Halloween provides an opportunity for brands to boost their sales. 83% of shoppers1 intend to shop during the Halloween period and spending during this holiday season reached over 12 billion US dollars in 20232.
To get the most from this period, businesses must prepare their marketing strategies as early as possible: competitions, ad campaigns, website skinning… Anticipation is crucial as 47% of shoppers3 begin buying for Halloween before October even begins.
Discover some marketing strategies to implement to get the most out of the Halloween shopping season and some inspiration from successful brands.
#Halloween Marketing Strategy # 1: Adapt your website design
Halloween is a great time to showcase your brand creativity. You could give your website a Halloween makeover by changing your typeface, including visuals or sound effects, changing the background design, adding a spooky banner…
One great example is the « Haribo » brand who customized their website design for Halloween: the addition of a « Halloween » category in the menu, slideshow in the header promoting various Halloween operations, showcasing of special offers for Halloween…
It is important to give visitors to your website a visual experience in line with the Halloween atmosphere and create selling opportunities. 44% of shoppers4 appreciate the effort and intend to look for promotions on products relating to Halloween during this period.
#Halloween Marketing Strategy # 2: Set a Challenge
Halloween celebrations are an opportunity to develop relationships with shoppers by encouraging them to interact with your brand. To achieve this some businesses set up challenges around the Halloween theme.
For example, early October 2022, Netflix posted their « Halloween challenge5 » on Instagram, challenging their followers to watch 31 horror movies in 31 days, for « a thrill every day » to countdown to Halloween.
The challenge was also an opportunity for Netflix to communicate their catalogue of « horror » films and new releases.
#Halloween Marketing Strategy # 3: Organize a competition
The Halloween season is also a great time to bolster your brand communication and create real enthusiasm around your products or services. One way of doing this is to federate your community through a competition.
Airbnb organized a competition6 with the first prize being the opportunity to spend the night of October 31, to November 1 in the « Bran Castle » in Transylvania (Romania). This castle's architecture inspired writer Bram Stoker to imagine the mythical « Dracula's Castle ».
Thanks to this marketing operation, the world leader in online holiday rentals gives their customers an original and novel experience which strengthens its value proposition.
#Halloween Marketing Strategy # 4: Revamp your packaging
Halloween is the ideal time to revamp the packaging of your leading products by adapting to the seasonal look: color change, addition of Halloween images, change of typeface…
One great example is the Heinz brand who changed the packaging for the 2021 Halloween season with their « Tomato Blood7 » bottle.
Accompanied by the slogan « If you have Heinz, you have a costume », the brand suggested that customers could use their ketchup as an alternative to « fake blood ». They also encouraged people to share their best costumes on social media with the hashtag « HeinzHalloween ».
#Halloween Marketing Strategy # 5: Create an ad campaign
All things Halloween… a chance for Marketing teams to show just how creative they can be through a unique ad campaign.
These videos are more about getting noticed by consumers than promoting a specific product.
In 2023, Ikea imagined an ad campaign, in partnership with the ad agency Ogilvy Berlin and Ogilvy UK, called « Monsters not included8 ». Through a series of short videos, the campaign revisits the myth of « monsters hiding in wardrobes or under kids' beds » in a terrifying atmosphere characteristic of Halloween.
#Halloween Marketing Strategy # 6: Launch a limited‑edition collection
This season is also a good time to introduce a limited-edition product collection.
Cosmetic brand Lush created a « horrifying9 » collection of bath bombs shaped like Frankenstein heads, ghosts, and pumpkins. Nike also brought out their « Halloween pack10 » composed of four pairs of limited edition sneakers with a Halloween feel: Nike Air Force One Low Experimental Halloween, Nike Air Force One Halloween, Nike Air Presto Halloween and Nike Dunk Low PRM Halloween.
These collections, launched during the Halloween season, really got shoppers engaged.
In conclusion, the Halloween season represents a real business opportunity and boosts the appeal of a brand and its product offer. To get the most from this season, it is important to showcase the marketing actions undertaken during this period (sales operations, competitions, adaptation of website design…) and to give shoppers an incomparable experience on all the touch points they use to look for and evaluate a product.
1
HARIBO®, Vente de bonbons et produits dérivés. Site Officiel HARIBO®.
2
14 Best Halloween Campaigns to Inspire Yours. (2024, March 14). Shopify.
3
Granados, W. (2024, September 19). Nearly half of Halloween shoppers to start purchasing items before October. NRF (National Retail Federation).
4
Retail Next. (2023, September 27). It's spooky season : 2023 Halloween retail Trends.
5
Bonvard, M. Netflix propose un challenge Halloween terrifiant en regardant un film d'horreur par jour. Cosmopolitan.fr.
6
Lacaze, D., & Nompain, M. (2016, October 19). Pour Halloween, Airbnb propose de dormir dans le cercueil de Dracula. BFM Business.
7
M, J. (2022, October 10). Halloween : Heinz crée une édition limitée « Sang de Tomates » de son ketchup. Creapills.
8
Ogilvy. Monsters not included. ogilvy.com.
9
Halloween est de retour chez Lush avec une collection envoûtante. We Are Lush — France.
10
Sneaker News & Sneakers. Nike Halloween Pack 2021. sneakers.fr.