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There are always mixed sentiments when Halloween stuff starts hitting the shelves. Some can’t wait for spooky times, while others think summer is way too early for pumpkin-shaped Reese’s.
Well, we’re squarely in October now, and there’s no excuse. And as you’d expect, the brands are at it. Apparently, you don’t have to sell candy to get in on the action. Here’s what some brands are doing:
- Crest is giving away jack-o'-lantern-shaped candy safes so kids can “securely store their candy...from parents, siblings or even friends.” We have a feeling some parents will reverse the roles here.
- Franzia’s boxed-wine costume isn’t new, but this year, it added the ability to actually dispense wine. Functional.
- Dunkin’ reintroduced its costume line with two new additions: a cup of cold brew and a box of donut holes. Regrettably, these don’t dispense anything.
- Home Depot’s 12-foot-tall skeleton (which was a viral obsession last year) is selling out again this year.
- Does your cat even know it’s Halloween? Doesn’t matter. Temptations, the cat-food brand, is selling “Tasty Human”-flavored snacks.
- Starburst is capitalizing on “Berries and Crème” TikTok by selling costumes of the Little Lad from the classic commercial.
It’s no surprise that some of those are feeding from or are driven by social media. It makes sense then, that Snapchat put out a Halloween marketing guide ahead of the holiday.
Zoom out: It’s the first post-vax Halloween, and people are expected to spend record numbers on the holiday. Consumer spending on Halloween is expected to reach $10.14 billion, compared to $8.05 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation.—ZS