Trick or treat! Well – why not both? Halloween is probably the second most-anticipated holiday after Christmas, and this year is shaping up to be quite the spirited Halloween.
As a testament to the holiday, the entertainment industry, notably television and films, generates the fear factor by bestowing that tantalizing shiver of evidence of the beyond, the hidden, the unknown, and unproven. For example, paranormal TV shows that focus on hunting and trying to catch ghosts, have spawned a rich cottage industry. According to Bill Wilkens, the creator of a national online database of ghost-hunting teams throughout the US, there are now more than 4,400 registered ghost-hunting outfits. And, if you watch many of the TV shows in this genre, you will see lots of logoed merchandise being worn.
Herein lies a great Halloween-themed promotional opportunity. If you can seek out some of these local paranormal societies, perhaps match them with any of your clients for co-sponsorship events. In tandem, any purported haunted inn or building or city that hosts ghost tours is also ripe for sponsorship with local establishments, such as restaurants and bars, banks, boutiques, gift shops, and art studios, as well as service businesses such as auto repair.
And of course, there are the movie classics, starting with the 1929 Nosferatu, through the multiple franchises such as Halloween, and the now legendary films "The Exorcist," "The Omen," and "The Blair Witch Project." Scary movie nights are fun events for families and friends to have at home during the month of October. Businesses can tie in with the scary movie season by giving out logoed microwave popcorn packages and popcorn boxes.
Approximately $10.4 billion will be spent on Halloween this year, according to statistics released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) – even if the specter of COVID is still haunting our social fabric. Americans are resilient and Halloween 2021 will be thoroughly enjoyed, even if many people are “double masked” (one for COVID protection and one for costume). The spirit of Halloween – celebrating the macabre and monsters – is a way to have fun being scared. It used to be mostly a children’s day but now adults have enjoyed getting into the act. Matthew Shay, president of the NRF, stated, “Americans plan to spend more than ever to make this Halloween a memorable one.”
According to the NRF survey, 66% of people will hand out candy and other treats, 52% will decorate their homes (and earlier than ever), 46% will dress up in a costume, and 25% will host or go to a Halloween party. But it isn’t just people – one in five will dress up their pet this year. Younger adults are more likely to dress their pets in costume, as 28% of those aged 18–24 and 30% of those aged 25–34 plan to do so.
There are several Halloween-themed events your clients can launch that will generate the whimsical fun of the holiday and spread their logos and messages. There are more autumn/Halloween festivals and fairs, trick or treating events, ghost tours, Halloween parades, and zombie walks than ever, often organized by municipal recreation councils or downtown business associations. In addition, agri-tourism is also a growing family-fun market, which features pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and haunted houses. All these events and the businesses involved are fertile opportunities for a host of logoed candies and apparel (Ts, fleece, caps), bags to hold treats – and of course, candies.
A contest is a natural fit for these family-friendly events and your roster of clients can also take part as a promotional sponsor. Contest ideas for Halloween are myriad: as the best costume, funniest costume, most original costume, best-costumed couple, and best-costumed pet. Other contests involve artistry and crafts, such as pumpkin carving and decoration, and scarecrow contests. Also, in “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” Charlie Brown famously received a bag full of rocks, so suggest your clients host a Halloween rock-painting contest.
Pinnovative Designs offers Halloween medals that can be customized. The medals can also serve as rewards for other contests, such as pumpkin carvings and decoration (most original, scariest), and even for neighborhood house/porch decoration contests. Prizes can include delicious treat boxes from Custom Chocolate, for example, which provides a Halloween Pumpkin Box, Large Halloween Basket, and the Haunted Halloween Kit. Your clients can also choose to give out coloring books for children, such as those from Coloring Book Solutions.
If you have a client that is planning a Halloween party, there are many items that can commemorate the “terror-ific” event. Serving up non-alcoholic drinks in Halloween-themed tumblers, coasters, and napkins is a great idea. There are also glow-in-the-dark bracelets, LED wands, and light-up necklaces.
Remember: Halloween unofficially launches the Holiday Season – Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, Christmas, Channukah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve/New Year’s roll quickly right afterward.