6 Halloween Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You

It’s Halloween week, which means a revival of some of our favourite and most innovative Halloween marketing campaigns of the last few years. The six campaigns we’ve chosen to feature in this article show great creativity and unique marketing strategies by some of the top well-known brands in the industry. And who knows, they might just inspire you to level up your Halloween campaign game.

Why utilise special dates like Halloween?

Marketing campaigns that make the most of special dates like Halloween are a perfect time to get your brand noticed. They’re also great opportunities to experiment, socialise, and share a connected celebration with your clients and consumers, as well as show that you’re relevant and active on social media.

In recent years, Halloween has become a huge event for businesses and consumers. In 2018, around half the UK population spent money to celebrate Halloween; think of all the costumes, chocolate, and party accessories…that’s some serious money to be made.

6 of our favourite Halloween marketing campaigns

WD-40: The Haunted Door App (2016)

How do you take a product like WD-40 and make it interesting enough for Halloween? By throwing an app-based soundboard into the mix of course! The company’s 2016 campaign allowed consumers to download a soundboard of creaking doors with the aim of creating a spooky atmosphere for the inevitable trick or treaters that would come knocking. This effective marketing campaign played on their brand’s trademark multi-use spray, normally used to stop creaking doors, to surprise its users just for Halloween.

Tesco: Home Delivery Surprises (2016)

Tesco’s 2016 online shopping campaign identified a unique opportunity for consumer interaction when it rolled out a Spooktacular van which delivered shopping to its customers with additional surprises, including werewolf paws rising up from food crates, live action costumed performers, and various spooky props. These theatrics created a fun home shopping experience for Tesco customers, as well as encouraging plenty of user-generated content on social media. 

Topshop: Stranger Things Collaboration (2017)

Topshop’s flagship UK store in Oxford Circus collaborated with Netflix and the hit horror show Stranger Things in 2017 to bring an interactive in-store experience. Topshop recreated parts of the set, displayed some of the show’s props, and even set up a screening area for two episodes to air before the official public launch. This collaborative marketing strategy was effective in that it allowed Topshop customers and Stranger Things fans to delve into a shared in-store experience, promoting both Topshop’s clothing products and Netflix’s popular series.

Fanta: Interactive QR Codes (2017)

Fanta utilised Snapchat’s social media influence on young people to create a collaborative, interactive, and social-driven campaign for Halloween in 2017. Consumers scanned limited edition cans and bottles labelled with QR codes to unlock themed filters on Snapchat to share with their friends. Strategies like this, which made the most of a social media platform popular with a young demographic, are what have solidified Fanta’s place as a popular brand amongst Gen Z consumers.

Marmite: ‘Poison or Potion’ Labels (2018)

Marmite’s 2018 Halloween campaign played on their infamous slogan, ‘You either love it or you hate it’, by releasing a ‘trick’ or ‘treat’ label with the taglines: ‘a poison for the haters’ and ‘a potion for the lovers’. The familiarity Marmite has with its customer base, along with its effective, recognisable branding, allowed them to implement a slick and memorable Halloween marketing campaign.

Burger King: #ScaryClownNight (2017)

In perhaps a perfect demonstration of competitive trolling, Burger King released a #ScaryClownNight advertisement campaign in 2017, which saw an evil Ronald McDonald leading a band of malevolent clowns. The campaign coincided perfectly with the release of the Stephen King film IT and the huge increase in demand for clown costumes for Halloween that year. Burger King’s use of its largest competitor’s iconic mascot in both its imagery and its slogan ‘come as a clown, eat like a king’ sparked competitive conversation and huge engagement on social media. Burger King also ensured that anyone who came into the store on Halloween night dressed as a clown would receive a free whopper. And let’s be honest, a free burger is always going to be a winner.

Ultimately, these Halloween campaigns made these brands stand out from the crowded world of marketing. Whether through interactivity, collaboration, or playing around with brand iconicity, all of these campaigns had the shock factor – an ever-effective tactic, but an especially apt one for Halloween!

Have we missed your top Halloween marketing campaign off this list? Share your all-time favourites with us over on social media.