Hallmark expands show offer

The through-the-line campaign underlines the repositioning of the channel from a pure movie provider to one offering general entertainment programming.

McLeod's Daughters - a top-rated show among Australian viewers last year - tells the story of two women fighting to keep their land in the Australian outback.

Hallmark moved to reposition itself after research showed that audiences wanted more variety. Its Asia-Pacific managing director, Terence Yau, said: "The focus has always been on family-oriented programmes which feature lifestyles and relation- ships. But we have now also added drama series and women's and children's shows. These should help us grow and we believe that McLeod's Daughters could be one of our driver series."

The repositioning has allowed Hallmark to repackage its offering from premium to basic, opening up new markets for the channel."We're already seeing successes: In Malaysia, the number of subscribers has jumped from 400,000 to 700,000 while in Singapore, it's moving from 250,000 to 300,000,

Yau said. In addition, McLeod's Daughters has already attracted a sponsor in Fiat Palio.

The McLeod's Daughters campaign was developed by a combination of three teams: in-house, Igloo in Hong Kong and Leo Burnett in India.

According to Hallmark marketing director, Laxmi Hariharan, the campaign in Southeast Asia was mainly public relations-driven, while India used a combination of PR, outdoor, print, radio and cinema.