Kansas City, Mo. ? Hallmark Cards Inc. began its most expensive advertising campaign ever Monday, in an effort geared toward persuading women to send more greeting cards.

Hallmark hopes the yearlong, $30 million campaign, which is targeted to women 35 and older, will boost the slumping sales of greeting cards.

“We certainly have experienced slight to minimal growth (in greeting cards), so certainly this is a way to grow the category,” said Hallmark’s director of advertising, Kylie Watson-Wheeler.

The theme and title of the campaign is “Rememberin’,” with the tagline: “Send a card. They’ll never forget you remembered.”

The first ad, aired Monday during prime-time television, focuses on Mother’s Day the No. 3 holiday in terms of numbers of cards purchased.

The campaign, which also eventually will include radio spots, was created by Hallmark’s advertising agency, Leo Burnett.

The campaign begins after a year in which Hallmark saw its 2001 revenues drop 8 percent, to $4 billion, compared with the year before. It was the first time in more than a decade that year-over-year sales declined.

Part of that decline was a 1 percent drop in Hallmark’s North American business, which includes the sale of greeting cards, stationery, gift wrap, ornaments, partyware and gifts.

Watson-Wheeler said the campaign focuses on women because they already buy 85 percent of the greeting cards sold industrywide.

Today’s woman “still is very engaged in that category, but her life is incredibly busy,” Watson-Wheeler said. “What they told us was, ‘Remind me what it’s like to send a card and what it means to the recipient.”‘

Other ads will focus on birthdays, a tribute to fathers, sisters and two friends growing old together.