In communications, it’s all about the angles. Determining why your brand is unique and what makes your product or service stand out amongst the rest. And when you’re having trouble making your story shine on its own, it’s sometimes figuring out how to leverage a hot topic, current event or holiday as a promotional opportunity.
With Halloween a little over one week away, many communications professionals are wracking their brains to find the most terror-ific angle to make their stories stand out. It seems some have come up with creative, defrightful ways to get their brand noticed and remembered this season.
Costumes and candy are the first things that come to mind when we think about Halloween, and some brands use this knowledge to their advantage.
- Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania recognizes people love a good DIY rather than store-bought costume. Because of this trend, the local nonprofit aptly encourages consumers to build their costumes using Goodwill treasures and enter its annual Halloween costume photo contest.
- Dental professionals understand that kids aren’t looking for a free toothbrush when they go trick-or-treating in their local neighborhood. Instead, they have begun to execute informational or educational campaignsto position their practices as knowledgeable, friendly resources.
Image courtesy of Goodwill Southwestern Pennsylvania
Though these brands aren’t immediately associated with a holiday like Halloween, this fact has not kept them from finding creative ways to make their products or services relevant.
- Donuts are a favorite treat year-round but not really the goodie of choice in October. Knowing that people are looking to satisfy their sweet tooth, however, Krispy Kreme is happy to offer a free donutto customers who wear a costume to a participating store on Halloween.
- Halloween is typically full of mischief and mayhem, so it may come as a surprise that college professors could be authorities on the topic. Nonetheless, George Washington University makes its medical, marketing, urban development and religion experts available to provide commentary about the holiday.
- Fitness might be the last thing some think about when devouring candy seems inevitable around Halloween. But Subway created a commercial encouraging customers to eat right and stay in shape so they look good in their Halloween costumes.
Image courtesy of Adweek
Keep in mind that this strategy might not always work for your brand. If it’s difficult for you to relate a hot topic, current event or holiday to your product or service, then it’s probably not the best approach to sharing your story.
Still, you don’t want to be the brand that misses out on a spook-tacular opportunity at some additional (and potentially easy) publicity. If you think outside the box, we bet you’ll discover countless franken-tastic angles to effectively promote your brand at Halloween and throughout the year.