With Halloween just around the corner, I wanted to share with you an interesting genre of marketing that has boomed in the past few years; Zombie Marketing. Sounds a bit out there, right? Let’s just say, for the sake of Halloween, that you wanted to pursue the zombie genre and needed some tips on zombie marketing. Well, Happy Halloween, here they are:
A Million Dollar Industry
“I think they (zombies) reflect our very real anxieties of these crazy scary times. A zombie story gives people a fictional lens to see the real problems of the world. You can deal with societal breakdown, famine, disease, chaos in the streets, but as long as the catalyst for all of them is zombies, you can still sleep.” (Bestselling zombie genre author Max Brooks)
According to 247WallSt.com, the estimated value of the zombie industry is $5.74 billion. But even 247WallSt.com admits that number is probably “grossly undercalculated.” Zombie movies alone have surpassed over $3 billion in the last decade. Then there’s video games, which are estimated at $2.5 million, comic books, magazine and TV, which are estimated at $50 million, and the Halloween costumes, which are estimated at over $500 million.
The CDC’s Zombie Marketing Strategy
As zombie TV shows and movies have made a huge comeback in the past few years, the real surprise for anyone in the marketing world was the Centers for Disease Control’s recent zombie marketing strategy. In Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse, the CDC took a very serious aspect of their website (Emergency Preparedness and Response) and added a very humorous twist. In a very informational document, posted back in May of this year, the CDC walked us through the emergency plan should a zombie apocalypse occur.
Family members meeting by their mailbox. You should pick two meeting places, one close to your home and one farther away.
1. Identify the types of emergencies that are possible in your area….
2. Pick a meeting place for your family to regroup in case zombies invade your home…
3. Identify your emergency contacts….
4. Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., brains)…
The CDC even went so far as to point out how prepared they are for such an event:
If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts, and infection control (including isolation and quarantine).
Tips for Zombie Marketing
As with any other form of brand marketing, you need to determine if zombies best represent your brand message. Even as Halloween approaches and you struggle to search for relevant, trending marketing strategies, it is crucial that you adhere to your overall brand message and remain true to your storyline. Are brain eating zombies a part of that story?