October is an exciting time for businesses, as Halloween can provide a chance to try some fresh and exciting marketing ideas. Every year brands launch memorable campaigns that grab their audience’s attention and get people excited for the upcoming holiday. In 2022 brands use things like modern technology and nostalgia to create unique and buzz-worthy Halloween marketing strategies.

A few brands that launched excellent campaigns for Halloween in 2022 are Heinz, Target, and Mcdonald’s. These brands use strategies that range from utilizing new technology, current social media trends, and limited-time nostalgic releases to get people talking about them throughout the month of October.

Heinz

On September 22, 2022, Heinz announced it would be bringing back Heinz Tomato Blood which was sold on a limited-time website in 2021 as part of a “costume kit” and live in a pop-up storefront in Los Angeles. The Tomato Blood is simply Heinz’s signature ketchup, with a Halloween-themed label and name to encourage people to use the condiment as fake blood. To promote this Halloween relaunch, the brand recruited comedian and TikTok creator E.J. Marcus to play Toby, a vegetarian vampire who loves Tomato Blood. This campaign combines influencer marketing and Halloween themes to create buzz about the brand on social media.

Target

In 2021, a Chicago Target, located at State and Madison, went viral on TikTok as #gothtarget. The building’s exterior features intricate black metal design work, which while technically not gothic architecture, provides the building with a dark and mysterious presence. For their 2022 Halloween marketing campaign, Target has brought #gothtarget to life in the Metaverse. The brand released a teaser on Instagram Reels and TikTok that announced they will be bringing a virtual Halloween shopping experience inside Meta Horizon Worlds. The teaser features a stand-alone Target store meant to resemble the #gothtarget building and features the mascot, Bullseye, dressed in Halloween costumes and other themed elements inside the virtual building. Target merged a viral trend with current technology to add a new and exciting experience for users, just in time to get in the Halloween spirit.

@target

We brought the viral #GothTarget to life for ALL to experience! Join us in Meta Horizon Worlds to explore the corners of the unknown.. IF YOU DARE 💀🦇

♬ original sound – target

 

McDonald’s

McDonald’s has brought back its previously famous Halloween Happy Meal buckets in 2022. These Halloween-themed Happy Meals, known as Boo Buckets, were released on October 18, 2022. This release followed the recent release of the new adult Happy Meal earlier this month in collaboration with fashion brand Cactus Plant Flea Market, which carried a nostalgia factor by including toy versions of classic branded characters Ronald McDonald, Grimace, and The Hamburgler. McDonald’s uses nostalgia again with these Boo Buckets, which were originally released for Halloween in 1986. McPunk’n, McGoblin, and McBoo become Halloween icons and were later rereleased as McBoo, McGhost, and McWitch which were updated and released in October on and off throughout the years. The most recent releases even allowed Mcdonald’s to collaborate with other large names like Scooby Doo, Monster High, and lastly, Charlie Brown in 2016 before disappearing for six years. This 2022 update will feature the classic orange, green, and white buckets with the classic McBoo, McGhost, and McWitch characters at select store locations until October 31.