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Hallmark Cards Inc.: Trends and Countertrends
Introduction
Ask any American whether they have heard about Hallmark Cards and the answer is more likely to be in the affirmative. This company has been around the American social scene for the past one hundred years. It was established in 1910 by one visionary teenager named Joyce C. Hall (Kozar, Burkholder & Beyer, 2009, p56). From a stock of greeting cards stuffed in two shoe boxes, and probably snuggled under the teenagers arm as he stepped off the train in Kansas, hallmark has grown to be one of the worlds largest companies dealing with the production of seasonal cards. Rainer and Turban (2009, p3) are of the view that as of 2010, this company was estimated to be worth 4.3 billion dollars. Fifty percent of all cards sent in America are from this company (Hallmark, 2010, para. 3). The company has undergone a lot of transformation from these humble beginnings. It has had its share of ups and downs, just like any successful business organization out there. The difference between this organization and others that have failed is that it was able to take advantage of its opportunities and deal with challenges and threats accordingly.
Trends and Countertrends at Hallmark Inc
A flip through the companys website will reveal some of the trends and countertrends that are displayed in this organization. The site provides a commentary of the growth path that has been followed as it moved from a company operated on a small basis to a multinational. It is indicated that Joyce C. Hall, the founder, ran it from his room in a local YMCA (Hallmark, 2010, para. 5). He sold cards on a wholesale basis to local traders, pharmacists and grocers included. He took advantage of the growing popularity of greeting cards in the first decade of the twentieth century (Kozar et al, 2009, p45). He correctly predicted that postcards will diminish in importance in American society, and they will be replaced by greetings cards (Rainer & Turban, 2009, p2). This is because greeting cards were more sentimental than postcards (Rainer & Turban, 2009, p3).
Joyce might have been right when he predicted the rise of greeting cards and the decline of postcards. But there was one thing that he had not planned for, and perhaps not expected to happen to him and his company. A tragedy was to befall the fledgling company on January 11, 1915. This was five years after the company was set up in the YMCA, where it was still being run from. On a fateful day, a fire gutted down the YMCA, and the companys entire stock went up in smoke (Hallmark, 2010, para. 7). Joyce Hall, looking back on this fateful day, was of the view that this would have been a perfect moment for him and his brother Rollie Hall to throw in the towel, were they the faint-hearted ilk (Hallmark, 2010, para. 8).
But instead of letting this catastrophe bring them down, the two brothers used it to take their business to the next level. They turned around a potential breaker into a realistic maker. They borrowed seventeen thousand dollars, and acquired a new monogramming firm, as a result starting to make their cards (Kozar et al, 2009, p8). Coulter (2008, p28) holds the view that businesses are faced with a myriad of external threats, but what sets apart those who make it and those who do not is the fact that the former uses the threats to their advantage. The Hall brothers used the fire catastrophe as an opportunity to start a fresh, to breathe new life into a fledgling business enterprise.
Other trends mentioned on the website include news on the companys line of products. These include greeting cards, gifts, gift wraps, ornaments, holiday cards among others (Hallmark, 2010, para. 3). It is important to note that the company deals with both electronic cards that can be sent over the internet and conventional handwritten ones. The website also states the range of new products that the company has launched in the year 2010. They include, among others, webcam cards and memory-keeping ones (Hallmark, 2010, para. 6). These were especially in response to the changing trends in the market, for example, the proliferation of information technology. The introduction of cards that can combine both virtual and physical features was a strategic managements response to this change.
The trends mentioned on the companys home page have implications for the strategies that will be implemented by the management team. For example, the proliferation of information technology in America has made the management team come up with a strategic plan, as earlier mentioned, that sought to take advantage of this. Gamble & Arthur (2008, p92) opine, just like Coulter (2008, p82) that a business enterprise can take advantage of developments in the society and move to the next level or risk being brought down by the developments. The Internet made communication between people in different parts of the world easier and made it better because it was possible to communicate in real-time. This, under normal circumstances, would have been a death knell to the era of greeting cards. However, Hallmark took this in stride and introduced e-cards and Facebook pages that allowed people to send cards online (Kozar et al, 2009, p65). As such, the company remained relevant.
Other companies could learn from the story of Hallmark through the years. An important lesson here is the fact that opportunities should be exploited to push the business forward, while threats should be turned around to work for, rather than against, the business.
But there are some facets central to the operation of this company that is lacking from the home page. A case in point is the amount of external threat, and the extent of it, that the company is facing from the American and global society. It is a fact beyond doubt that the company has a greater competitive advantage, what with the long history and a wide range of goods. But card-making computer programs, e-cards from other companies like Fred Meyers (Kozar et al, 2009, p56) are a risk to the future of Hallmark Cards. It creates an impression that the author of this site has not carried an external threat analysis of the company, which will not be surprising given the many challenges that face such an activity, including societal fluidity. But if the omission is not by design, it would be very unprofessional of the strategic managers not to carry out this analysis.
Conclusion
Caring enough to send the very best (Kozar et al, 2009, p30) is the slogan for Hallmark Cards, and, following this edict, the company cares enough for the social communication of Americans and other people in the world to send them the very best greeting cards, wrappers, and gifts among other things from their factories. Despite the many challenges including competition and changing times, the company remains a major player in the greeting cards industry.
Reference
Coulter, M. (2008). Strategic Management in Action. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Gamble, J. & Arthur, T. (2008). Essentials of Strategic Management. New York: McGraw Hill.
Hallmark. (2010). Hallmark celebrates a hundred years of helping you say it all: A century of caring, sharing and laughing. Web.
Kozar, R., Burkholder, D. & Beyer, E. (2009). Hallmark: Retailer report. Web.
Rainer, R. E. & Turban, B. L. (2009). Introduction to information systems. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley and Sons, 36-45.
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