Target Corp. has sweet new digital tools for trick-or-treaters this Halloween.

On Oct. 26, Target will launch a new page on its desktop and mobile site called Treatster, which consumers can access through Target.com/treatster. The page lets consumers favorite or up-vote houses for being the best house to visit on Halloween. Consumers can use whatever criteria they want to vote for a house, whether it’s the best candy, decorations or costumes. A popular house will be indicated on the map with a pumpkin. The more votes a house garners the larger the pumpkin becomes.  

The Treatster page is a slimmed-down Google Map in which visitors can see names of streets, cross streets and the outlines of houses and buildings, but not addresses or building names. The map will show the location of the user with a large pumpkin with an orange halo around it. Consumers looking at the map can zoom in and out but cannot get directions from place to place, a Target spokeswoman says. Consumers must opt in to location-sharing for the map to work, she says.

Target designed the site for parents to use on their mobile devices while they are trick-or-treating with their kids or when they are planning their route, a Target spokeswoman says. The site is not linked to any portion of Target’s e-commerce site.

“The goal of Treatster is really to generate that brand love and engagement with our guests by proving them with that resource,” the spokeswoman says.

Target, No. 43 in the 2016 Internet Retailer Mobile 500 Guide, also launched a shoppable mobile YouTube video centered on Halloween, called “The House on Hallow Hill.” The video content is designed for consumers to view on mobile devices, since it uses 360-degree technology that requires a device that can be easily manipulated, the spokesman says. Consumers take a tour of a haunted house and move their smartphone up, down, and left and right to view all parts of the room.

While in each room, consumers can tap on the “i” information icon in the right corner to see information cards about that room appear on the side of the video. The cards feature the Halloween decorations that the consumer sees in that room. If she taps on that information card, she is taken directly to that page on Target’s m-commerce site.

Target is letting its shoppers know about these initiatives through ads on social channels, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. The Holderness family, known for creating such musical videos on YouTube as one featuring their song “Christmas Jamies,” will be creating a promotional music video for Target about “The House on Hallow Hill.”

Target decided to develop these interactive tools around Halloween and promote them via social media because the retailer knows shoppers are looking for inspiration on how to decorate their houses in a spooky way and make or find Halloween costumes, and many shoppers turn to social media for ideas, the spokeswoman says.

Target’s internal creative team created the Halloween video, and digital marketing agency 360i created the Treatster page. Target would not reveal how long either project took to create nor what the retailer invested in it.

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