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Halloween is one of the many key dates to add to your year-long marketing calendar. According to Sainsbury’s, the spooky night is now the third-biggest retail event of the year, behind Black Friday and New Year’s Eve.
2017 looks set to see Halloween spending rise up to $9.1 billion in America, but it’s not just a US celebration (thank goodness!), with UK industry expenditure rising to over £300 million last year.
With consumers investing more and more in the national holiday, it comes as no surprise that while people are getting their costumes ready, worldwide brands are busy completing Halloween marketing promotions for the festive season.
But which 2016 campaign had consumers talking the most?
Airbnb
Ever wanted to stay a night at spend a night at Dracula’s? Last year, you’d have been in luck thanks to Airbnb’s Halloween marketing campaign. The online holidaying marketplace went all out with their creepy overnight stay at Dracula Castle in Transylvania, Romania.
Airbnb advertised the chilling rental on Twitter, gaining over 100 retweets and 300 likes in a matter of hours. Those interested in staying overnight needed to apply by writing a short passage on what they would say if they came “face-to-fang” with Count Dracula.
The gothic castle helped the brand receive global press coverage from the likes of The Guardian and The Telegraph, and certainly had people talking on social media, with a reported 4,964 conversations about the campaign.
Asda
Not as scary as some of the other campaigns, but just as worthy is Asda’s heart-warming “Do Halloween This Way” advertisement. The campaign played on the difficulty many have in finding the right costume by following the tale of a young werewolf who wanted to be something different for the special day.
In the advert, the boy’s mum steps in and takes him to Asda, where he had the choice of a wide variety of costumes.
The positive response on social media from those who related to the young werewolf - or simply found the whole video adorable - led to The Drum naming it their Ad of the Day for Halloween 2016.
Burger King
The Burger King located in Rego Park, New York, came up with one of the most humorous fast-food-based Halloween marketing campaigns we have ever seen: dressing their store as the ghost of McDonald’s.
The entire exterior was covered in white sheets with the word "McDonald's" spray painted in black. Below the sheet, a sign read, “Just kidding, we still flame grill our burgers” – an obvious snide comment on their rival’s cooking methods.
Burger King have fired another shot at McDonalds in this year’s ad, encouraging US and UK customers to come “dressed as a clown to eat like a king”, thus jumping on the back of the success of the recent IT film. Any visitors who followed their instructions earned a free Whopper sandwich.
Tesco
Halloween obviously relies on consumerism, with shoppers flocking to their local store for sweets and costumes, however, Tesco went for a different approach with their 2016 campaign, which aimed to reduce the number of pumpkins going to waste.
A rotting pumpkin on a porch is a common site at the start of November, yet Tesco’s rescue stations helped to save thousands from being neglected. While not a traditional marketing campaign in the sense of directly making money, it helped put the store in people’s good books in terms of brand association.
Little Caesars
How many times do you shout “Don’t go in there” or “Run away!” at your TV screen when watching a horror film? US pizza chain Little Caesars played on this by releasing a website that urged you not to type in your address.
This, of course, led customers to type in their address, despite multiple warnings not to. Doing so would take you to an image of your house being haunted on Google Maps. The only way to ‘unhaunt’ your house? Clicking on an option that gave users directions to their nearest Little Caesars store.
Get Involved!
Have you seen a Halloween campaign that you’ve enjoyed this year? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments section or on our social channels!
In the meantime, does your business need help planning a social media marketing campaign for Christmas or another upcoming national holiday? Get in touch, we’d love to share ideas with you!
