As we step into Halloween week, we take a look at the PR that has run alongside this spooktacular festival…

1) A dash of humor

Last year Marmite put its own spin on Halloween by redesigning the iconic jar into two limited editions utilizing their famous catch phrase ‘you either love it, or you hate it’ for a Halloween spin.

One jar was a ‘trick’ for the Marmite haters, labelled as ‘a poison for the haters’, and the other jar was a ‘treat’ for Marmite lovers, labelled as ‘a potion for the lovers’. It’s no surprise that, in fact, they both just contained Marmite! But the humorous spin on its own catchphrase did indeed go down a treat, with people desperate to get their hands on the limited jar at an inflated price online. The campaign got people talking and received a few chuckles along the way.

2) A splash of fear

The people of London were in for a shock last year, when a metre-wide spider was spotted crawling around the streets, and even pouncing on people as they walked past!

Hidden cameras caught all of the reactions, which Fanta, the brand behind the prank, then posted online. Definitely not one for people with arachnophobia, but it certainly got people talking and looking online for who was behind the stunt.

3) A dose of seriousness

In the US, Women’s Foundation launched a campaign called ‘A Scary Truth: The Wage Gap’ last Halloween to highlight the gender pay gap.

When trick or treaters knocked on the door of one house, a businessman opened the door, and gave giant sweets to the boys, but regular sweets to the girls.

Cruel, yes. But a great way to drive home a serious issue.

So, as Halloween approaches, why not pause to think how your brand could get in the Halloween spirit and think outside of the box this year.

There are many different ingredients that you can include in your PR potion, whether that be a bit humor, an element of fear (although maybe not too scary…), or a more serious approach, depending on your brand and your target audience.

Do you have the budget for a large-scale PR campaign? If not, think about your social media content (perhaps your team could dress up to raise more money for a local charity, a great way to engage stakeholders and the wider community) or the service/product you offer, and how you could tailor that for Halloween. Could you produce a limited-edition Halloween version of one of your products to create some conversation? Whatever you decide, just be sure to CREEP it on brand!

Whatever approach to Halloween you decide upon, give em’ PUMPKIN to talk about…