Just in case 2024 hasn’t been scary enough already, in a few weeks’ time it will be Halloween. Whether Halloween is an important date in your retail sales calendar or only a side thought, there are several ways that you can use the fun and spooky imagery of the season to draw attention to your brand, products, or campaigns. Here are some fun things that other retail businesses have done to give you a few ideas:
While there aren’t many turkeys that wish for Christmas, it doesn’t seem that many pumpkins are keen on Halloween either. British consumers buy pumpkins in prodigious numbers each year, and a large number of these go to waste. Recycling company Waste Managed has suggested that up to 18,000 tonnes of pumpkins are thrown away each year in the UK after Halloween – a food waste scandal of ghoulish proportions.
In 2016, Tesco launched a successful Pumpkin Rescue campaign, in association with London environmental charity Hubbub. ‘Pumpkin rescue stations’ were set up outside 10 of Tesco’s North London shops, allowing customers to drop off their used pumpkins for recycling through anaerobic digestion to convert them into energy – preventing the food from ending up in landfills. Cooking demonstrations were also arranged to promote the sustainable use of pumpkin leftovers, in which customers could sample pumpkin soup and pie, and receive complimentary recipe cards.
Pumpkin Rescue was a clever marketing campaign because, although it didn’t promote any product specifically, it indirectly drew positive attention to Tesco as a leading supplier of pumpkins and other Halloween products, no doubt leading to an uptick in seasonal sales. The campaign also enhanced the environmental reputation of Tesco by placing them at the forefront of the campaign to address the pressing issue of food waste.
The 2016 campaign was one off for Tesco. Hubbub, however, has continued raising awareness about Halloween food waste, and was named Charity of the Year in the 2023 Charity Times awards. The charity’s 2024 Halloween slogan – has climate change got you spooked? – perfectly captures the way in which Halloween marketing can use the fun of the season to pack a serious message.
In October 2017, drinks manufacturer Kraken Rum launched Screamfest – an immersive horror experience designed to draw attention to the company’s range of alcoholic drinks. Hosted at the Clerkenwell Catacombs in London, Screamfest featured immersive VR horror shows, screenings of spooky movies in auditoriums filled with actors dressed as clowns, plenty of jump scares, and other freakish delights.
To add to the spooky atmosphere, customers could purchase a range of Halloween themed cocktails such as the Black Mojito and Kraken Adrenaline Shot. A discount scheme was available that we have never seen replicated anywhere else. On entering Screamfest, customers were given a heart rate monitor, and the cost of their cocktails was determined by how calm they remained during the experience! The concept was simple: the more their heart rate increased, the more they paid for their drinks, so the most unflappable guests could get their cocktails for as little as £3, with the most jumpy paid £8 or more. Genius.
The event was such a success that it’s taken place every year since, each year with a slightly different theme.
Foil wrapped chocolates, plastic pumpkins, glow in the dark skulls and cheap spiderweb foam have been the mainstay of Halloween since the 1980s. In 2023, John Lewis launched a range of more upscale Halloween decorations and home accessories to appeal to customers looking for a more elegant and refined way to celebrate the season. A range of products were available for various budgets and tastes, from crocheted toadstools to glass ornaments, garlands, and door wreaths. The product launch was supported by social media campaigns that featured online tutorials and inspiration for creating stylish Halloween decor, recipes, and events at home.
On a shop level, Halloween sales were also promoted through treasure hunts and family-friendly Halloween events in some stores, featuring free face painters and the opportunity to take a spooky selfie at the shop’s ‘Halloween selfie wall’ (encouraging customers to create user generated content for social media visibility). The campaign managed to draw interest from demographics who don’t traditionally go ‘all out’ at Halloween, and sustained interest in the John Lewis brand in the run up to their flagship campaign at Christmas.
In 2021, Burger King launched an unusual and creative Halloween promotion that offered free products or discounts to customers that ordered through the Burger King app during the ‘witching hour’ of 3 AM to 4 AM. The campaign played on the idea that 3 AM is the hour most associated with ghostly apparitions and paranormal activity. In the run-up to Halloween 2021, Burger King used this theme to engage late-night customers by offering a different free product each day during this hour. The campaign was accompanied by eerie promotional videos showing furniture moving on its own and doors slamming shut. The Witching Hour campaign was rolled out in various global markets, including Belgium, China, Spain, and Brazil, but not, unfortunately, the United Kingdom.
By requiring customers to use the Burger King app to claim their free meals, Burger King drove app downloads and mobile sales. The campaign rewarded customers willing to stay up late, using a combination of humour and spookiness to draw attention to the brand and increase sales.
To find out more about seasonal marketing and how to increase your sales at Halloween, Christmas, and other key times of your retail year, please get in touch with the specialists at JDR today by clicking here.