• by Fern Siegel , November 10, 2008

Some advertisers are pulling back in the fourth quarter, but Hallmark Channel is making an aggressive push for its original holiday movies. The multimillion-dollar "Home for the Holidays" effort not only pitches cross-platform, but for the first time, TV promos will also run at Wal-Mart during checkout.

 

"Holiday" promos will air on TV, online, national radio, print, place-based ads and 4,000 Hallmark Gold Crown Stores.

The campaign kicks off Nov. 10 in Hallmark stores and also at www.hallmarkchannel.com. On-air spots for "Home for the Holidays" begin Nov. 22 and continue through Dec. 27.

"Holidays are an important time of the year for us, so we want to take the opportunity to build equity in them, create awareness and drive ratings," said Laura Masse, executive vice president, marketing, in a statement.

In addition, Nestle Toll House plans to sponsor a watch-and-win, shop-and-win sweepstakes that dovetails with the holiday fare; films run every Saturday night beginning Nov. 29. They include "Moonlight & Mistletoe" starring Tom Arnold and Candace Cameron Bure and "Our First Christmas" with Julie Warner, Steven Eckholdt and Dixie Carter.

Through Dec. 24, there will also be an in-store promotion at Hallmark Gold Crown stores featuring tune-in info, customized messages from the network's local distribution partner and coupons for up to $50 on specific holiday merchandise.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, is a basic cable network that reaches a national audience of 86 million subscribers. Crown Media also operates a second linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel. (Hallmark Movie Channel HD launched in April.) Hallmark Movie Channel is available in over 9 million U.S. homes.