October is one of the most crucial months for marketing because of the consumerist holiday, Halloween, especially with this year’s record number of people dressing up and celebrating the day of the dead. With the holiday spirit in full swing, and the 31st quickly approaching, we want to exhibit some of the creative and innovative ways brands are promoting their products for the season.
Spookify Normal Ads
First, there are the classic picture advertisements altered for the season. In Maytag’s advertisement, the “Maytag Man” persona from their commercials encourages their audience to dress up as the Maytag man for Halloween because it’s a “dependable” costume. Clever.
Psst. Halloween is right around the corner. Who out there is flirtin’ with the idea of dressin’ as Maytag? pic.twitter.com/ASMcKGn4jS
— The Maytag Man (@TheMaytagMan) October 25, 2014
Contests
Contests are an excellent way to gather a social media presence, because, well, who doesn’t like winning things? This next ad promotes Milgard Windows’ Halloween-themed contest with a $500 prize for the person with the best window decorations.
Did you decorate your windows or doors for Halloween? Enter our photo contest for a chance to win $500! pic.twitter.com/PXmZF1YnYA — Milgard Windows (@milgard) October 27, 2014
Encouraging Interaction
Another smart move for social media interaction is encouraging your followers to retweet you. The more interaction, the better, of course. Posting something relevant to people’s lives will engage their interest, which is a simple task during the holiday seasons. In this Pop-Tarts ad, viewers are asked to retweet, or “RT,” if they want to eat a delicious pop-tart with a Halloween twist.
RT if you’d sprout fangs just to bite into this bad boy. pic.twitter.com/VV2OZNU3ST
— Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts (@PopTarts411) October 3, 2014
Do Something Different
If you really want your brand to stand out at Halloween, try doing something nobody else is doing. For instance, Buzzfeed posted a tweet asking viewers to send in pictures of their pets and promised to create an illustration of their pets wearing a costume in return. A smart move for the brand that thrives on pictures of adorable animals and pop culture content.
Send Us A Picture Of Your Pet And We’ll Illustrate It In A Halloween Costume http://t.co/6Rz48TJLaW pic.twitter.com/mVPzRw9xum — BuzzFeed Community (@BuzzFeeders) October 27, 2014
New Placement
If you want to go out on a limb for your holiday marketing, but aren’t quite as creative as Buzzfeed, try advertising somewhere new. Ouija, a new horror film that came out October 24th, posted an ad on Snapchat—something no brand had ever done before. The ad appeared as a sponsored “story,” so all snapchatters could hold down on the video to watch.
Discounts
With everybody spending money on decorations, costumes, and candy, people watch out for coupons to save on just about anything during the month of October. Posting about holiday discounts will get extra attention at this time, even if your product is irrelevant to Halloween. This TunnelBear ad demonstrates this tactic perfectly. What does Internet privacy have to do with Halloween? Everything, apparently.
Because getting tracked online is spooky… Save 33% on a ferocious TunnelBear until halloween! https://t.co/HtMgbFTbfA pic.twitter.com/2TvpUosZF9
— TunnelBear (@theTunnelBear) October 27, 2014
Fundraisers
A great way to get in the holiday spirit is to give back to your community. Create and promote a fundraiser with a Halloween theme, sponsored by your brand. Chipotle will be giving out $3 “Booritos” to anyone who comes into a store in costume after 5pm on Halloween. All proceeds will go to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. Pretty neat!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCWivKAkPoA
Videos/Commercials
Halloween is a versatile holiday; it can be spooky, cute, and/or festive. These three Halloween-inspired ads reflect this myriad of moods in the themes for each commercial.
Ford published a commercial where volunteers were taken through a “spooky car wash”—kind of like a haunted house, but for cars. The hidden cameras reveal the volunteers’ screams as actors in masks appear all around them. The creativity alone is sending shivers down my spine!
Crest covered the cute side of Halloween with their commercial. In it, a man conducts a “scientific study” on children dressed in costumes to learn about their candy consumption on Halloween. Luckily for parents, Crest will keep their teeth healthy through the sugary holiday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO5ViZDTqd8
For the festive aspect of Halloween, Lowes posted a Vine of someone hammering a cookie cutter into a pumpkin to carve it on all sides. The pumpkin then starts to spin, and the result is mesmerizing. Check it out for yourself!
Use a cookie cutter and a hammer for perfect pumpkin carving. #lowesfixinsix #halloween #pumpkin #diy #jack… https://t.co/FjFcb7fRBC
— Lowe’s (@Lowes) October 24, 2014
If you didn’t get to promote your brand with Halloween-themed ads this season, fear not- Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner! Make sure to incorporate some of these tactics in your marketing strategies for the upcoming holidays.
And, of course, have a very happy Halloween!
