640 - Do you have a successful marketing plan?

I was reminded of living in France, as I read Scott Newton's post about Halloween in other parts of the world.

It was approximately 1997 when France launched a massive marketing effort into Halloween, a holiday the French didn't celebrate.

The French had seen how much money America made on Halloween. It's the second biggest retail holiday after Christmas.

🎃 The French placed 600 pumpkins around the Eiffel Tower and made a big news story about it. 🎃

Halloween decorations were abundant in the stores. At first, some people were skeptical.

In my own town, I was excited that my kids could experience Halloween as I did as a child so I stepped up and got permission to use the community center to host a party.

🎃 The first year, 18 children came. Several of my American friends helped out as we taught the children about Trick or Treating.

We had 3 cars and we drove the kids because it was raining.

The kids ran up to the first house and a woman gave them each the equivalent of about $1.

At the second house, my son (7 years old) didn't say Trick or Treat. I heard him say, Trick or Money!!

We gathered all the children together and forbade them to ask for money. We rehearsed saying Trick or Treat (in French, of course) and continued on our way.

At the next house, the neighbor gave each child a full bag of candy!! It was obvious we would have to educate the neighbors.

At yet another house, a man opened the door, after the 3rd group of children rang the doorbell! He yelled at them, "Why can't you kids all come at once? I'm tired of you all ringing my doorbell!"

We huddled afterward to come up with a better plan for the second year.

🎃 The second year, the local paper announced again that we would hold a big party for the kids. This year, 63 kids were dropped off by parents who realized they were getting free babysitting for 3 hours!

It was a madhouse, but the group of 8-10 Americans who helped me with trick or treating and games, we made it happen.

🎃 In the third year (and final for me), we invited parents to join in and we had a pumpkin carving contest.

The French have incredible imaginations. I saw some of the most well-carved and gruesome pumpkins I had ever seen. It was difficult to choose a winner.

After that, the French caught on and were making Halloween happen on their own.

Some loved Halloween. Others absolutely hated it.

But the idea of letting children dress up, gather with friends, and collect candy throughout the neighborhood was too hard to pass up.

It was an experience to see how quickly people can be manipulated through effective marketing.

Marketing definitely works!

Have you ever watched a marketing campaign succeed?