Halloween is one of the best times for brands and audiences alike. Through Halloween advertising, brands get a chance to absolutely go all out and come up with the most creative and eccentric campaigns for their audiences.
I personally love the time around Halloween. Being a creative buff, I am always intrigued as to what amazing ads are brands going to bring this time around for Halloween.
Therefore, through my time of research, understanding and thoroughly enjoying Halloween advertising, I have got a few best ones for you here.
These will give you an insight into the magic that happens with creativity, and Halloween forms a concoction for Halloween advertising.
So, are you ready? Let’s begin.
What Does Halloween Entail For Brands?
Halloween presents you as a brand with many new promotional ideas and platforms. With Halloween, you have the opportunity to go all out. You can open the horizons of your creativity and bring it to advertising. And it might just help you target your audience in the very unique way possible.
Hence, in this season, reaching customers goes beyond spooky storytelling and haunting video footage. It is about that idea. That creative idea blends with your Halloween branding.
That’s exactly where these Halloween ads hit hard.
6 Best Creative Halloween Ads
Burger King, Halloween And Creative Advertising
Burger King is a huge fan of Halloweens. Who could forget the Night of Terrifying Clowns of 2017 that became a huge phenomenon?
Don’t remember? Let us journey back. On the Halloween of 2017, Burger King decided to show everyone that they weren’t afraid of any clowns. So what they did was they invited everyone dressed as a clown, and they gave them free whoppers.
Needless to say, the campaign became a huge global phenomenon with people of over 35 countries participating in the same. Like burger king said, “Come as a clown and eat like a king”.
It’s no surprise that burger king has never shied away from adding a brilliantly made creative touch to its advertisements. And with Halloween, it just rises up a notch.
Pizza Hut’s “Pizza Head’s Trick or Treat”
Pizza Hut ran a series of commercials in the mid-1990s that featured pizza heads. It was nothing but a pizza piece made out of pizza toppings.
Based on Saturday Night Live’s “The Mr. Bill Show,” Pizza Head was a character who repeatedly gets into a pickle and has to avoid his nemesis, a pizza cutter named “Steve.”
During the 16-episode series, a couple of Halloween-themed commercials were featured—“Pizza Head’s Trick or Treat” and “Pizza Head Gets Goosebumps.”
A different and unique touch made these ads memorable.
Just amazing.
Snickers’ “Halloween Grocery Store Lady”
This was a commercial that debuted in 2010. The premise revolved around the female shopper who was accosted by a bizarre-looking 10-foot-tall costumed woman.
Moreover, there were two kids in the costume and aimed at convincing the woman, Mrs. Jensen, who lives in their neighborhood in a way that all trick-or-treaters love Snickers.
When she neared the shelves, the kid on the top pushed bags of snickers in Mrs. Jensen’s shopping cart.
This video got very viral on youtube and gained a lot of attention.
McDonald’s “Scared Silly”
After McDonald’s advertising on chicken nuggets, it ran a series of advertisements with “Muppety”-looking McNuggets characters.
It was the best ad that featured a bunch of costumed McNuggets who were working to perfect dipping sauces in their castle’s laboratory.
This ad was also enhanced by some cheesy Halloween music and even cheesier jokes.
Great idea to get customer attraction.
Geico’s “Let’s Hide Behind the Chainsaws”
A recent Halloween-themed commercial, a parody of Texas Chainsaw Massacre had a full time showing just how stupid horror movie characters can be.
Moreover, who has not yelled at their TV screens while watching a horror scene and attempted to warn a character that the killer is right behind them?
So, in this commercial, a group of four would-be victims attempted to find a hiding place to escape from the madman who was pursuing them. You cannot help but wonder if they got away.
This was another memorable Halloween ad.
Walgreens’ “Town of ‘Perfect’ on Halloween”
Walgreens ran a series of commercials in the early to mid-2000s in the idyllic town of ‘Perfect.’
Promoting it as a “place beyond the reach of cell phones and superhighways” Perfect was featured in many commercials set during various times of the year. All of it was enhanced by a haunting theme song.
One of these ads was set during Halloween and was especially appealing to children because of the town’s unending supply of candy, smiling pumpkins, and mandate that all residents had to dress up in Halloween costumes.
However, at the end of the commercial, Walgreens had to disappoint its customers and viewers by saying that Perfect did not exist and that Walgreens was essentially the next best thing.
How Is Burger King Blending Halloween And Creative Advertising This Time?
Ads have always been regarded by Burger King as the most efficient method of marketing and deliver creative and innovative campaigns that are loved and supported by customers.
That’s exactly what they did with the campaign called “Scary Places,” this year.
It focuses on five abandoned fast-food restaurants in the U.S. that are featured in commercials. The chains are not appointed, but it’s evident in the advertisements that they are McDonald’s and Wendy’s.
Not only this, In Sweden, If you say “canceled clown” in Burger King restrooms three times in front of the mirror, the lights will dim and Ronald McDonald’s vision will appear.
The terrifying stunt is part of Sweden and Denmark’s Halloween promotion for the fast-food chain, made possible by new software for voice recognition.
A good scare and a lovely reward from a flame-grilled Whopper!
What Is The Role Of Creativity In Halloween Advertising?
Many brands assume that running an advertising campaign means simply making an ad. However, It is important to be well structured right from the beginning for ads to achieve the best results.
Any time we open a browser, we are swamped with ads, so creative ads that can cut through this relentless bombardment of content are necessary for success.
They seem to attract the right customers when they concentrate on making outstanding creative work and do so frequently, especially during celebrations like Halloween and Christmas.
With Burger King, they know what works for them. Mostly, they come up with ideas that produce more influence than their previous campaigns, all the while raising their creative threshold.
7 Tips for Effective Halloween Advertising
Halloween is much more than a ghostly feeling. Advertisements are very competitive these days so brands come up with ideas that grab the attention of their viewers and make them buy the products. One of the ideas for brands is Halloween advertisements.
Have a look at a few tips for effective Halloween advertising.
Know Your Target Market
Halloween has a ghostly feel but that does not mean that you need to dive entirely into the carpet of horror elements to get attention.
It is very simple that you just need to know and understand your target audiences.
For instance, candy M&M is a good example of a minimalist Halloween ad. It is simple and makes its viewers happy and hungry when they look at it. Surely, your customers are going to try it at least one time.
So, know your target audiences and your ad efforts will never go in vain.
Add an Element of Fun to Your Ad
Fun and entertainment always grab the attention of your viewers. It compels them to have an experience of what you are offering them.
Don’t go by the name ‘Halloween’ and make it too scary that viewers are not attracted to you. Just focus on the fun element with your ad goals and design your advertisement in the most effective way.
For instance, REI got so into Halloween that they made a Zombie infographic out of it. People loved it. It is also a strong example of brand relevance.
Design Profitable Halloween Product Bundles
Product bundling is a great way to help your shoppers find the right Halloween items.
It not only makes your shopper’s life easy but also helps you promote your lesser-known products and increase your average order value during the Halloween season.
You can do this by collecting behavioral data from customers and crafting the items that should be bundled to cover a range of needs at once.
Also take a look at the customer’s perception of savings, value, and convenience to create profitable Halloween product bundles.
Add Spooky Advertisement Elements to Your Store
If I talk about online platforms for advertisement, websites are the best place to do that.
Go by decorating your online store during the Halloween season. It affects your shopper’s perception of you and what all you can offer to them.
For instance, you can apply a whole new Halloween theme. Though it requires a lot of effort, it can also reap greater benefits than you might have expected.
For designing your website, you can use a homepage slider and place your Halloween promotions and messages there.
You can also use Halloween header bars to deliver new, important, or urgent messages, such as sales promos.
Offer Gifts and Freebies
This is everyone’s favorite. After all, who does not like gifts and giveaways during the festive seasons. Many people wait for festivals to buy products as it offers huge discounts.
So, you can also go by offering huge Halloween discounts. It is a great way to boost your product sales along with Halloween festivity.
You can also come up with low-cost freebie items such as treat bags. It will make your customers feel special and turn them into buyers.
Create DIY Content
During the Halloween season, people do look for inspiration from food items such as desserts, cocktails, and customers.
They want to serve the best food and have a blast at their Halloween celebration.
So, to advertise yourself, you can come up with Halloween guides, tutorials, and do-it-yourself content for your customers.
Online stores can provide guidelines and ideas to enhance engagement and shares on online platforms.
You can share video tutorials or recipe cookbooks. A popular brand Kraft Heinz has a particular blog of Halloween recipes.
Encourage User-Generated Content
Your Halloween advertising would be incomplete without engaging with your audience on various online platforms.
Ask questions to your audiences and participate in the Halloween celebration and joy by encouraging them to post their user-generated content.
It can be in the form of photos, videos, posts, stories, jokes. This helps in getting greater traffic to your business. Advertise yourself on social media platforms and engage with your audience there.
Key Takeaway: Halloween Advertising
So to sum it up, the most convincing ads are the creative ones, which attract and retain the attention of your audience.
This is something that burger king understands and executes very well. And this is why it shines as a brand and as someone who is ace in advertising what they sell. Sounds like something worth looking forward to right?
Creativity and advertising go hand in hand. If your advertisements are creative, it will give you a chance to stand apart and above the crowd. Moreover, it will also drive attention that your brand desires and will be a step towards customer attention, interest, acquisition, and retention.
So are you ready to venture in? Let us know in the comments.
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