How Party City, Elysian Brewing Are Approaching Halloween

The leaves are changing, temperatures are dropping, and everywhere you look are ghosts, ghouls, skeletons, black cats, boogeymen—and marketers conjuring up some wicked fun of their own. While Halloween has spiritual significance, the mainstream associations with the holiday are rooted in consumerism. A National Retail Federation survey showed Halloween spend is projected to rise 5% this year, up to $10.6 billion—last year’s spend was a record-setting $10.1 billion, surpassing pre-pandemic years—with 69% of consumers predicted to participate. It seems that with the increased Covid-19 vaccinations in the U.S., more people feel safer to go out and celebrate All Hallows Eve with friends and families. “[This year is] the least pandemic-influenced Halloween season we’ve had since 2019,” said Julie Roehm, chief marketing officer and chief experience officer at Party City. “So for us, it’s exciting because there’s a lot of interest and a lot of pent-up demand.” Fruit of the Loom is leaning into products and costumes, which often see the largest sales. Playing dress-up Perhaps the strongest indicator Halloween is rising from the grave is estimated spend on costumes. According to Brad Jashinsky, marketing analyst at Gartner, 34% of the total spend—about $3.6 billion—is predicted to be in the costume sector: $1.7 billion for adult costumes (up by $200 million from last year), $1.2 billion for children's costumes and $700 million for pet costumes. Brands such as Fruit of the Loom are also creating hype for Halloween costumes on social this year. Created by its agency of record GSD&M, the brand’s “Creepily Current Costume Shop” campaign helps consumers come up with last-minute costumes, primarily through posts on Instagram and TikTok showing off a series of nine costumes. Each idea ties in to various 2022 trends, such as Corn Kid, NFTs, Wordle and FX's The Bear. “The content complements additional DIY costume ideas found on the brand’s website and capitalizes on the massive amount of online searches for costume ideas that consumers conduct online each year,” said Melissa Severin, GSD&M’s svp of communication. In addition to an uptick in Halloween costume spend this year, the NRF reports that 28% of respondents are planning to either host or attend a party this year—up from 25% in 2021 and 22% in 2020. And 51% of Halloween enthusiasts plan to decorate, with those costs expected to reach $3.4 billion. According to Roehm, animatronics are a major seller in Party City's decor category and a significant part of the retailer's marketing around the holiday. To hype up products, Party City sends animatronics to influencers to review on their social channels. This year, Party City also hosted decorating workshops on Instagram Live, partnering with Corin Distin on how to turn your home into a “gothic glam” space for Halloween and Ivy Pe on hosting the perfect Hocus Pocus 2 watch-party. (The company declined to share sales or impression figures.) Trick-or-treat Beyond decorating one's home (or oneself), the food and beverage industries are also particularly active and creative during this season. According to Nick Mallory, senior director of marketing at Elysian Brewing, the company has highlighted its seasonal beers in recent years with spooky Halloween initiatives. Last year, the brand organized beer drops of its Night Owl pumpkin ale delivered by scare actors in full monster costume—in partnership with local haunt the Georgetown Morgue—directly to the homes of consumers who signed up for the experience. This year, Elysian partnered with Syfy and USA Network for a fresh spin on its seasonal offering with a pumpkin-cranberry witbier dubbed ‘Killer Wit,’ featuring iconic murderous doll Chucky. Killer Wit is hyped with a minutelong spot, aired on various social media channels, including YouTube, Instagram and beer-centric social app Untappd, in which Chucky wreaks havoc in the brewery. “With ‘Scary Good Delivery’ and Chucky, it feels like we’ve gotten to a place where we’re really starting to nail it,” he said. “Last year, [pumpkin beer] was up 75% ... [The campaigns] are gaining views, brand awareness and brand loyalty." The actual day of Halloween only occurs once every 365 days, and to most people, spooky season only lasts a month. To marketers, however, Halloween is more of a yearlong affair because of the amount of time it takes to plan, prep and execute impactful campaigns and events. After all, teamwork makes the nightmare work. Roehm explained that her team starts marketing in earnest for Halloween early, around late July, after months of market research and influencer consultations. But their kickoff starts even earlier: “We’ve already started planning for Halloween 2023.”

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Chloé Harper Gold

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Chloé Harper Gold