Double, double, toil and trouble – it’s that time of year again! While kids (and adults) everywhere are busy choosing the perfect costume for this weekend, marketers are buzzing with the spirit of Halloween.
Here are a few of the best Halloween marketing campaigns we’ve seen from the folks at Kellogg’s, Tide, Arby’s and UNICEF. Enjoy!
Tide’s #ScaredStainless
A few years back, Tide ran a clever campaign through the popular social network, Vine. They created several short “scary” parodies of classic Halloween movies (like Carrie, Poltergeist and Psycho, to name a few), with Tide detergent playing the role of villain. Why is this so awesome?
- The campaign utilized fun hashtags to generate online chatter i.e. #ScaredStainless (Boston Works Showcase)
- Piggybacking on pop culture with a sense of humour is a classic and effective way to engage people.
- Best of all, this campaign was well timed. Tide coordinated the launch of the campaign with the Carrie remake (Adweek).
Kellogg’s Haunted Vending Machine
Kellogg’s conducted a fantastic on-the-ground PR stunt a few years back. They installed vending machines that offered people a free Rice Crispies Scares Treat. Each of the vending machines had an employee inside, ready to grab the hands of customers as they picked up their treat. Why was this amazing?
- Sometimes, the personal touch really does go the distance. In this case, Kellogg’s actually reached out and touched their customers, delivering an extremely memorable & entertaining experience. This kind of stunt makes a lasting impression on customers.
- This is a great example of the freemium model of advertising at its best!
UNICEF’s Online Costume Party
For years, UNICEF has been connected with trick-or-treating. But the good people at UNICEF needed to get online and so developed the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Costume Party. People were encouraged to upload pictures of themselves and virtually try on costumes. Certain online costumes required a monetary donation, which people gladly paid for the fun experience.
Why was this campaign great?
- It’s great to see UNICEF adapt a fresh, new marketing trend (personalized software) and creatively reach out to new audiences in an engaging way.
- UNICEF has maintained their traditional marketing approach, but continues to find new creative ways to support their good work!
Arby’s #TrickorMeat
Last Halloween, Arby’s ran a simple, but fun campaign to boost sales at their locations on Halloween day. They offered free bacon to customers that said the words “Trick or Meat” while ordering their food (Cyber Alert). This is very cool, because….
- Bacon was all the rage last year, so they capitalized on the popularity of bacon in a fun, clever way.
- The fun hashtag really says it all, and that is the secret to hashtag success. #TrickOrMeat. Enough said!
Have you seen any exceptionally awesome or spooky Halloween campaigns? Let us know in the comments below. Happy Halloween!
Image source: Cyber Alert
