October 31st is slowing creeping up on us and every year, we love seeing what creative, engaging and spooky campaigns brands come up with. Considering that the UK value of Halloween is £419m, it’s not surprising that UK businesses want a slice of that (pumpkin) pie.
Here are just a few of our favourite Halloween marketing campaigns from the last few years that will inspire you with your own campaigns:
1. Spookermarket from Tesco
With Halloween being the third biggest retail event of the year, it’s not surprising that Tesco wants their campaigns to be memorable. In Tesco’s 2015 advertising campaign dubbed ‘Spookermarket’, the supermarket hid several scares around two of their stores, including haunted shopping trolleys, staff members in scary masks and disembodied heads behind toilet paper.
According to data by Campaign Live, Tesco was the most talked-about supermarket on social media and 80% of overall Tesco Halloween conversations were positive. With Tesco dealing with a negative brand image that year, this was exactly what the supermarket needed to boost sales.
2. A treat for the lovers, a trick for the haters
Last year, Marmite released two limited-edition Halloween jars coming in two variations – a ‘Halloween Trick’ to ‘petrify a Marmite hater’ and a ‘Halloween Treat’ to ‘spoil a Marmite lover’, both which could be personalised.
Knowing that opinions are very divided about Marmite, this was a great idea by the company to not only boost sales but generate online conversations.
A treat for the lovers, a trick for the haters!
— Marmite (@marmite) October 2, 2018
Grab one of our limited edition personalised #Halloween Trick & Treat jars available for October only: https://t.co/BAXSYVLGSd pic.twitter.com/kTcKYRUldk
3. Topshop: Stranger Things In-Store Experience
Back in 2017, Netlix teamed up with Arcadia Group to offer an immersive Stranger Things experience in the Topshop flagship store on Oxford Street in London.
As well as promoting the store and allowing visitors to purchase Stranger Things merchandise, the retailer transformed the store into iconic setting from the show to create a truly great customer experience.
4. Fanta and Snapchat
Probably one the most fantastic recent examples of integration between physical product and social media, in 2018 Fanta released Halloween-themed cans with QR codes that unlocked exclusive Snapchat filters. With Snapchat being particularly popular with 16 to 19 year olds, this campaign was themed around transformation and encouraging more teenagers across Western Europe to purchase this beverage.
The campaign cost £3 million and included digital and outdoor advertising as well as Fanta teaming up with Lad Bible and influencer Joe Tasker to bring the campaign to life.
Image Source: Ads of the World
5. ‘Ghoulish’ Beers Mats
With the goal to generate traffic to pubs and bars on Halloween, for every Guinness beer bought, a ghostly coaster was given, which transformed the shadows of the Guinness glass into ghosts, goblins and devils.
The result? Patrons really enjoyed the idea and wanted to bring them home as memento, which drove sales, and of course, attracted new customers.
Image Source: Ads of the World
What has been your favourite spooky marketing campaign you’ve seen this year? Tweet us at @Visua1print.
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