It’s Getting Spooky Out There
If your business is ignoring Halloween, then you are missing out on one of the growing “holidays” in the US. 
All business media are predicting a record spending on Halloween this year. It is estimated that nearly 180 million American will take part in Halloween festivities and spend more than $9.1 billion (up from $8.4 billion in 2016).
- $3.4 billion on costumes
- $2.7 billion on candy
- $2.7 billion on decorations
- $410 million on Halloween-related greeting cards
A survey by the National Retail Federation said a record number of adults, nearly 50%, plan to dress in a costume this year. No wonder the top costume on Walmart.com is the Jurassic Park T-Rex Inflatable for Adults.
It’s no surprise that many of the top costumes are from movies and TV shows. Game of Thrones and Pennywise are sure to be big hits with adults. I also was not surprised to see Amazon.com take Halloween head on with its own Halloween Shop. They don’t miss a beat, especially when there is $9 billion floating around.
Halloween can’t be ignored by your marketing efforts. It’s a big day and getting bigger with more and more adults–who are all kids at heart.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
