HI-CHEW is currently ranked as #26 brand in the non-chocolate candy category, with ambitions to rise the ranks to the top fifteen. Breaking through the crowded candy space, to reach Gen Z audiences, is critical to accomplishing this, especially during a key holiday: Halloween.
Our goal was to create a campaign that would stand out during this busy candy season, and drive sales of HI-CHEW. To do this, we needed a spookier and edgier experience to match Gen Z’s love for all things haunted.
HI-CHEW claims to be irresistible, but is it so irresistible that people would still want it even if it was possessed? To find out, we set up an Instagram store where people could buy bags of HI-CHEW that stayed amongst the ghosts at three of the most haunted locations across the country. Not only did we create the world’s first potentially possessed candy, but we promoted and sold the product entirely through social.
We sent HI-CHEW bags to the Winchester Mystery House, the Belcourt Castle, and the Stanley Hotel. We documented the bags stay at each location through social media, capturing all of the bone-chilling moments that arose.
Ghosts can't easily be captured on camera, so we had artist Robert Ball, of Goosebumps fame, create posters featuring the haunts from each location. Each poster became a shoppable post, driving to our Insta store.
Fans flocked to our Instagram store in troves, wanting to see for themselves if these bags of HI-CHEW were truly haunted. The bags sold out within hours of release.
We successfully got onto Gen Z’s feed, securing 1.6 Million impressions and a 13,532% year over year increase in reach for the brand.. Not only did the content reach Gen Z but it also resonated with them, driving engagement rates 513% above industry average.
During the campaign, daily positive brand mentions increased 47.9%, proving spookier haunts don’t scare Gen Z, rather it engages them more.
