The boys dress up as vampires; the girls dress up as princesses. The older siblings walk them around the neighborhood, and the adults hand out sweets at their doorsteps. This seemingly rigid, family-rooted structure, give or take pumpkin carving, has long been a staple of American childhood, but has been somewhat corroded by commercialization in the past few years. The October 31 industry, according to Selling Halloween magazine, is nearing five billion dollars in contribution to the national economy.
Now hold on there, a Selling Halloween magazine? Yes, there is an entire magazine dedicated to this very seasonal business. Granted, it does come out only about once a year, but their 21-year history only proves the stability of this very temporary field. Another standing testimony to the money-making abilities of Halloween is the Halloween Industry Association with its 5 day-long international Halloween show right next to Manhattan's Madison Square in December.
To me, this looks like a sign that there are some opportunities to take in the holiday market. The HIA and Selling Halloween are live examples of seasonal B2B, a space that might hold some potential work. Furthermore, there is a number of trends in our society that I could identify into which the 10/31 industry yet has to reach.
1. Public safety awareness. The Halloween Industry Association explicitly recommends that parents "Examine all treats carefully for unpackaged items, torn packaging, pinholes, off-color odor or questionable appearance when inspecting Halloween candy. If anything is suspicious about the treats, report it to the police." What used to be an opportunity to collect some free candy now sounds more like a chemistry lab in action. Inventive thinkers out there have come up with Trunk or Treating as a solution to the public safety concerns that arise from candy hunting. Now tell me, what's more fun: Inspecting every piece of Reese's that you get from strangers in your neighborhood or gathering with your friends' families and still getting the same amount of candy out of it all? I vote for the latter. Kudos to the one who came up with the idea for it. I yet have to hear of a commercial version of this smart solution.
2. Healthier eating habits. Whenever I think of trick-or-treating, my mind invariably alludes to Tim Burton's depiction of Willy Wonka and his dentist father. The outcome of the father's concern for his child's health results in the candy magnate that Wonka became. So what; we all know that mountains of lollipops are not all right. Nevertheless, it's yet for a smart entrepreneur to come up with an answer that will change the nature of Halloween.
3. Younger and older adults of the holiday. Segmentation-wise, marketers have already recognized that there are the children, the college students and the adults when we're speaking about Halloween costumes. However, it is yet an open question regarding whether the costumes are differentiated enough, and whether the other attributes of this holiday are separated into groups at all. The candy aisle still looks quite monotonous during October.
4. Waiting for the post-Halloween candy rush. A certain segment of the market will only buy the seasonal candy once it goes on sale on November first. I'm not sure quite what to make of this phenomenon, but a couple of years ago the holiday candy industry saw one of its post-holiday activists outrageously speak up. Seems like the clearance candy fans also matter very much:
Let your holiday go well, and tune back for our next update about idea generation on Thursday. Don't forget to comment and subscribe, and have a remarkable week!
No comments:
Post a Comment