Trick-or-Treating has been part of the American Halloween tradition for about 80 years, and part of the Scottish Halloween tradition for even longer. October 31 is not the only day known for fancy dress, but if you say the word costume, it is the holiday that will most likely come to mind.

But why do we dress up for holidays? On the one hand, it’s an escape, a way present yourself in a different light. On the other hand, it is a conspicuous way to mark those holidays and traditions you find valuable; few things are more conspicuous than overhauling your appearance.

And what’s true for the individual can also be true for the company.

Just take a look at JibJab.  JibJab sells electronic greeting cards, so their identity is built around both wit and timely seasonal offerings. For them to let major holidays go by without marking the occasion would be a major missed opportunity, so they dress up their logo to match the current season.

For a different take, you can look to Pilsner Urquell. As an import beer it’s important for the company to have a year round presence, but the brand has a special interest in positioning itself as a holiday lager. For this Czech company, a Halloween design would not make much sense, but they do have a different home page that they run near Christmas.

The masters of thematic site variation are none other than Google. The search giant runs more than 200 distinct date-specific logos over the course of a year. Clearly such an approach does not do anything to tie the Google brand closer to any specific holiday, but the very diversity of themes sends a message of its own.

Half and Half

Not everyone who wants seasonal targeting is prepared to rework elements of the main site. For example, the State of Tennessee maintains a total of five official travel planning websites, one main site available all year, and another micro-sites customized to each of the four seasons, summer, fall, winter, and spring.

Starting a Seasonal Campaign

There are any number of holidays or anniversaries worth commemorating from mathematical tributes like Pi Day (3/14), to nationwide events such as Independence Day (6/4). You can judge for yourself which holidays you should link with your brand, but if you’re just getting started, it is probably best to stick to better known events like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day, and of course Halloween!