Halloweekend: Uninspired name but effective strategy for the best holiday ever.

One of my biggest pet peeves is seasonal advertising. Seriously. The next advertiser that invites me to “fall (or spring) into savings” gets it right in the tooth! Other egregious offenders can be seen in in the seasonal holiday subcategory with such stretches of grammar and spelling as Outback's “Red, White, and Bloomin” (shudder) or Target's current “Halloweekend” promotion.

But I can't fault Target for trying. Halloween is the greatest holiday in the history of all holidays and is arguably the only one that is even more fun as an adult than as a kid, and adults have money to spend. This is addressed in the October 13^th, 2010 article Will Halloween Spook Consumers? from eMarketer.com which shows total spending on Halloween this year in the US is on track to reach $5.8 billion. (Unfortunately the $.8 billion comes from the cheapskates who hand out the dubiously named “candy corn” instead of real treats.) This averages to about $66.28 per person on candy, decorations, costumes, and party supplies.

While the name is questionable, Target's approach is spot on. The website is fully integrated into their “Halloweekend” theme with a large promo banner taking up most of the main page. Directly linked from the banner is the whole array of costumes offered, conveniently organized by category. 40% of adults plan to dress up this year (buying a costume is cheating, more on that later) and a considerably larger number of kids and costumes seem to be the main shopping item so Target is wise to feature it.

However, clicking on one of the costume links also provides further insight into how well Target thought this through. At the bottom of the costume page there are also images and links to items under the heading “Halloween Party Planning”. According to the article 33% of adults plan to hold a party while 50% plan to decorate their homes and yards, so this content is well targeted.

I also can't help but notice they are also offering free shipping on costumes over $50. With the average spending on total Halloween purchases being $66 Target can potentially capture almost all of a person's planned spending with this offer, and possibly drive some higher.

So there we go. Target's doing a good job and Halloween is only two weeks away! Get working on those costumes people! And for those who don't have an idea yet I am awarding extra points for hilarity and cultural timeliness to anyone who can pull off the Tiger Woods “Cigar Guy”.