The Inseparable Relationship Between Trends and Smartphones, as Seen in Halloween

Nice to meet you, I'm Tatsuhito Kobayashi from Dentsu Inc. Smart Platform.

It was last month, but this year's Halloween boom was truly phenomenal, wasn't it?
I went to Shibuya to see it for myself that day, and the excitement was like a Japan national soccer team match. In fact, the economic impact is projected to reach a record high of 110 billion yen, an increase of nearly 10 billion yen from last year's 100.5 billion yen, and surpassing even February's Valentine's Day spending of 108 billion yen (※1). I think it was notable not just for the buzz, but because people were actually moving.

So why has Halloween gained such momentum over the past two to three years? I believe smartphones hold the key to understanding this. Let's examine the role smartphones play in this event boom.

■Smartphones Fuel the Halloween Boom

First, Halloween culture in Japan began to take a new direction in 1997, when Disney Resort and Kawasaki's Halloween Parade pioneered events. From this point, it moved away from the original format of children dressing up and going trick-or-treating, simultaneously giving rise to a Japanese-style culture where adults also enjoy cosplay. However, while Halloween gradually gained traction, it never truly established itself as a widespread "culture" outside of these special theme parks and events. It remained a special day primarily enjoyed by cosplay enthusiasts on their own.

What dramatically changed this situation and propelled it to its current boom was the advent of smartphones with front-facing cameras, starting with the iPhone 4 released in 2010.

Smartphones, allowing users to check their composition using the front camera while taking self-portraits, proved an ideal match for social media, leading to an unprecedented spread of the "selfie" culture. Furthermore, a trend of the smartphone era saw people unconsciously always on the lookout for content to post on social media. Influenced by these factors, Halloween spread rapidly through social media sharing, accompanied by photogenic cosplay selfies.

Crucially, the key difference is that these photos aren't uploaded after being transferred to a computer at home. Instead, smartphones enable instant sharing right on the spot. This transmission, occurring while the poster's enthusiasm is still fresh, becomes the driving force that moves others' emotions.

In essence, the high-quality cosplay selfies shared by each individual become real-time advertisements for Halloween.

■Young People in the SNS Era Who Want to Constantly Chase the "Now"

Furthermore, there's another crucial point to grasp about this Halloween boom: the characteristic of young people living in the SNS era who want to "keep riding the ever-changing 'now'." They check not only trends from TV and magazines but also information frequently appearing on their SNS timelines as a measure of what's popular. In this environment, large-scale events where people can have fun together often result in multiple photos taken with friends being uploaded simultaneously, frequently leading to timelines being dominated by such content.

For Halloween, not only did it dominate timeline space, but the eye-catching cosplay selfies and event scenes also helped create a palpable sense of the current Halloween trend on those timelines. This year, the weekend of October 25th and 26th, which could be called the Halloween prelude, was particularly effective. As usual, the excitement from those days was instantly shared via smartphones. Seeing this, the latent audience likely felt, "I want to do this too," "I can't afford to miss out," and "This is an unavoidable event guaranteed to be fun." This likely led to the main event on the 31st reaching its peak excitement.

■Smartphones as "Real-Time Action Triggers"

This phenomenon of smartphone-driven excitement sharing triggering actual action isn't unique to Halloween. The same holds true for music festivals, which are already established as major events.

In the pre-smartphone era, it was impossible to instantly share the festival's atmosphere and immediacy with those not present. People had to wait until they got home to post on their computers or share via word-of-mouth later. This meant that instead of the excitement of "The festival was awesome!", the shared experiences tended to be more niche discussions among core music fans, like "How was that artist?", which were harder for newcomers to relate to. Consequently, festivals often carried an air of being exclusively for hardcore music fans.

However, festivals packed with elements that make you want to share instantly on social media—like the extraordinary experience of traveling far to listen to music outdoors and the chance to see numerous favorite artists—are abundant. Smartphones have enabled the photogenic appeal of festivals and the real-life excitement of the venue to be shared in real time. This has continuously increased the number of people wanting to attend, ultimately accelerating the current boom.

Therefore, what we learn from the examples of Halloween and music festivals is that smartphones are not merely devices for sharing excitement; they function as "real-time action-inducing devices" that move people's feelings and prompt them to act in real time. This characteristic works especially well for events where large groups can experience the extraordinary together.

■Two Key Points for Event Planning in the Smartphone Era

With this in mind, two points will become even more crucial when planning future events.

First, incorporate "photogenic appeal" and "energy intensity" into the design from the outset—elements that drive participants from sharing excitement to taking action. Previously, events focused on mass media coverage and web exposure. Now, the key is getting each participant to take photos with their smartphone and actively share them on social media. Essentially, anticipate how you can make them want to become their own "advertisers."

Second, it's about enhancing the post-engagement flow design triggered by smartphones. For festivals, simply preparing entry points like apps for instant ticket purchases on the day, apps consolidating schedules for the following weeks to provide information, or even official merchandise sales apps for fans who can't attend but still want the goods—these can drastically change subsequent behavior.

■Booms hinge on smartphone share volume and "quality"

What do you think?
It's increasingly evident that smartphones amplify the heat of event booms and accelerate their momentum. The sheer volume of identical images posted via smartphone flooding timelines now holds the same power to move people as being featured on a TV program. Going forward, I believe focusing not just on the quantity of shares but also on enhancing the "quality" of those shares will reveal even more of the potential within events, their booms, and smartphones themselves.

※1 Information source: Japan Anniversary Association