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Creative Halloween Marketing Turns Local Traditions Into Brand Experiences

Two of this season’s Halloween marketing campaigns have a street address. Dunkin’ turned a shop in Salem, Massachusetts, into a haunted house run by its spider-shaped mascot. Reese’s is running a nationwide search to find the best street in America for trick-or-treating, and the winning street gets a block party.Neither brand built its campaign around a traditional ad. Each one centers on bringing people together in a real place, then letting social media carry the story.The timing makes sense. Consumers plan to spend $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, $400 million more than last year’s record of $13.1 billion, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual Halloween survey of 7,889 consumers.A Social Media Mascot Moves Into a Real StoreIn early October, Dunkin’ opened Spidey D’s Horror House at a location in Salem. The store takeover features the décor of Spidey D, Dunkin’s viral Halloween mascot, exclusive Halloween merchandise, and a Zoltar fortune-telling machine the character has “possessed.” Visitors don’t need a ticket or reservation to join the fun, which runs through the end of October.The Spidey D character began online. The character first appeared on Dunkin’s social accounts in October 2024 as the face of the chain’s purple Spider Donut. In one week, its chaotic posts earned more than 2.5 million engagements and 100,000 new followers, The Boston Globe reported. The buzz reached the counter, too. Dunkin’ sold 13 million Munchkins and doughnuts on Halloween 2024, a record for the holiday, according to the Globe.Last year, Spidey D took over the same Salem shop, covering it inside and out in purple slime and webs. That store went on to post one of the highest single-day sales the brand has ever recorded, the Globe reports. Jill McVicar Nelson, who was Dunkin’s CMO at the time, explained to the Globe that the team “wanted to see what happens when you take Spidey D off the phone and into the real world.”This year’s Horror House builds on that playbook, turning a social media character into an experiential marketing destination fans can walk into.Reese’s Puts Neighborhoods in the SpotlightReese’s launched its Trick-or-Treatiest Street in America search on Oct. 1. To narrow the field to 150 contenders, the Hershey-owned brand surveyed 15,000 Americans and weighed factors such as decorations, community participation, and walkability, Marketing Dive reported.Today, the first-ever Halloween Council named the winner: East Dudley Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey. The winning street receives a Reese’s block party in partnership with Zillow.“The best Halloween streets aren’t just the ones that decorate or have the biggest budgets,” Halloween council-member Christina Ricci asserted in Reese’s announcement. “Instead, they are the ones that create an atmosphere where trick-or-treaters keep coming back, and the entire community becomes part of the experience.”The approach doubles as community marketing: Instead of telling people what makes Halloween special, Reese’s asks neighborhoods to show it.Why Physical Promotions Fit This MomentBoth campaigns give fans something to do, not just something to watch or read.The brand’s hand over part of that conversation by design. Spidey D’s following grew in comment sections, a form of user-generated content that topped 30,000 comments in 2024. Reese’s makes each participating neighborhood’s own Halloween traditions the story. In both cases, the brands give people a reason to participate, turning a seasonal campaign into something they can help shape and share.Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photo by Svetlana Popova/iStock)