Campaigns With Fright Who Did It Right
It's the most wonderful time of the year, and by wonderful I mean frightful. Around Halloween, both the box office and brands alike are dusting off their cobwebs and carving out pumpkins in preparation for the spooky season.There is a brand partner movie vehicle for every demographic from super scary (for adults) to kid-friendly (for the whole family.)
With Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween's theatrical release we've seen some creatively creepy campaigns, as well as true out of the Jack-in-the-Box thinking. In this blog, Hollywood Branded braves spooky campaigns and brings you the top brand partnerships of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween...
It's No Trick, This Movie Is A Treat!
Coat-tailing off the widely popular and monstrous success of its predecessor, Goosebumps, released in 2015, its sequel is set up for just as sweet of a return. With the original's release grossing $150MM at the box office, Goosebumps 2 has big shoes to fill, but after scaring their way to theatres October 12th, they're enjoying their spoils of $62MM worldwide. Not too shabby considering the family fright film goes up against big box office behemoths such as the highly anticipated sequel to the Michael Myers flick of the same name, Halloween, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and currently poised at $172MM worldwide. Not to mention, our favorite anti-hero symbiote, Venom, starring Tom Hardy flirts with its third week at the box office and has cashed in a hearty $508MM worldwide. Needless to say, its been a busy month for moviegoers (not that anyone is complaining).
With more and more brands hopping on the spook-tacular bandwagon of partnering with scary content, especially in the era of Stranger Things, which you can read more about in our blog Top Brands in Stranger Things Season 2 blog, Goosebumps 2 touts some deliciously creative campaigns just in time for Halloween.
1. Krikey
Krikey, the AR (Augmented Reality) mobile gaming App announced their partnership with Sony Pictures for a Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween AR takeover. Through the technology and creative minds at Krikey, the Goosebumps villain, Slappy the ventriloquist dummy, was brought to life through the use of the App, with three exclusive AR games.
The first, and most popular game to release, was the Trap Slappy Challenge, wherein users had to stack R.L. Stine's books on the shelf as fast as they could and place Slappy back inside his story before the clock ran out. The two additional AR games are available now on Krikey, which can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
In the official online announcement of the partnership, Krikey's CTO, Ketaki Shiriram, explained, “Krikey’s implementation of novel computer vision in tandem with real-time video enables Hollywood to see the potential of scale-able AR games with film integrations,” Shiriram went on to say, “We are always looking to push the boundaries of social AR and look forward to sharing this groundbreaking collaboration!”
Krikey allows users in real-time to play AR games with friends from anywhere in the world by using virtual machines to connect two users and quickly having the smartphone’s camera sensors map each physical space to accurately place the AR object. Once the games begin, users compete for the highest score. The games offer infinite playtime and are fun, engaging and easy to play.
2. Hulu/"Huluween"
As part of their October event aptly dubbed "Huluween" fans were fully-immersed in the spooky spirit with a branded content campaign surrounding the release of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween as part of the streaming platform’s push for less-intrusive ads.
To help promote the Sony Pictures family-friendly flick, Hulu integrated the movie’s main villain, Slappy, into their October-long Huluween hub, where the sentient ventriloquist dummy unleashed chaos on unsuspecting “Huluweenists” trying to share their favorite holiday hacks.
Slappy, of course, appeared alongside a "brought to you by Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween message, as well as short Halloween preparation tutorials such as pumpkin carving, and dessert decorating, also created by Hulu. For more behind the scenes pictures follow this link to the online article.
To read more about Huluween and their branded content campaigns check out our blog: Huluween - Streaming Service Reduces Ads In Favor Of Branded Content.
3. Greenfence Consumer
In anticipation of the release of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, Sony Pictures collaborated with Greenfence Consumer, an award-winning Blockchain platform ecosystem - in other words: cryptocurrency/crypto-collectibles. Together, they created Goosebumps character-themed digital trading cards, described as being collectible, scarce, and tradeable, with some even pre-loaded with free movie tickets to the film, while others were pre-loaded with cash.
Cards could be collected by visiting Websaver.ca every day during the promotion between Oct. 5th through Nov. 5th, where fans could then get a digital scratcher card with a new chance to collect and win.
Using Greenfence’s consumer-friendly blockchain platform, Goosebumps fans could create a private digital “wallet”. Following the sign-in, every user was gifted a dynamic “Magic Book,” as featured in the movie, where their cards could be stowed as they seek to collect the entire set.
Published in their online co-press release, Sony Pictures went on to explain this creative crypto-campaign. “We were really intrigued with the work Greenfence Consumer has been doing, applying blockchain to our industry and making it user-friendly to a mass audience,” said Jamie Stevens, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Consumer Products at Sony Pictures Entertainment. “When they approached us about collaborating with Websaver.ca, the largest coupon site in Canada, we were excited to try the platform and to reach such a large number of our target audience. Greenfence Consumer created simple, fun sweepstakes that will engage parents and their children with our movie — which is perfect because Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween is a really fun movie.”
“As a company, we continue to focus on the utility aspect of the Blockchain and what it enables, keeping it simple so the everyday consumer can participate,” said Mimi Slavin, Head of Marketing and Business Development, Greenfence Consumer. “We want to shift focus from ICOs, Bitcoin, and the hype around Blockchain, and instead develop Blockchain-powered assets, with intrinsic value, that appeal to mass audiences. Digital collectibles are a powerful and practical use case for the technology, and speaks to the diverse ways in which blockchain can be leveraged.”
Scared Of Taking The Next Step? Don't Be!
As Halloween has always been a perfect spirit to tap into for brands, it's fascinating as we watch the evolution of marketing that evokes the haunting holiday. To learn more about ways in which the holidays have utilized in brand marketing check out some of our other blog posts:
- Streaming Service Reduces Ads In Favor Of Branded Content
- 6 Reasons Why Not To Be Afraid Of The Horror Genre
- 4 Tips For Using Influencers This Holiday To Increase Sales
- Celebrity Endorsement Ads Holiday Edition
If you want to learn more about brand marketing, you can check out our Survey on the latest trends.
