This story appears in the October 2014 issue of strategy.
Just because your brand doesn’t make its way into the pillow sacks of trick-or-treaters on Halloween night doesn’t mean you can’t get in on the fun. Here are a few sweet suggestions for breaking through during the spookiest time of the year.
Track that tween
A rite of passage for tweens has always been to go out trick or treating without pesky parents to cramp their style. But sending your kid out without adult supervision can be worrisome.
Enter the Track My Tween Trick-or-Treater, an app brought to you by a mom-friendly retailer like Walmart or Target, with some help from Google and its maps. Parents and kids could input a pre-determined trick-or-treating route, with the tween checking in via their smartphone at established locales to receive points, which can be redeemed for swag or discounts in-store. If they forget, they get a reminder to their phone.
Mom then receives a notification to her smartphone to let her know her little Katniss Everdeen or Spiderman has checked in safely, which is brought to her by a CPG brand the retailer carries, like Tide or Kraft, looking to associate itself with mom and the well-being of her kids. The notification would offer her coupons and push to the retailer’s website.
Red Bull gets sweeter
Silly marketers, trick or treat isn’t just for kids. Red Bull has shown us no space is untouchable by literally going to space (well, technically the stratosphere), so why shouldn’t it make a Halloween play? Of course we wouldn’t advocate giving Red Bull to the trick-or-treating crowd, but a space-esque partnership for co-branding opps with candy like Mars or Rockets (such as a treat for kids and a mini can for the tired parent chasing after them sold together), could take the brand to new heights.
Counting candy (and calories)
Ever heard of Valentine’s Walk off Your Poutine, an app that tracks when you’ve walked off enough calories to indulge in the dish? A brand like Lay’s or Cadbury could develop a similar Halloween-themed tracker, inviting consumers to kick off the calorie-burning on Halloween night, counting their steps and letting them know when they’ve walked off the equivalent of a treat. Milestones could be rewarded along the way with coupons and special offers. We just wonder how many steps it takes to burn off an entire box of those fun-sized chocolate bars…
Top image via Shutterstock
Additional images (from top): Flickr Creative Commons Jim, the Photographer; Beth Coll Anderson
