The Goal

Research shows that eight out of ten homes actually have creaky doors, but homeowners have just got used to them and don’t notice them anymore. Bimm wanted to find a way to get people thinking about their creaky doors and WD-40 again, and Halloween was the way in. The goals were to increase organic search ranking, increase top-of mind-awareness of WD-40, exceed the direct mail response rate of 3% and increase sales.

The Insight and Strategy

Halloween is Canadians’ third favourite holiday. And on that one special night, the average front door opens more than 50 times. In fact, on average front doors are opened more on Halloween than any other day or night of the year. The team thought, what better way to bring WD-40 top of mind for Canadian homeowners than to hijack the one night people actually want creaky doors?

The agency created WD-40’s “Haunted Door,” a motion-activated sound-effects app with scary creaks for front doors on the busiest night of the year. While there’s a plethora of Halloween sound effects apps out there, the “Haunted Door” app was the only one that worked when opening the front door to trick-or-treaters. Through the app, the brand found a way to re-heighten awareness of homeowners’ existing, albeit less dramatic, creaky doors throughout their homes that could actually use some WD-40.

The Plan

To use the app, people simply selected their favourite of three creaky-door sounds and hung their phone on the inside door handle using the mailer provided. Every time the door opened for trick-or-treaters, the phone's accelerometer triggered the haunting creaky-door sound. And if people didn’t get the mailer, they could use any grocery bag with handles to hang their phones on their door handle. The door hanger was mailed to bloggers and the press who are inundated daily with pitches. In an attempt to break through the clutter, the uniquely designed flat mail popped out to a dimensional door hanger – complete with perforations at the bottom where the phone speaker typically is.

Technology and Tools

Using the device’s accelerometer, the team calibrated the motion sensitivity for both iOS and Android platforms so the SFX were activated by the natural motion of door opening. Based on a series of test and learn optimizations with multiple doors and devices, the motion sensitivity settings were established.

User Experience

The Halloween SFX app was the only one that worked when you wanted it most: when opening your front door to trick-or-treaters. The app itself is simple in design, but meticulously executed. For example, the skull is made up of items that require WD-40. Each of the three creaky sound designs were unique and were paired accordingly with the names, which were a nod to familiar horror flicks: The Exorcist, Paranormal Activity and Door of the Dead.

Supporting Channels

The “Haunted Door” app had $0 media buy. The other channels used were email and direct marketing to online influencers and the press, which then drove to an online video explaining and demonstrating the app.

The Results

-Based on the mailing of 200 pieces to reporters and influencers, and coverage by 100 of those media outlets, the campaign produced a response rate of more than 50%
-Covered by more than 100 media outlets
-More than $1.4 million in earned media coverage
-57 million earned impressions
-Increased organic search ranking for “creaky doors.” For the week of Halloween, WD-40 appeared on the first page of results.