Hallmark NorthPole
Snow my gosh, welcome to the professional adventure of a lifetime. Elf slang was one detail from a vast story world that fueled an unprecedented Hallmark initiative.
Entertainment, product and marketing groups had never collaborated this way. Charlie O’Shields and I were at the center of it all.
We were executive producers on the first Hallmark movie created through corporate. We crafted Polarrific! (That’s the cartoon elf kids watch after toy-making school, in case you didn’t know.) We oversaw marketing, including a Times Square experience. And our team developed a full product line that earned prime shelf space well beyond Hallmark franchisees.
Anchoring it all was the NorthPole Communicator, a product that almost didn’t happen. I spearheaded testing to prove we could simulate live communication using pre-recorded prompts. It worked. Children were convinced their daily conversations with Santa and the elves were real.
Charlie and I were the generators and keepers of the story world. We sold to buyers, from Walmart to Hallmark franchisees, by sharing the “true story” of our visit to Santa’s hometown—today, a modern metropolis. We never broke character. Adults became kids in front of our eyes, asking questions they’d saved since their own childhood. We had an answer for everything, all captured in the 80-page white paper I developed as we brainstormed with Hallmark’s unmatched creative minds.
The request was a 4th quarter franchise that could generate $10 million the first year. We hit $30 million.
Bringing NorthPole to life was pure magic.
