In the spirit of dressing up your marketing campaigns for Halloween, I thought it would be spooky and cool to go a step further and really become someone else for Halloween campaigns. Think seance and possession, channeling the spirit of someone else and having them speak through you during the month of Halloween.

What Would History’s Most Iconic and Notorious Personalities Say About You?

The month is half over but it’s never too late to conjure up a dead persona and have them be a guest contributor penning campaigns, quotes, letters and thoughts for your email marketing campaigns. What would Coco-Chanel say about your new line of clothing your online shop is now carrying? Need someone more eccentric? Try channeling Harry Potter super-villain Bellatrix Lestrange. The idea is to have fun with this and introduce a new perspective but also keep it entertaining.

If you’re a thought leader, what would some of history’s greatest minds have to say about your ideas? How would they challenge them? What would a debate between friend and foe of your ideas look like? I especially love the idea of changing it out and getting a diverse set of people from different backgrounds – fiction, nonfiction, wicked and benevolent – all getting into a word war over your work.

How about a collection of letters that come in every day through Halloween from notorious villains in fiction or history? This keeps it superbly fascinating and lets you see your brand and mission from a completely different perspective.

The power of perspective should never be underestimated. Aside it being a fantastic marketing tool, it also helps us as marketers and thought leaders step outside ourselves and think about something differently. When we deal with a brand, problem or message day in and day out as ourselves, it can become something of a routine. Nothing new or innovative is ever discovered in a routine. Wearing a new skin and truly embracing that persona unleashes a powerful part of ourselves that is otherwise locked away.

Take on an Alter-Ego

The spirit of Halloween and getting dressed up isn’t just about one day. It’s about a transition between seasons, a taking on of a new identity. You can invoke those themes in your email marketing campaigns for the season. Take on a new identity, invoke your creative alter-ego for a weekly series or a searing last-week-of-the-month daily delivery of email campaigns.

If you could wear a costume and be a different and unreserved you, what would that you say about your brand, industry, or experiences? Think of this as the ultimate opportunity to play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde without the repercussions.

The idea of wearing a different costume is already done in pop culture by rock stars and supermodels who change their name to embrace an alter-ego. The alter-ego lets them embrace a new style, direction and narrative that their old identities are too caged to be able to do freely. It creates buzz. It allows you to be controversial – which is what it takes to get heard – without necessarily becoming the controversy.Halloween is the season to make people uncomfortable and be able to get away with it. Why not finally say and do something that you know is going to make people uncomfortable and get heads to turn?

Halloween is the season to make people uncomfortable and be able to get away with it. Why not finally say and do something that you know is going to make people uncomfortable and get heads to turn?