Do you know how Hallmark became a successful company? They introduced expectation. They used a seemingly worthless trinket to set a low bar, but a bar where none had existed before.

I’ve been thinking about this since Valentine’s Day, the original “card” day.  People have been handing out Valentines to their loves for hundreds of years, by far pre-dating the Hallmark company, and let’s be realistic for a moment, there’s only so much you can do with a card.  By the time Hallmark entered the market, it had pretty much been mined for everything the lode had to offer.

But Hallmark came up with an ingenious idea.  The Valentine is supposed to be the absolute least you can give your significant other, right?  Like, if you get your lady nothing but a card, she’s still probably going to be pissed off at you, correct?  That’s been the main selling point for Hallmark.  Essentially they say to the Valentine buyer “Come on cheapskate, it’s only a card.”, the same as every other card manufacturer.

But Hallmark was the first company to expand that idea.  They created the now cliched “Hallmark Holidays”.  They took seemingly innocuous days and blew them up a teensy, weensy, little bit.

Just about every day of the year is National Day of Something-or-Other.  From National Adopt-A-Cat Month (June) to National Ice Cream Sandwich Day (Aug. 2nd), our calender is choked with “Official Holidays” and “Observances” which provided a ready arsenal of reasons to get someone to say “What the heck, it’s only a card.”

It started with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.  Hallmark launched an advertising campaign designed to look you in the eye and hit you with ye olde guilt trip.  “Hey, schmuck!  What, your mother doesn’t deserve a card on Mother’s Day?  She had to wipe your crying ass for years, ingrate.”

See, that was the beauty of it.  They don’t ask much of you, just that you have as much decency as a neanderthal and get your loved one a card to show you care.  They introduce the idea that you should be purchasing something, preferably their card, in an effort to demonstrate affection for another person on days where such an expectation did not exist before.

For instance:  My money on the next big Hallmark Holiday?  National Middle Children’s Day. (August 12th)  If those neglected crazies don’t need a card, who does?  You know how easy a sale that will be?  A 30 second prime time commercial designed to remind everyone of the plight of those who aren’t the favored eldest, nor the angelic baby of the family, and poof!  Every middle child will get a card.  The expectation has been set!

The problem with over-commercialization of these pseudo holidays isn’t Hallmark’s fault.  All they’ve ever asked is that you purchase a meager card.  The problem comes from the fact that the expectation is set in the first place.  Once one company proves that they can get you to make a purchase, even a small one, through a guilt trip, the flood gates open wide. 

For example: The first official use of the term “Mother’s Day” in the US was in 1912.  That’s right!  The “holiday” is less than 100 years old, and it’s already a $15.8 billion dollar money maker!

What happened?  Hallmark got you to think that the day deserved a card.  For Mom.  And as soon as you accepted that premise, the next company to come along said “Hey, what kind of bum are you that you’d only get Mom a card?  Grab some chocolates, buddy.”  It was on from there.

Look again at Valentine’s Day.  It used to be that you couldn’t go wrong with a handmade card and some roses.  Not anymore!!!  The bar has been raised so high these days that you can barely get by with a card, roses, chocolates, dinner, and a nice bottle of wine.  I mean, you do have to show you care, right?

The introduction of expectation.  It’s so powerful, and beautiful, because of its simplicity.  Starts small, doesn’t ask much, but quickly explodes into rapid growth, in the end  leaving you with something completely different than what you started out with.  Amazing.

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