Halloween may be one of the most popular events for marketers as well as children. The holiday offers a chance for brands to show creativity in how they relate their brands to ghosts, haunted houses and scary monsters.
The holiday is one of the latest events to focus on real-time marketing, touted as a hot new marketing trend. Real-time marketing involves creating a strategy focused on current events or trends and obtaining immediate feedback.
Real-time marketing is not the same as newsjacking, which some consider a pejorative term. It’s not a rushed tweet sent in hopes of gaining fleeting attention. Real-time marketing involves well thought-out strategies. The best campaigns are flexible enough to adapt to conversations and events and frequently engage followers with videos, contests and incentives for user-generated content. Relatively new video capabilities of social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are especially appealing for real-time Halloween marketing campaigns.
These are some of the best Halloween marketing campaigns from recent years to stimulate your campaign development for this year.
Oreos
Oreos put a new twist on the 1970s horror film with its “Exortwist” video clip for Vine, even though the cookie bears little resemblance to Linda Blair.
Tide
Tide also spoofed horror movies by placing its products in leading roles in short social media videos. In this clip based a scene from “The Shining,” Tide invited another Procter & Gamble product, Downy, “to come place with us forever and ever and ever …” Downy responded by repeating the “Here’s Johnny!” scene from the movie – replacing Jack Nicholson’s head with a bottle of Downy.
Chipotle
Chipotle usually holds an annual Halloween promotion benefiting its Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. Last year, customers dressed in costume on Halloween night received a $3 burrito for free. Bringing the promotion to social media, the company asked customers to tag photos of themselves in costume on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #ChipotleBooritoContest for a chance at a $2500 prize. This year, Chipotle will offer $3 food items to customers dressed in a costume with an, “unnecessary” addition. The point is to emphasize that its food does not contain unnecessary additivities and processed ingredients common in fast food. A video promoted on its website and social media with the #Boorito hashtag calls unnatural ingredients scary.
Arby’s
Arby’s offered free bacon to customers who said “Trick or Meat” while ordering, as part of its “treat to customers.” The promise of free bacon probably convinced at least some customers consumers to stop at Arby’s for lunch.
You like bacon. We like you. Say #TrickOrMeat on Halloween & we’ll add free bacon to your order. pic.twitter.com/EAqfSJqDVv
— Arby’s (@Arbys) October 30, 2014
Bottom Line: These Halloween marketing campaign from major brands set the bar for marketers. By examining these campaigns, marketers can learn how others are entertaining, engaging and maybe even scaring customers.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
