For some, the day after Thanksgiving is the unofficial kickoff for the Christmas season. But for Hallmark Channel, the “Countdown to Christmas” marathon of holiday programming gets underway in October and continues until the big day. Each year, the Patron Brand of Holiday Cheer finds a new way to get the merriment rolling.
With 2024 a major election year, Hallmark took the idea of whistle stop tour and turned it into a Jingle Stop Tour with a multi-city tour featuring Hallmark movie stars, hot cocoa and more. This year, it decided to play up Hallmark Original movie “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas,“ premiering Nov. 29, in starting the Countdown. We spoke with Hallmark Chief Communications Officer Annie Howell about how the brand is ringing in the season and how it’s leaning into a “One Hallmark” approach that makes Hallmark Media a more cohesive part of the overall Hallmark brand.
Chief Marketer: Why—beyond the upcoming “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas”—did it make sense to concentrate the Countdown to Christmas launch festivities to Nashville this year?
Annie Howell, Chief Communications Officer at Hallmark: Fans, who are the heart of our network and brand, continually ask us, “Will you bring Hallmark to my city? When can Hallmark come to my town?” So this year, we wanted our Countdown to Christmas launch to do quintuple duty — target mid-size markets with large viewership and fanbases (check!); relevant connection to content, in this case “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas” (check!); build in opportunities to reinforce our strategy around One Hallmark by hosting fan meet-and-greets in Hallmark Gold Crown stores; give back to the community with a visit to Children’s Hospital and a few hours packing Christmas stockings and Halloween goody bags at The Store, the charity of Brad and Kimberly Williams Paisley (did we mention that Brad also wrote and sang several songs for the Opry movie in addition to our on-air holiday anthem, “Counting Down the Days”) (big check on that one); and, the ability to attract significant press and social coverage, which we did through a broadcast media tour/junket, an all-day photo activation, stage show and line dancing at Opry Plaza and participation in an actual Grand Ole Opry performance and evening red carpet launch event featuring 24 Hallmark stars and musicians featured in Opry, as well as other Hallmark Christmas movies and series (CHECK!).
We strategically created experiences for fans to have fun, connect with friends and family, and celebrate “Countdown to Christmas” with us while we promoted our much-anticipated annual content event. Of course, Nashville matches the charm of a Hallmark movie and we’re so grateful that the city, especially the Grand Ole Opry community, welcomed us with such open arms to film “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas.” It was the perfect place to kick off the holiday season.
CM: Approximately how many people attended the free events?
AH: Approximately 2,500 fans joined in on the celebrations across the meet-and-greets, Opry Plaza activation and kickoff party at Category 10.
CM: How did the event tie into actress Lacey Chabert’s new product line in Hallmark retail stores? And will there be tie in with programming?
AH: Lacey Chabert autographed product from her all-new Lacey Chabert Collection and met fans at our first official Hallmark star meet-and-greet at a local Gold Crown store. It was so wonderful seeing fans from near and far — Michigan to Florida — and of all ages line up early, all decked out in their holiday best, to meet Lacey and our fan-favorite stars. The Lacey Chabert Collection is featured in Season 2, Episode 7 of Lacey’s unscripted series, “Celebrations with Lacey Chabert.” The final party scene shows beautiful wrapping paper, cups, plates, tea towels … You can catch the episode on Hallmark+. The collection captures Lacey’s warm touch and timeless style that fans have loved seeing throughout her Hallmark Channel tenure.
CM: How will you use the experiences in Nashville to support the promotion and publicity of Countdown to Christmas throughout the holiday season?
AH: As part of our One Hallmark mindset that unifies Hallmark Cards and Media under one brand umbrella, we’ve enjoyed creating branded experiences, like our Nashville takeover, that immerse fans in Hallmark’s world of joy, warmth and positivity. Nashville was an innovative step for us in bringing this world directly to our fans’ front door. We will continue marketing “Countdown to Christmas” with this personal, localized approach of, Hallmark is where you gather with your loved ones, whether it’s cozied up on the couch watching our latest programming or at these branded fan experiences. We were able to make a positive impact on so many fans that week, and that goes a long way for us.
CM: Do you have some more Christmas cheer planned for the rest of the year?
AH: Always! We set sail with over 4,500 fans on the sold-out Hallmark Christmas Cruise from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico, last month. If you weren’t able to snag a cabin this year, signups are open now for our 2026 Hallmark Christmas Cruise — or, you can join us in November at our Hallmark Christmas Experience, at Hallmark Cards’ headquarters in Kansas City for tree lightings, sing-alongs, talent meet-and-greets, panels, creative workshops and more.
We’ll also head to Buffalo for the premiere of “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story,” our tentpole movie in partnership with the NFL and Skydance Sports. In addition to our VIP reception and screening, we’re letting the fans and local community in on the action with an open-to-the-public Peppermint fan rally with a stroll including our stars, Bills players, a few quintessential Bills tailgate vehicles and Billy Buffalo, himself.
Amy Maclean is Editorial Director at Cablefax.
[Photo credit: Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for Hallmark Media]
