2022’s Halloween Marketing Hits

Credit: Beth Garrabrant

Halloween has come and gone for another year. As it’s passed, it’s given artists an opportunity to add a festive touch to their marketing approaches. This week, we’re reflecting on the Halloweek just gone, and the artists who have used it to their advantage. 

Harry Styles’s ‘Harryween’

Last year, Harry Styles introduced his fans to Harryween with two special shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Harryween took place on October 30 and 31, and while it was part of his Love On Tour shows, the event was promoted with its own event posters. Fans were encouraged to join the fun and don their own costumes for the shows. 

This year, Styles hosted Harryween once again. The event took place at the Kia Forum, Los Angeles and saw Styles and his band dress up as characters from Grease. They even treated their audience to a cover of ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’. All three Harryween events have picked up considerable traction online. On TikTok, the Harryween hashtag has been used across more than 425.1 million videos. 

Harryween content has also been shared across Variety, Rolling Stone and NME, amongst a plethora of other publications. It seems that a themed evening is a great way to boost tour coverage. While emerging artists might not land themselves in big name publications with their own halloween-themed shows, Harry Styles’ Harryween reminds us that themed live shows are a great way to add some excitement to a tour. 

Mariah Carey’s Christmas Countdown

Mariah Carey, AKA pop music’s most festive icon, bewitched her audience by sharingthis clipacross her Instagram, Twitter and TikTok accounts. On Instagram, it’s scored more than 68 million plays, on Twitter, it’s earned more than 20 million views and on TikTok, more than 28 million. While the clip does embrace the spooky season, its real purpose is to promote ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. As Carey transforms from a witch to a more familiar Christmas version of herself, she’s provided a teaser to #MariahSZN, that time of year that she’s almost guaranteed to re-enter the charts. Daily Mail, Harper’s Bazaar, People Magazine were among the major publications who covered Carey’s witchy ways.

Lizzo’s Many Costumes

Lizzo gave us not one but four different Halloween costumes over the last week. Her looks were showcased with plenty of posts across her TikTok, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Videos of Lizzo dressed up as Marge Simpson, Miss Piggy, Chrisean Rock and internet sensation Woowop have approximately 73 million views on TikTok, and 28 million plays on Instagram. She also gets bonus points for keeping current trends and memes in mind. Lizzo’s many looks (and the effort that went into them) remind us that annual events can spark inspiration for social media content. One week has given her a reason to share posts across her various channels.

Whether you're looking to try out some different branding, build hype towards a release or special event, or you'd just like to generate some exciting new content, annual events like Halloween can give artists a fantastic launchpad to do so. 

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