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HALLMARK CHANNEL / COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS

 

HALLMARK CHANNEL / COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS 2023

 
 

the countdown begins

ON A STEAMY SUMMER DAY IN 2022, THE KILL 2 BIRDS CREW DONNED UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS, BLASTED SOME BURL IVES AND BEGAN CONCEPT WORK FOR HALLMARK’S 2023 ‘COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS’ CAMPAIGN.  

IT’S NOT OFTEN YOU GET A YEAR AND A HALF HEAD START ON A PROJECT, BUT THIS WAS NO ORDINARY PROJECT. IF THERE WAS A SUPER BOWL FOR CHRISTMAS, IT WOULD BE “COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS”. CTC IS AN ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE TELEVISION EVENT, ATTRACTING MORE THAN 60 MILLION UNIQUE VIEWERS EACH YEAR, RUNNING NONSTOP FROM OCTOBER THROUGH DECEMBER. IT’S ALL CHRISTMAS, ALL THE TIME, AND THE FANDOM IS OFF THE CHARTS. IT WAS A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY AND WE WERE EAGER TO DIVE IN.

HALLMARK HAS BEEN A TRUSTED PARTNER FOR YEARS, SO THE WORK FLOW WAS EASY, TRADING DOZENS AND DOZENS OF CONCEPTUAL IDEAS OVER FORTHCOMING MONTHS. HALLMARK’S BRAND POSITION, ‘WHERE LOVE HAPPENS’ GUIDED THE CREATIVE LIKE RUDOLPH’S NOSE, LEADING US TO ‘THE SWEETEST SEASON’; A CONCEPTUAL PLATFORM INSPIRED BY THE LOVE OF CHRISTMAS CANDY — MANY SHAPED LIKE HEARTS OF COURSE.  

BY THE TIME SPRINGSTEEN’S ‘SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN’ HIT THE K2B TURNTABLES, WE WERE HEADED TO THE NORTH POLE!

 
 

package montage

 

package overview

 
 

THE SWEETEST SEASON 

INDEED, CHRISTMAS HAS NEVER BEEN SWEETER! THE KILL 2 BIRDS TEAMS BAKED A DEEP LIBRARY OF EDIBLE ASSETS NOT ONLY FOR ON-AIR, BUT ACROSS ALMOST EVERY ‘COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS’ TOUCH POINT.  WRAPPING PAPER, BRANDED PARTNERSHIPS, PRINT, OOH, ONLINE, THE DESIGN DNA WAS EVERYWHERE.  

THE CAMPAIGN FEATURED PHOTO-REAL CG CANDY CANES, PEPPERMINT SWIRLS, LOLLIPOPS, COOKIES, RIBBON CANDY, AND A HOST OF OTHER HOLIDAY CANDY FAVORITES, ALL ENCAPSULATED IN CHEERY PATTERNS AND COLORS. THE ANIMATION IS DYNAMIC, BUT MEASURED, PROVIDING THE PERFECT AMOUNT OF ENERGY WITHOUT OVERPOWERING THE SIMPLICITY OF THE DESIGN. IT EVOKES THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY ENTICING THE AUDIENCE TO REACH THROUGH THE SCREEN FOR A QUICK BITE.  

HALLMARK’S CTC FANS WATCH FOR HOURS AT A TIME, SO IT WAS IMPERATIVE THE PACKAGE HAVE DEEP VARIETY AND DEPTH. K2B PROVIDED HALLMARK’S INTERNAL TEAMS THE ABILITY TO FREQUENTLY VERSION ASSETS VIA COLOR, pattern, AND CANDY SWAPS, DELIVERING AN EXTREMELY ROBUST TOOLKIT THAT WOULD ENSURE the PACKAGE WOULD NOT APPEAR REpetitive.

WITH NOSTALGIC TOUCHES AND MODERN FLAIR, THE PACKAGE WAS ABLE TO BRING THE SWEETNESS OF THE SEASON TO LIFE, REMINDING EVERYONE WHY HALLMARK’S ‘COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS', TRULY IS THE SWEETEST TIME OF THE YEAR.

 
 
 

 

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ORIGINAL concept + design development