Marketing

IMC 503 ; Marketing Research

Cho In Huh

Nowadays, there are lots of offline companies that graft marketing research strategy onto on-line, and this strategy make great succeed in some corporations’ businesses. I can introduce Hallmark cards as an example of company based on-line marketing research.

Hallmark cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United . The Internet and technology have developed rapidly; However, most people who used to write letters in a card and attach a stamp on it started use an e-mail, text message and other medias for expressing their emotions or news. From these reasons, hallmark cards should seek some solutions for surviving. So, this company uses on-line as a tool of marketing research. They have built on-line community which is called ‘Idea Exchange’ , and managed it. This community is utilized by about two thousands housewives who have children under twelve years old. In this community, housewives share their knowledge about housing, unique recipe and talk about interiors, routine life and so on. Every contents uploaded on ‘Idea Exchange’ are monitored by research manager in Hallmark, then they can analysis peoples’ interests and need deeply through texts on on-line community. Actually, this made company gain some ideas and help develop new goods, and they made cards for condolence and parent in law. This was make great succeed and they are trying to manage another on-line community, targeting the elders and Hispanic.