Halloween is always seen as a day (or night) in which one can embrace the thriller in them by going about scaring others in the process. It’s seen as a commemorative day worldwide that looks to bring out the fright in others albeit in a mild and fun manner. When conceptualizing a campaign for the client, the idea was to put a more positive spin on the term “fright”. We understood that when it came to performing, whether in front of a camera or a live audience, performers usually go through stage fright. A trait that can be so severe, it even prevents those from performing on stage as a result.

The facets were eventually made clear here when it came to building the idea. The first was to incorporate the theme of Halloween, the second was the sentiments of stage fright and the third was to establish Kadence’s Open Mic Platform. We’d decided that the best way to promote these was to incorporate them into a video (which is far more engaging than your average page post). Hence, the video would therefore highlight these points taking into consideration a more humorous and promotional tone overall while addressing these head-on.

Taking
Inspiration

It’s no secret that video content works far better than static posts or GIFs for that matter. In terms of executing the campaign, we’d decided to push through with a video to promote the idea of the open mic sessions. Taking into consideration the norms of halloween, the video provided for a great platform to highlight the idea of frights and how it could be linked back to music and performances. This could be achieved in a style incorporating a direct approach while also considering light humour. In terms of artistic direction, we did take cues from video promotions from Trivago who are notorious for their ads being very direct and by some, annoying (They serve the purpose and hence provide greater levels of retention albeit). The ad would also be considered for all forms of social media.

To Conquer Stage Fright

The campaign was intended to appeal to the sentiments of the audience by appealing to their notions of lacking the confidence to stand on a stage and perform in front of an audience. While stage fright is a real issue for many, it didn’t seek to directly address the issue head on but instead, highlight a variety of reasons why many would seek to perform on a stage. The idea here was to use a more humorous approach in an attempt to motivate its audience to attend the open mic sessions at the store. The concept of Halloween only sought to reinforce that notion as it added a quirky twist on the idea of frights.