With Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice aka Beetlejuice 2 riding high at the cinema, the marketing teams at both Coca-Cola and Mondelez must be delighted that they backed the film franchise for their 2024 Halloween promotions.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ (CCEP’s) Fanta brand has become quite synonymous with the spooky occasion thanks to its past Halloween activity. And last year the brand accounted for one in every four flavoured carbonates sold in the four weeks to Halloween, with sales growing by £1m (Nielsen stats).
This year CCEP has launched a new Beetlejuice-themed limited edition called Fanta Zero Afterlife. Its crisp apple taste taps into the popularity of the apple flavour, as well as consumer demand for zero sugar options. Indeed Fanta Orange Zero Sugar grew ahead of the regular Fanta variants last Halloween(Nielsen).
The black-and-white striped design on the Afterlife can creates a close association with Beetlejuice and features the film’s main character for maximum stand-out on shelf.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Fanta flavour range has been given a temporary makeover featuring the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice characters, which CCEP hopes Fanta fans and film fanatics will be keen tocollect.
Fanta Orange and Fanta Orange Zero Sugar feature Astrid (played by Jenna Ortega), Fruit Twist and Fruit Twist Zero Sugar feature Lydia Deetz (played by Winona Ryder), Pineapple Grapefruit features Delia Deetz (played by Catherine O’Hara), and Lemon features Delores (played by Monica Bellucci).
Fanta is being supported by a multi-million-pound marketing campaign called ‘Summon What You Wanta’ which includes paid social media, influencer activity, digital, out-of-home advertising and experiential activations.
Rob Yeomans, vice-president, commercial development at CCEP GB, says: “This year promises to be our biggest and best Halloween yet, with exclusive limited editions – including a brand new flavour and collectable packs – under the umbrella of a huge new global partnership. We’re encouraging retailers to get behind the Fanta brand this Halloween, find creative ways to execute in store and take full advantage of the sales opportunity.”
Spooky Gums
Maynards Bassetts has two new limited-edition products – Spooky Gums and Liquorice Mix inspired by the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice movie, as well an on-pack promotion with a Spooky Trip and over 1,000 prizes up for grabs.
Promotional packs of the limited-edition sweets give shoppers the chance to win vouchers, or a Spooky 2 Night City Break. Consumers simply have to purchase and scan promotional packs and follow the online mechanic for the opportunity to win a prize.
Spooky Gums come in surprise flavours and an assortment of colours, shaped as black, purple and green coffins, spiders, books, tombstones and worms. The Liquorice Mix features an assortment of black and white shapes.
Amy Lawson, senior brand manager for Maynards Bassetts at Mondelēz International, says: “This partnership absolutely delivers an engaging way to entertain and excite consumers by tapping into a cultural moment and setting the Beetlejuice loose with our deliciously dark and fun campaign!”
To support the promotion, retailers can also “Set the Beetlejuice Loose” in store thanks to new in-store displays to help capture shopper attention and drive sales in the run-up to October 31.
Trick or treat?
According to Mintel, Halloween spending topped £1bn in 2023, and consumer spending on bonfire night saw an increase of almost 20%.
It says this was driven by a significant increase in spending from younger generations, with 16-34 year-olds the highest spending age group by far for both occasions.
The research firm says continued growth in the market will be very much dependent on leveraging the emotional connection younger shoppers have with both events. It says retailers should ‘lean into nostalgia’ with products that bring back memories of popular Halloween activities such as carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating.
Confectionery wholesaler Hancocks stocks everything imaginable to make Halloween go off with a bang. Its head of marketing, Kathryn Hague, says the final week of October was the main time people were making Halloween purchases last year.
“Sugar confectionery was the winning format last Halloween, managing to attract new shoppers, while chocolate confectionery lost shoppers. Halloween novelties, sugar minis and tubs were categories that were driving both value and volume growth last year.”
She advises forecourt retailers to stock up on Halloween-themed impulse novelty treats and display them close to tills to encourage unplanned purchases.
“We recommend grouping all seasonal ranges together in a spooky and attractive Halloween display so customers can quickly find all Halloween products in one place if they’re in a rush.”
Halloween-themed pre-packaged pick ‘n’ mix candy cups were Hancocks’ number one best seller last year. “They’re a perfect pick ‘n’ mix alternative for forecourts as they don’t require a large stand to display them on,” says Hague.
Bonds of London Dracula Teeth and Spooky Mix Cups are filled with Halloween-themed sweets and they come in resealable cups made with 30% recycled material and are kerbside recyclable.
“Candy Realms Pumpkin Light Up Pops, Spooky Tubes and Skull Mallow Pops were also incredibly popular impulse novelty options last year. A new addition to the Candy Realms Halloween range this year is the Petrifying Pumpkins Candy Cup filled with pumpkin mallows and jelly pumpkins ,” says Hague.
Squeletons launch
Swizzels has launched new skeleton-shaped Squashies Squeletons in three popular flavours: Sour Apple, Strawberry and Orange.
The confectionery brand performed well last Halloween with sales of its spooky products growing by 26% and outperforming total sugar confectionery, which grew by 18.4% (Circana data).
Swizzels’ Halloween range also includes themed bags such as Monster Treats, Mummy Mix and Trick or Treat Lolly Mix, which has grown by 33% (Circana).
For retailers keen to sell a shareable option with a variety of individually wrapped sweets, Swizzels’ Sweet Shop Favourites Tub is a best-selling Halloween item, with an rrp of just £5.
The Swizzels Halloween range is backed by a nationwide marketing campaign. This includes cinema ads across Pearl and Dean venues, targeted Video on Demand (VOD) spots, digital outdoor advertising and in-store promotions.
Super sour, super scary
Bebeto has launched Super Sour Scary Skulls in 150g bags. These are skull-shaped gummy sweets in six flavours: strawberry, cola, blackcurrant, pineapple, raspberry and cherry.
Phil Hulme, commercial director at brand owner Kervan Gida UK, says: “Halloween remains a key focus for Bebeto, with our range consistently performing well year after year. We’re seeing a growing trend of consumers choosing sugar confectionery over chocolate, and we’re thrilled to expand our Halloween offering for 2024. By introducing the new Super Sour Scary Skulls, we are also tapping into the popular and growing sour confectionery trend.”
The sweets, which retail at just £1, are available from Spar, CJ Lang and Parfetts.
Don’t forget the beer
When you think about Halloween you most probably think about children but those children are often accompanied by adults – who might appreciate a drink to help them celebrate (or get through) the occasion
Alexander Wilson, category and commercial strategy director at Heineken, says that last year the company enjoyed a 4.6% increase in sales during Halloween week and expects something similar this year.
He says sales of beer and cider in total reached £127m in the total off-trade during Halloween week, cementing the occasion as the biggest trading week during the autumn season (Nielsen) before the build up to Christmas.
“When it comes to the brands people are purchasing, this is overall very similar to the rest of the year, so retailers don’t necessarily have to worry about stocking limited-editions lines and dead stock after the event has passed, but instead focus on how they display beer and cider in store and having full availability of best sellers, such as Cruzcampo and Birra Moretti Sale di Mare. It is also worth thinking about how to facilitate trade up – for example, giving brands like Old Mout and Cruzcampo, which caters to those watching their spend but still wanting something special, top shelf space.”
When it comes to in-store theatre, Wilson says retailers should consider utilising any themed pos available to create their own display near the front of the store which signals Halloween-themed promotions – for example, a multipack of beer with snacks like crisps and nuts, to help inspire customers to purchase multiple items, and to get everything they need from one store.
