Halloween Candy In July, Because It’s 2020

With all the talk of the new normal, there is much still unknown about the future, particularly what the country will be up for in the fall, including school, sports and celebrations like Halloween. Fearing a loss of their biggest revenue season, many candy brands are trying to get ahead of the Halloween excitement with new items and new strategies to both be prepared and perhaps entice candy fans to start their buying early.

Candy Brands Plan To Emphasize Ecommerce This Halloween Season

Fortunately, Easter offered candy companies a glimpse into how people might treat an occasion like Halloween, and this insight allowed them to prepare for what is likely to be a different way of celebrating. While Easter’s candy sales held pretty steady, dropping only 4%, some brands found that they had too much product in stores and not enough online. With many consumers having pivoted to shopping online, candy brands plan to be ready this time. Mars Wrigley is “going to spend a disproportionate amount of time making sure we have the right range, in the right quantities, available digitally by each banner and retailer that we do business with,” said Tim LeBel, Mars Wrigley Chief Halloween Officer. AdAge also notes that “ [Mars Wrigley] is coming up with contingency plans to try to capture consumer attention, including a virtual Halloween hub with online trick-or-treating, games and ways to purchase candy.”

Hershey Introduces New Products To Entice Early Candy Shoppers

Hershey has announced four new products for Halloween, including Reese’s Peanut Butter Franken-Cup, Vampire Milk Chocolate Kisses, Witch’s Brew KitKat and Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Creme Fangs. The Cookies ‘N’ Creme Fangs, when bitten correctly, create a set of Instagrammable fangs — there are even instructions on the bag. Hershey will also be bringing back several popular candies from prior years. According to AdAge, Hershey is hoping for a strong recovery but “is trying to bring out the right mix of products, including some with lower price points, and boosting its ecommerce plan.” Hershey is also working with retailers to bring out items early in order to mitigate the risk of a slow Halloween.

The theme for brands throughout the coronavirus pandemic is the need to pivot and adjust to whatever 2020 might throw their way. The benefit of being several months into this crisis is that brands now have much needed information about consumer behaviors and market trends, which can help with digital marketing strategies, ecommerce plans and consumer outreach. Tim LeBel believes there will be trick-or-treating and celebrations of some kind this Halloween, but either way Mars — and Hershey — will be ready with spooky treats.

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