Frightening results. Reflecting on an internationally award-winning campaign.

So how exactly does a Halloween-themed scare attraction achieve record-breaking ticket sales and increase consumer engagement? Cue an industry-first Facebook Live event – CageFright – a thrilling interactive online scare event controlled by Facebook users. It was just one of the many tactics employed that contributed to the 27.97% uplift in ticket sales in 2019, and generated a buzz among scare junkies and the press alike.

The event’s success was even recognised in The Drum Digital Advertising Awards - Europe, where Fluid won the most effective use of creativity award in 2020.

The brief

In 2019, the National Forest Adventure Farm wanted to elevate its annual ScreamFest event, and increase visitor footfall by driving online ticket sales.

Our strategy was to use social media creatively to generate a real buzz that would translate into raised awareness and ticket sales. Our approach included:

• Facebook live event - CageFright (an industry first)

• Snapchat lense series

• Spotify advertising

• Youtube advertising

• Facebook advertising

• Display advertising

• Paid search

So how do you promote a Halloween-themed scare attraction?

Well, for the National Forest Adventure Farm’s annual ScreamFest event, which features five terrifying attractions, we knew social media and digital marketing would have a key part to play.

Scare attractions have been gathering momentum over the past few years, with leisure operators like Alton Towers pulling in thousands of customers to experience a frighteningly fun evening.

The National Forest Adventure Farm, located in Burton upon Trent, wanted to elevate its ScreamFest event and make it a key destination for thrill seekers at Halloween.

As well as employing the usual suspects in social media tactics to promote ScreamFest, we looked to do something on a grander scale for our client, which led to record-breaking ticket sales for their 2019 event.

Here’s just two of the ways we generated a buzz for our client…

CageFright – an industry first Facebook live event

Imagine the scene: You are strapped to a chair in a cage. In an abandoned barn. In the pitch black darkness. There is a hungry zombie and a hillbilly with a chainsaw circling the cage. What will your fate be?

We launched a social media campaign to recruit some ‘scare junkies’ to be part of a preview event for ScreamFest. The brave volunteers would be taking part in an industry-first Facebook Live event, which was aptly dubbed CageFright.

Streamed live on the Facebook platform in a 40-minute event, our freakish compere invited merciless Facebook users to help decide the fate of eight willing thrill seekers strapped to the barn chair. From evil clowns to carnivorous cannibals, it was a truly interactive experience that engaged the event’s target audience and saw an uptake in footfall at the month-long event.

The technical bit: Each pair of volunteers that got strapped into the chair in the barn had two potential fates. Facebook users controlled that by commenting on the ‘scare’ they wanted to unleash on the victims. For example, when presented with the option to send a hillbilly with a chainsaw in vs a zombie, users would comment “hillbilly” or “zombie”. Users were given five minutes to vote, and the viewers could see which the most popular fate was by looking at the progress bar visual on the live video feed, which reflected in real-time which ‘scare’ had the most votes.

To enable this interactive experience, we developed a custom-integration that utilised the Facebook API to access posters’ comments on the live stream, which scanned for the ‘scare’ trigger words, in order to display in real time which fate was the most popular at any given time. The final results decided which character would then terrorise the scare victims.

Snapchat lenses

In the build up to ScreamFest, curious beer mats appeared in public houses in the local area. They promoted the series of scary Snapchat lenses that were available – including Insomnia, a popular ScreamFest character, and a Day of the Dead and Zombie filter for Snapchat platform users to play with and share.