Halloween is becoming increasingly popular, with many Brits investing their hard earned cash in Halloween merchandise, sweets, chocolates, themed costumes and decorations. Having an occasion like Halloween to look forward to keep spirits lifted (literally!) through the darker autumnal months. For many businesses in the UK, Halloween has become a massive pre-Christmas boost. It’s not just the retail and hospitality industries that are now utilising seasonal marketing, all sorts of companies are realising the power of the 31st October. With an estimated £777 million in 2023 being spent on Halloween in the UK, astute businesses should look to embrace this worldwide holiday.
Wondering how you can incorporate Halloween into your marketing strategy? We have collated 5 of the best Halloween marketing campaigns which utilise branded merchandise to help inspire you to create a unique, spook-tastic campaign!
1. Papa John’s Stranger Bling Necklace
The gothic ‘Stranger Bling’ necklace was commissioned by pizza brand Papa John to promote their special garlic dipping sauce during Halloween. The necklace is cleverly named to mirror the hit TV series ‘Stranger Things’ and plays on the idea that garlic will protect the wearer against vampires and wearwolves! The brand reinforce the branded item with an accompanying film which pays homage to cult horror classics like The Evil Dead. This one-of-a-kind keepsake includes a hinge which mimics the opening and closing of a real pot of garlic sauce!
2. Guinness Halloween Shadows
Guinness commissioned these scary branded coasters and branded glasses to be made in order to promote their drink and brand on Halloween. Cleverly designed in the shape of scary shadows of the Guinness glasses, for every drink bought, customers received a free coaster to put their drink on. A low cost promotion with a fang-tastic effect!
3. Topshop Stranger Things Merchandise
Topshop collaborated with Netflix to create an in store Halloween event in the style of the ‘Stranger Things’ programme. Using set designs to mirror scenes from the show, they also had a collection of Stranger Things merchandise for customers to purchase including branded lunch boxes, rucksacks, card and board games, promotional t-shirts, jumpers and caps.
4. Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Squares Freebies
With branded vending machines, Kellogg’s enticed passers by with free Rice Krispies Squares. Any one who was brave enough to get a freebie was grabbed by a person hiding in the machine! The reactions were recorded and become widely shared on social media platforms making it a huge success.
5. Disney Halloween Merchandise
No one does merchandise like Disney. Each year they embrace the spooky season with a large range of Halloween branded merchandise including clothing, accessories, costumes, mugs, notebooks, pens and toys.
3 Easy Ways to You Can Use Halloween Merchandise
1. Trick or Treat
Why not carry out a trick or treat competition? This could be run across your digital marketing assets; your website, email marketing and social media channels. One of the most receptive ways to engage with your target market is of course by offering something for free like branded food. Branded prizes are a fantastic way to:
- Offer an incentive for prospective clients to enter your competition.
- Engage with your brand.
- Will promote your product or services well after the competition is over.
What would you offer as a ‘trick’ or ‘treat’ prize? Of course you can add a Halloween design to any branded gift that suits your company image. Bags, T-shirts, Pens, the list is endless! So below we have chosen some of our best Halloween branded merchandise to help to spark some ideas.
Branded Halloween Sweets and Chocolates
Branded Halloween Biscuits and Cakes
Branded Halloween Giveaways
Classic giveaways like logo bugs and stress items are available in all sorts of Halloween themed shapes and characters. You can even get a bauble with a pumpkin design on!
2. Infectious Images
The most long lasting memory is an image and the added bonus of Halloween is that people love to dress up and show off their scary side. As a business you could encourage customers to send in pictures or videos of themselves in their most creative Halloween costume, offering a branded prize to the best dressed. If you promoted the campaign on social media, by including a clever hashtag, not only will you engage with your target market, you may even start trending!
3. Back To Reality
With Christmas being so soon to follow, Halloween is a perfect opportunity to begin your Christmas marketing strategy. Adding subtle information to what customers can expect from not only Christmas, but any future marketing plans will be welcomed. A successful Halloween marketing strategy can be a great boost for your brands future holiday plans.
Seasonal events such as Halloween, Bonfire night, Christmas and Easter are all another opportunity to catch your target markets attention and engage with them. By offering prize giveaways which reflect the event and your brand, you are in a great position to be remembered and ultimately add to that sales target!
If you would like to know more about how to use branded merchandise for seasonal events and marketing campaigns, please contact us.
Please note this blog has been updated since the original post in 2020.
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