Truffle’s #PowerPotion for the perfect Halloween campaign!
If you want to really cause a stir this season, then embracing Halloween is a great way to engage with your audience while having some fun and proving that you can keep up with the social trending topics.
We love this spooky time of the year at Truffle HQ and we’re always impressed by how many brands get stuck in with unique creative content or stunts to get people talking. So we thought we would pick a few previous favourites that stood out to us, while giving some handy tips on creating your own #PowerPotion for a winning Halloween campaign...
ASDA: DO HALLOWEEN YOUR WAY
ASDA’s 2016 campaign, Do Halloween Your Way, knew the best way to get in the pockets of parents was of course through the biggest Halloween demographic: those darling kids! So the heavy hitting supermarket created an advert telling the story of a young boy who transforms into the perfect Halloween character, with help from George at ASDA’s kids collection. The campaign worked because it was kept simple and straightforward, much like ASDA’s winning marketing strategy.
TOPSHOP: TRICK OR TWEET
Tradition tells us that when targeting our candy holders (audience) we must put on our sweet yet scary outfits and convincingly ask the big question: “TRICK OR TREAT?” However, when it comes to marketing your Halloween campaign the right tricks will always result in a treat.
After launching a Halloween collection called ‘Witching Hour’ in 2012, Topshop concocted a Trick or Tweet social media campaign to ensure the collection gained maximum engagement online and of course, profit. The main objective of their campaign was to connect their digital
and physical worlds into one - and what better way to accomplish this than with a competition?
Topshop Tweeters won a £150 gift cards daily (for online and in-store use) over the duration of the campaign and store shoppers could use their tweets as social currency to win make up goodies from the ‘Topshop Tweet Shop’. Marvellous multi-channel marketing!
GUINNESS GOES WILD WITH HALLOWEEN SHADOWS COASTERS
Apart from Christmas, this is probably the only other time of the year that you’d go overboard with decorations, costumes and creepy accessories. So it’s no spooky surprise that brands play with their image a little over Halloween to draw consumers in - and even resort to some old fashioned (and very effective) guerrilla marketing, like Guinness has previously done.
A strong marketing tactic from the famous drink brand, the Halloween Shadows Coasters cleverly mimicked a shadow underneath the pint glass in the shape of ghoulish figures and ghosts, which were not only very fun, but also super shareable on social media. Who can resist taking a picture of these ghost-like pints?!
SVEDKA: FIRST WORLD HORRORS
Svedka Vodka showed us a great online campaign in 2016 that catered to their younger student demographic. First World Horrors, as the campaign was cleverly named, shared short video clips documenting some truly tragic first world scares for Svedka’s millennial audience, such as receiving less than 5 ‘likes’ on an Instagram picture or your phone running out of storage. Imagine the horror!
The brand chose to focus on video content on YouTube, as they understood that this is where most of their market could be found and also this is what the younger demographic would engage with the most. Well played!
So when it comes to Halloween, save yourself the blood, sweat and fears and take a leaf out of these brands’ books. Keep the base of your potion simple, add a dash of creativity and don’t forget the social share factor! Happy spooking!
