Brief:

• Anheuser-Busch's Natural Light beer is running a Halloween costume contest that offers cash rewards to Twitter or Instagram users. To enter, contestants must share pictures of costumes inspired by their "real-life nightmares," such as crushing student debt, bad credit scores, never-ending laundry or moving in with their parents, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
• The pictures must tag Natural Light's Twitter or Instagram account and include the hashtags #NattyScaries and #Contest. The brand will judge entries based on creativity, originality and relevance to the contest theme, per its rules.
• Natural Light will award a grand prize of $10,000 to one winner, and prizes of $1,000 each to 10 first-place winners. The contest runs Oct. 16 to Nov. 3.

Insight:

Natural Light's Halloween-themed campaign aims to reach millennials and older Gen Zers by humorously playing on the anxieties of young adults who are a key target market for the beer brand. In urging people to post their costumes on Instagram and Twitter, Natural Light could extend its campaign's reach among people who share their contest entries with friends and followers, while reaching young adults who tend to be more difficult to break through to via traditional media like TV and print.

More than two-thirds (67%) of U.S. consumers ages 18 to 29 use Instagram, while 38% use Twitter, per Pew Research Center. These numbers show that Natural Light's target demographic are tuned in to popular social platforms more than other generations, suggesting that the campaign is running on the appropriate channels to reach the target audience.

While it's unclear how much Americans are expected to spend on alcohol for Halloween-related events, more than two-thirds plan to celebrate the occasion this year, spending an average of $86 each, according to the National Retail Federation. Social media channels are helping to drive some of this spending, with 18% of survey respondents saying they seek ideas for Halloween purchases on Pinterest, making it more popular that Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter for inspiration, the trade group found.

Natural Light has embraced social media marketing for its recent campaigns aimed at the same young adult cohort, often with a theme of helping them get jobs or pay off student debt. The beer brand in May launched a marketing campaign around finding a summer intern by posting a humorous YouTube video starring the company's brand manager. Previously, the beer brand teamed up with Cash App, the mobile payment service developed by Square, on a cash giveaway that urged people to post their Super Bowl party plans on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. The campaign was a follow-up to a 2018 Super Bowl campaign that offered cash prizes to people who posted videos explaining why they went to college.