Halloween themed Digital Campaigns

Halloween in the UK is rather low key in comparison to the highly commercialised event in the US. However with many households cutting back on their spending, fearing the impact of the government’s spending cuts, Halloween has provided a substantial trading boost for many UK retailers. Market researchers Nielsen estimate Halloween was worth around 300 million pounds to food and drink retailers in the three weeks to October 31 last year,  making Halloween the third most lucrative trading period for retailers after Christmas and Easter. The BBC  indicate another factor behind the increase in the sales of Halloween products is that it is not just for children, more adults now than ever and holding Halloween parties.

US & UK Retailer Comparison

A Halloween focused Internet Retailer Holiday Shopping Survey polled more than 2,000 consumers and found that 71% of U.S online shoppers expect to spend within the region of $25 and $100 on Halloween items.  Another Internet Retailer survey revealed that 29% of U.S adults shopping online for Halloween specific items have used their mobile phones.  This may perhaps be explained by the skew of Halloween shoppers leaning towards younger consumers and any perceived risks of purchasing via a mobile may have been alleviated noting the one off usage and value of Halloween related products, thus making it more of a low involvement purchase decision for consumers.

In contrast to US retailers who have mainly tended to start their marketing efforts, the Econsultancy suggests UK Halloween specific campaigns have been rather few and far between and even begin to question whether Halloween is such a big deal after all? Most notable offline campaigns in the UK include Tesco’s affordable range of products including Pumpkins, Costumes and Films and expect to sell £55 million worth of goods during the run up to the occasion.  Ribena are also planning to launch a new website this month and intend to time the launch to align the brand with seasonal events after introducing a range of Halloween themed drinks.

Digital Halloween Campaigns

Halloween provides retailers with a hook to help engage consumers through their marketing campaigns. Social Media platforms also tend to see increased usage with users searching for the most original costumes and sharing their experiences with their friends. The Telegraph revealed that the teams at Facebook typically see a 20% increase in photo sharing during the week of Halloween. I’ve taken a closer look at some of the best Halloween themed campaigns running, as we move even closer towards the 31^st of October, a clear theme I’ve spotted throughout is that of Zombies!

Sears: Where have all the Cool Zombies Gone?

The most impressive Halloween campaign I’ve come across is that of US department store Sears.  They have made a real effort to promote their costumes and decorations this Halloween having launched a website for the undead and have combined this with offline store makeovers around the Zombie Shopper theme. The site features zombies in place of the living models, zombie version of ads and even offers a Zombie gift guide. The gift guide invites consumers to search for a gift based on your zombie’s preference of brain or Blue Zombie Crew that are your trusty undead experts. Sears have even gone as far as implementing a Zombian language in some ads. Having already adopted social shopping, they have even set up a dedicated Twitter feed to help new zombies to shop.  A series of videos to support the campaign have been posted on YouTube and have proved incredibly popular with one even recording 68,000 views.

Converse Frankenpic Facebook Campaign

In an attempt to engage their target consumers, Converse have fun and easy to use app present as an additional tab on their Facebook page. It is possible to transmogrify your profile photo for Halloween and share the results with your friends.  The app also states that you can use webcams to achieve the best experience and additional hidden secrets can be unlocked by liking the app.

Yahoo Zombie Game – Shambling Hordes

Yahoo has launched a zombie themed game just in time for Halloween. Although it is seasonally appropriate it is the social game is also intended to help players master the principles of game theory, advanced mathematics, classical economics and budget allocation.  The game is simple enough to play but it is also the kind of game that could challenge you to use some strategy. A round of Shambling Hordes takes around 15 minutes depending on the map you choose and the number of battles you enter.

If any of you have tested out any of these apps and games let us know what you thought!