The Marketing of Halloween – Shock, Horror, Ker-ching!

While the tradition of Halloween originated on this side of the pond, it has been commercialised in the United States and grown to become the third highest revenue producing US event, representing around £4 billion pounds a year, with a mean spend of £34 per household (1). In 2011, the UK Halloween market will be worth around £310m and since 2005 it has grown at twice the rate of the US market (1). Yet the average UK household spend is one-third of our US cousins. So how can UK marketers grab a slice of the growing Halloween pumpkin pie?

To drive sales, companies must make Halloween more appealing to customers, and accessible to new customer segments so they embrace Halloween as their own. This will grow and offer everyone a larger slice of the market.  Researching different consumers, their needs, drivers and attitudes to Halloween, the cultural context and origin of Halloween, and observing the range and nature of Halloween offers and promotions around the world provides insights on which to build. Uncovering new needs provides the understanding to create new offers that fulfill those needs too!

Halloween is an abbreviation of All Hallows Even, the night before  All Hallows Day (All Saints Day). It started out as the Celtic celebration of  Samhain when the Celts believed that the border between this world and the ‘other world’ became thin and allowed spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. All Saints Day was founded by Pope Gregory III (690-784) to remember saints and those that have died. It is recognised globally as a time to honour ancestors and departed souls. Wearing costumes and masks originated as a custom to copy the evil spirits or placate them. Begging for food dates from the Middle Ages when the poor would go door- to-door, seeking food in return for prayers for the dead – so called ‘souling’.

Awareness and interest in Halloween is promoted by popular  culture, such as Hollywood movies, The Hollow and Halloween, and the activities of US corporations including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Disney and Wal-Mart. In the UK the Halloween market leader and a key driver of market growth is Asda Wal-Mart. Asda’s Halloween event runs for 6 weeks from late September and much of their merchandise is ‘own-brand’. Book and film series, such as Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, also provide a mainstream cultural crossover – driving growing interest in the ‘undead’ amongst teen girls and middle-aged mums.

These same cultural drivers are also affecting mainland Europe, parts of Asia and Latin America.

So what can you do to grow sales at Halloween?

Understand and build on traditional needs, and create and fulfill
new needs

Consumers range from adults seeking confectionery or gifts to satisfy trick or treaters, adults buying items for a children’s Halloween party, adults for their own parties, day or night out, and children caught up in the fun that have pocket-money to spend. Beyond the traditional activities like carving pumpkins or turnips, and apple bobbing, there are a host of other rich emotional needs that stem from the essence of Halloween. Including a wish to make the most of, or enhance the scary experience, trick or treat friends and neighbours, socialise, look cool, be a good host, and of course, have lots of fun.

These all spark product opportunities. From sweets to skeletons to entertainment, games, food and drink, dressing-up gear and make-up – to go with the pumpkins, turnips, and party food and drink.

Halloween activities, such as carving pumpkin and turnip carving prompt needs for design inspiration, cutters, and carving kits, and tea lights and other special effects.

Trick o’treating, prompts needs for mixed bags of sweets. An area increasingly served, for example, by Swizzels Scary Mix and Cadbury Screme Eggs and Dead Heads. But beyond the sweets, there are many opportunities to enhance the experience, for example, by changing the sensory experience, for example by relying on touch alone (as in the party game) to add intrigue, shock or surprise to the sweet selection process. Or to use sound, light, colour or special effects to add drama to a walk up a garden path.

Needs such as looking cool and socialising seem over-looked. They prompt product ideas for sharing, having a laugh, surprising and bonding. And food and drink, game, entertainment and mobile telephony categories present many start-points.

Excite and engage by creating ‘fun’ areas of terror

The adrenaline rush we get being scared is what motivates us to ‘like’ to be scared. Like riding a roller-coaster. In Western societies, most retail displays incorporate colours and symbols associated with the harvest (orange, pumpkins) or death (black, skeletons, bats).  Toning down the scary nature of the offer and adding more vibrant colours and symbols provides a cultural signpost inviting people to explore and not shy away from the Halloween aisle. For example, including greens, yellows and purples – colours associated with living things, and cuddly ‘full-of-life’ characters. In Asda this year, the theme, inspired by one of the staff members, is ‘Welcome to Monsterville’. Rather than emphasise the bats and skeletons, the displays feature a series of shops including ‘Squidleys Sweetshop’ and ‘Blueys Bo Bakery’.

Auchan in France has taken the ‘fun’ a step further by hosting live entertainment – both a promotion activity as well as a store and brand enhancer.

Marketing Inspiration

Understanding the market, cultural and psychological variables through secondary research, ethnography and primary qualitative research helps marketers better connect with the ways that consumers think and feel, and better meet existing or uncover new needs.

When purchasing is linked to deep cultural and emotional needs, this will have the most profound effect on demand, and enable more inelastic pricing.  Thus helping to insulate from current recessionary pressures.

Understanding and building on the colours, symbols and artefacts associated with Halloween helps attract and engage and drive store traffic and product purchasing.

For retailers, building the in-store experience drives in-store traffic, impulse purchasing and grows the market. It is a key differentiator to compete with online.

While there are presently few dedicated Halloween outlets, both retail or online, this area appears ripe for development.

When the time comes to celebrate Halloween (or any holiday), this presents a new product or brand promotion opportunity, sub-branding occasion or event to engage, excite and drive choice.