Fall Marketing Campaigns: 4 Cases From Apple to Starbucks

Fall marketing works when a brand ties its story to an event people already expect: a launch day, a parade or a holiday dinner. This guide covers four documented cases, Apple's Think Different, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line and the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, with the dates and figures each one reported and the lesson a brand can reuse.

Updated November 3, 2026. Figures come from the sources named in each section, and several are company-reported, so treat them as claims, not audited results.

On this page

• Which fall marketing campaigns are covered?

• How did Apple use fall to relaunch its brand?

• How did Macy's turn a parade into an owned-media event?

• How did Butterball turn a holiday problem into a service?

• How did Starbucks make a seasonal drink an annual event?

• What do the four campaigns have in common?

• How should a brand plan a fall campaign?

• Frequently asked questions

Which fall marketing campaigns are covered?

The four campaigns below use different fall moments and each one has a figure you can check. The table shows the moment, the first date and the number each reported.

Campaign Fall moment Started Reported figure

Apple, Think Different Return of Steve Jobs, brand relaunch September 28, 1997 Ran from 1997 to 2002

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Thanksgiving morning November 27, 1924 34.3 million viewers in 2025

Butterball Turkey Talk-Line Thanksgiving cooking 1981 More than 100,000 questions each season

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Autumn menu October 10, 2003 More than 600 million sold as of 2022, per CNN

How did Apple use fall to relaunch its brand?

Apple launched Think Different on September 28, 1997, with television spots during ABC's broadcast premiere of Toy Story, according to Apple's own announcement at the time. The campaign came from agency TBWA\Chiat\Day and ran until 2002.

The launch spot, "Here's to the Crazy Ones," narrated by Richard Dreyfuss, sold no product. It showed historical figures and described what the company believed in. Apple had Steve Jobs back as interim chief executive and few new products to show, so the message had to carry the brand.

Rob Siltanen, one of the creatives on the account, told The Week that Apple's stock price tripled within twelve months of the launch and that the colorful iMac followed a year later. That figure comes from an agency participant and has not been independently audited, so cite it as his account.

The lesson: a fall relaunch can lead with a belief instead of a product. If a product launch is months away, a values story can hold the brand's place in the conversation.

How did Macy's turn a parade into an owned-media event?

Macy's first Thanksgiving parade stepped off on the morning of November 27, 1924, with store employees in costumes, floats, bands and animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. Felix the Cat became the first character balloon, a format the parade kept.

Nearly a century later the broadcast is one of television's largest events. NBCUniversal reported that the 99th parade in 2025 drew 34.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, citing preliminary Nielsen data. The NBC broadcast alone averaged 25.4 million viewers, and the 2024 parade had drawn 31.3 million. Read the full release at NBCUniversal.

The parade is a branded event the retailer does not have to buy time on, because the audience already expects it. The risk is the cost and the dependence on one morning. The 2026 parade will be the 100th, which gives the brand a milestone to build coverage around.

The lesson: an event people already anticipate can carry a brand's name for decades. The audience and the date are the asset.

How did Butterball turn a holiday problem into a service?

Butterball launched its Turkey Talk-Line in 1981. Six home economists answered about 11,000 turkey-cooking questions that first holiday season, according to Butterball's own history. Today more than 50 experts answer more than 100,000 questions each November and December by phone, text, chat, social media and Alexa. The company's about page is at butterball.com.

Butterball said in 2021 that the line had helped almost 50 million consumers since 1981 and described it as one of the first national, toll-free consumer help lines. That figure is company-reported.

The service works as PR because it is useful at the exact moment people are anxious, and it produces a yearly stream of coverage: the strangest questions, the busiest hours, new channels such as TikTok in 2021. The brand name appears every time the line is mentioned.

The lesson: find the annual moment when your customer needs help, and put an expert in front of it. A service earns coverage that an ad cannot.

How did Starbucks make a seasonal drink an annual event?

Starbucks launched the Pumpkin Spice Latte on October 10, 2003, in about 100 stores between Washington, D.C., and Vancouver, according to Fox Business. It reached nationwide availability the next year. Co-creator Peter Dukes has said the team built the flavor by tasting espresso poured over a slice of pumpkin pie. Read the account on Fox Business.

CNN reported in August 2022 that Starbucks had sold more than 600 million of the drink since launch, a figure repeated in later coverage. Starbucks itself describes it as hundreds of millions. Competitors followed: Dunkin' introduced pumpkin-flavored drinks in 2007 and McDonald's added a pumpkin spice latte in 2013.

The drink is only sold in fall, so its return each year is news. Starbucks has moved the launch earlier over time, and in 2024 the drink was sold in 79 markets, per a trade report.

The lesson: limited availability turns a product into a yearly event. The cost is imitation, because a flavor alone is not a lasting advantage.

What do the four campaigns have in common?

Each campaign relied on something that already existed in fall and gave the audience a reason to come back.

• A date people recognize. Thanksgiving morning, the first cold week, the return of a menu.

• A figure a reporter can check. A launch date, a record audience, a count of questions answered.

• Repetition. Macy's, Butterball and Starbucks run theirs every year, so each season starts with an audience.

• A clear reason to talk about it. Help, belief, anticipation or spectacle.

Apple is the exception on repetition. Its campaign ran about five years, and its value was a single, clear statement of identity.

How should a brand plan a fall campaign?

A brand should plan a fall campaign around a real moment, a number it can prove and a calendar that starts before the season.

• Pick the moment. Choose a date or tradition your audience already expects, not a generic seasonal theme.

• Choose the proof. Decide the figure you will report, such as people helped, units sold or audience reached, and record the baseline.

• Build in a service or a story. Butterball answers questions, Apple states a belief, Starbucks creates scarcity. Each gives reporters something to write.

• Set the calendar early. Starbucks has moved its launch earlier over the years, so tell reporters before competitors do.

• Measure against the claim. Compare coverage, search interest and sales to the prior fall.

Our guide to PR stunts that worked shows more examples of this pattern, and PR programs that use data covers how to measure a seasonal push. For teams planning consumer launches, see consumer PR and digital PR services.

Frequently asked questions

Why does fall marketing work?

Fall comes with fixed moments that audiences already expect, such as Thanksgiving, the return of seasonal menus and the back-to-routine period. A brand that attaches to one of those moments does not have to create the attention itself.

When should a brand start planning a fall campaign?

Months ahead. Starbucks has moved its pumpkin launch earlier over the years, and Macy's and Butterball staff and train for their seasons in advance. A summer start gives time to brief reporters and prepare assets.

Do you need a large budget for a fall campaign?

Not necessarily. Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line began with six people and about 11,000 questions. The key is a useful service or a clear story tied to a date, not media spend.

How do you measure a seasonal PR campaign?

Pick one number before launch, record last year's baseline and track earned coverage, search interest and sales. Report the method with the result so the figure can be repeated accurately.

What is the risk of a recurring seasonal campaign?

Competitors copy it and audiences tire of it. Starbucks' pumpkin spice drink has been imitated by Dunkin' and McDonald's, so the brand has to keep the experience distinctive each year.