Be afraid... Or maybe not

© Luecha Rukpradit – 123RF.com

Now you may - like my children - be thinking, "Oh here he goes again, the grumpy old Aki who likes spoiling our fun," but you would be wrong. You see, when we look at Halloween and other special days from a marketing perspective, there are a few nice lessons that all businesses can learn.

Firstly, it is profitable! There are no figures for South Africa, but this particular holiday is worth $7 billion in the US - that is R70 billion! The biggest beneficiaries are, of course, sweet companies, followed closely by decorations, make-up, and costumes, (think life-sized skeletons, rubber masks, face paint, cloaks, plastic stick-on warts and gory stab wounds, and fake Dracula teeth.) Millions of people will buy greeting cards and attend Halloween parties. Moreover, of course, there are hours and hours of re-runs on TV of every horror and spooky movie ever made.

Other tips

• The most important is the fact that - out of nothing - these businesses have created a fun experience that allows people to enjoy themselves. Any excuse for a bit of a laugh and it really does not cost a lot to organise. Your business may not be able to be as specific about this holiday, but there must be something that you can arrange in order to celebrate. Every month there is something, and this year Halloween follows Heritage Day, where I saw many staff come in to work dressed in their national costumes. At one Spar, the Greek owner came dressed as - you guessed it - the Greek soldier with white kilt, long white stockings, a fez on his head and red pom-poms on his shoes. The staff enjoyed it, but the customers adored it.

• It creates a sense of community, of belonging. When everyone else around you looks as silly as you do, it breaks down barriers between us, and it's comforting to know that there are millions of other people out there doing exactly the same. (My wife and I once went to a charity ball dressed in fancy dress - but nobody else did. It turned out that we had misunderstood the invitation, but the potentially most-embarrassing-moment-in-my-life turned out fine. One man took off his tie and tied it around his head, another took his shirt out of his pants and tied his hankie as a "doek", a woman replaced her sexy high heels with an old pair of running shoes in her car boot, and almost everyone got into the spirit of things by doing something totally ridiculous. The next year the charity ball was declared a fancy dress party.)

• From the company's perspective, it is very profitable. We all know that De Beers is responsible for the best line of advertising hocus pocus of the 20th century, for it is they that several decades ago persuaded the world's population that 'A diamond is forever', and that every man who asks a woman to marry him has to produce a diamond ring, however small. Between the three peaks of Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween, sweet and confectionary companies generate vast amounts of money and great returns for shareholders - without their customers even thinking about complaining.

There is nothing to fear as Halloween nears. It is a treat all investors enjoy but it can also create a fun and memorable experience for your customers.