Bronze: Best Holiday-Themed Campaign 2015

To connect with Latina consumers in the United States, retail chain Target and agency Elemento L2 scared up a promotion that tied into both Halloween and Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the Mexican holiday that takes place during the same time. Opting to offer treats rather than tricks, they created Skeletown Square, a two-day event at L.A. Live, the entertainment and sports district in downtown Los Angeles.

To help Latina moms and their families celebrate both American and Hispanic traditions, Skeletown Square offered a variety of stations and activities on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. These included Hacienda Calaca, where kids could decorate a calaverita—a skull made of sugar—for Día de los Muertos or a pumpkin for Halloween; a face-painting station; Paseo de los Muertos Cemetery, featuring costumed character staff and group dance sessions; a handcrafted altar in keeping with the Día de los Muertos tradition of leaving offerings in honor of deceased family and friends; the Ghoulish Games station; a photo booth; and of course an area to purchase accessories and candy, appropriately named the Black Cat Boo-tique. To help promote the event, Target reached out to Latina bloggers in the L.A. area, asking them to share their holiday traditions and to engage in social media using the #FrightfulFiesta hashtag.

More than 10,000 people attended the event, sharing nearly 4,000 photo-booth pictures and other images on social media. More than 3 million media impressions, including 1.8 million social media impressions, were generated from Oct. 29 to Nov. 5—nothing scary about those results.