind of increase in support and involvement have you seen from the advertising communityMichelle amp160Itamp8217s a competitive market out there but they come to us not only for the original content but also the environment we create amp160We hear advertisers feel associating their brands with the Hallmark brand and the content we are distributing elevates their brand our viewers say that too in our focus groups amp160The environment we create is one good for advertisers and viewersamp8217 perception of the advertisers associated with the Hallmark brand amp160Weamp8217ve had doubledigit revenue growth each and every quarter for the last twelve quarters amp160Not only are they increasing the spending in retail and pharmaceuticals we39ve attracted a lot of new categories including travel automotive and telecom amp160I think it39s because we provide a unique environment and seeing so much growth that advertiser enthusiasm for us has increasedSteveamp160 Social media is everevolving and an integral part of the brandamp160 What can you tell me about your growth in that areaMichelle amp160Our social media growth year after year is staggering 62 million people have subscribed to Crown Media Family Networksamp8217 social feeds with 54 million of those on Facebook amp160The kinds of increases weamp8217re seeing represent 150 growth in that area amp160We received a report recently that every single platform we engage in from Twitter to Instagram has seen phenomenal gain yearafteryear and engagement is like no other media content company amp160Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries social engagement is seven times more than its competitors on Instagram and 167 more than on Facebook amp160Weamp8217re told people are 95 pleased with everything thing they see on the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies ampamp MysteriesSteveamp160 Given the everexpanding nature of social media are there any new implementations planned to further capitalize on itMichelle amp160We talk about engagement and thatamp8217s where we start amp160What do viewers and consumers think about when they think of the Hallmark brandamp160 This goes without saying but we always say it anyway Itamp8217s one of the most iconic brands in American history and involves a very high level of emotional connectivity Itamp8217s relationshiporiented surrounded with feeling and emotionamp160 So starting from that we really tap into what people are experiencing at any given time of the year then reflect that back to them and engage them from a social media and programming perspectiveAll the movies I talked about for the most part are attached to very relatable seasonal or holiday events in peopleamp8217s lives happening to them in real time amp160We have our Countdown to Christmas on Hallmark Channel whereamp160between that channel and the Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries channel in December we have 80 million viewers come through one or both of themamp160 We are the No 1 cable network across the entire television landscape in November and December amp160Thatamp8217s just Christmas we also have our Countdown to Valentineamp8217s Day event Summer Nights our Fall Harvest event along with June Weddings We tap into what our consumers and viewers are thinking about reacting to and going through in their daily livesWe then program to that and engage them in social media amp160A great example is our upcoming July event which coincides with the Hallmark Gold Crown Stores and their Keepsake Ornaments amp160In July the stores and ornaments division of the Gold Crown Stores along with other outlets where they distribute release their catalogs of featured ornaments for the year amp160The stores will hold different celebrations with people lining up to get their ornaments amp160Itamp8217s one of their biggest retail events of the year and our networks reflect that with our twoweek Christmas Keepsake event on Hallmark Channel and Gold Crown Event on Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteriesamp160 All our favorite Christmas movies are programmed and we see a ratings increaseamp160 By doing that we see the social media enthusiasm where people are talking about their ornaments along with their favorite Christmas moviesSteveamp160 The level of talent involved in social media with regard to your movie premieres is second to none amp160How important is that element of your social media presence and making your programming an event thatamp8217s so interactiveMichelleamp160 We are indebted to our talent and consider them family amp160We look at it like this when somebody is engaged in a series they come back week after week or year after year to see their favorite characters or favorite star Thatamp8217s how we feel about our talent familyamp160 We cast Candace Cameron Bure Lori Laughlin and Lacey Chabert in multiple movies each year in return they are generous about supporting their movies the network and brandamp160 In large part itamp8217s due to our publicity department talent relations and programming team who feel that as a reflection of the Hallmark brand treating your talent like family results in that kind of response from them on social mediaamp160 Their engagement is infectious but itamp8217s also something for which we are very gratefulSteveamp160 Are you continually looking at some of the more popular movie franchises to take to series as you have done successfully in the pastMichelleamp160 Weamp8217re always looking at how we can expand based on the success we are currently seeing amp160Right now the movie mystery wheel which we fashioned after highly successful past movies and mystery wheels like McMillan ampamp Wife Columbo and The Rockford Files all had a huge library of twohour movies amp160What we love about them is that we can develop our characters more in depth in a twohour movie and tell a great story amp160For the moment we think our mystery wheel format is perfect amp160This summer our Garage Sale Mysteries movies starring Lori Laughlin have been developed into an August event of limited movies amp160A Garage Sale Mysteries movie will air every weekend in August amp160So weamp8217re expanding in that way and looking to see which others we might want to expand to another monthlong eventAll of Hallmark Channelamp8217s successful seriesamp8217 were born out of twohour movie pilots amp160We look to our audience who think of movies when they think of us When our viewers respond with enthusiasm weamp8217ve extended themamp160 Chesapeake Shores became a onehour series from a twohour pilotamp160 Its second season begins in June Good Witch was born from a series of successful movies till we thought it would make a great seriesamp160 The whole team at Hallmark is very vigilant in wanting to challenge themselves and raise the baramp160 Itamp8217s all about the brandClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Crown Media’s Michelle Vicary on the Power of the Brand

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