
Halloween and seasonal marketing during COVID-19… đ
Well, Halloweenâs out the window. Not that youâll have celebrated last yearâs Halloween if youâre older than eleven but, being a season, itâs a vitally important cog in retailâs grinding machine. So, how are businesses able to market themselves during the Coronavirus pandemic in ways that are meaningful, sensitive, and make sense within the context we find ourselves in?
Firstly, encouraging kids to go around knocking on peopleâs doors and accept non-descript treats is probably a no-go this year. And, likewise, the traditional tactic of âoh isnât it great to spend time with your family this [Season]?â is likely to ring quite bitterly for a lot of people. Either theyâll have lost family members, theyâll have gotten sick of them during lockdown, or theyâll not be able to go see their families because of new lockdowns.
Worse still, we all thought the worst was behind us.
Not to mention that this year, more than any other in recent memory, people have lost a lot of money.
Itâs difficult. On the one hand, we donât want to be pushing depressing messages. On the other hand, the glib âhaha donât shake my hand because of a pandemic but letâs share a burger mateâ or âwe have always cared about pandemics (since like April or something)â type messaging isnât really ok either.
So what do we do with our seasonal marketing campaigns?
Fundamentally, chip in.
If you want to cash in on Covid-related marketing, youâd better have a good reason to â todayâs audience isnât going to lap it up just because you have a pretty bit of stock music.Â
Is the service youâre offering helping people? Have you done anything to help people? How have you adapted your working practices to make your products or services more Covid-secure? How have you cared for your staff during the pandemic? How have you considered your customers during the pandemic?Â
What do you have to say to people who now donât have stacks of cash, and who largely canât see their families?
I think, most crucially, the message should be âitâs okâ. The current spike is higher than it was when we first locked down, so the end isnât just around the corner â weâre looking at least past Christmas for cases to settle down again. That doesnât mean we hide in a hole, it means we adapt.
What tones to take for Christmas & Halloween marketing
To emphasise: if your business or services havenât helped or arenât relevant to the pandemic, donât try to use it in your marketing.
So, what tones are ok?
The Drum recommends a focus on âaffordability, authenticity, and actionâ. Iâm inclined to agree.
Where usually youâd be promoting togetherness, focus on the possibility of togetherness apart.Â
You can still âbeâ with your family and friends through the variety of video chat tools available. The lack of true simultaneous audio does mean that you have to communicate in a different way than you would in person, but itâs better than nothing. And itâs also something you could incorporate into your messaging with âbe glad you canât talk over each other this Christmasâ type messaging.
Otherwise, the ability to order gifts online and have them delivered to your loved ones is a real benefit when you canât physically see them. Are bespoke options available?
Video chats while eating dinner individually are also a new normal. Are there fun things you can do through video chats? Probably.
An alternative angle may be to promote temporary isolation. In the vein of the Danish Hygge, being wrapped up, cosy and warm, during winter is a really pleasant experience. If your products or services can be enjoyed solo, then lean in on that blanket-by-the-fire messaging.
With people often now in precarious work situations, spending on luxury items as seasonal gifts is likely to go down. So instead push the benefits of not-eye wateringly expensive products â you can go far in a cheap pair of good shoes!
Whatever angle you take, it needs to be real, it needs to be personal, and it needs to be relevant.
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