Getting Nostalgic About Marketing the Past
Marketers and Consumers Find the Lure of Nostalgia Hard to Resist
All it took was a glimpse of that classic cereal box — sporting its fancy cursive G, dapper bow-tie-wearing bird, and free-T-shirt offer (only five box tops required!) — to flood me with memories. In that moment I was transported to the Saturday mornings of my youth, where, flanked by my siblings, I assiduously lapped up every last drop of the wonderful chocolaty milk left behind by the sugary orbs I’d just consumed. There I stood, in the middle of Target, basking in the sweet glow of unadulterated happiness in a bowl, of Mighty Mouse (“Here I come to save the day!”) on the black-and-white Magnavox, and of my carefree roller-skating, cartwheeling, bike-riding 7-year-old days. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs? You betcha!
The current popularity of vinyl records is more evidence of nostalgia’s sway.
Go ahead. Admit it. You’ve unabashedly meandered down this lane (sparked by your own image-conjuring moment) a time or two yourself. Memories are a potent force — and marketers are only too happy to elicit a few.
The Powerful Pull of Nostalgia
My exceptionally visceral cereal-aisle reaction was just what General Mills was hoping for when, in 2009, it introduced an exclusive line of vintage cereal-box designs, filling Target shelves nationwide with packages of the aforementioned Cocoa Puffs, as well as Lucky Charms, Trix, Cheerios, and Honey Nut Cheerios. In the midst of the recession, consumers welcomed a connection to a happier past and the cozy feelings the boxes conjured. Adweek’s Barbara Lippert hit the nail on the head when she wrote, “They’re as reassuring as footie pajamas, these retro cereal boxes. What a smart marketing move and a genius way to redefine comfort food at a tough economic time — by providing comfort kitchen art!”
Nostalgia is thought to give us hope for the future.
She’s right, of course. Packaging and promotions that take us back in time are oh so seductive. It’s hard to resist the urge to recreate that perfect Kodak moment, reliving, if only for a while — or even for just a meal — a simpler, more innocent time. If cute kids or pets are part of the equation, all the better. Case in point: McDonald’s TV spot for its reformulated Chicken McNuggets. The ads, which debuted during last summer’s Rio Olympics, featured an adorable little girl in various scenes juxtaposed with clips of her dad as a young boy in similar scenarios. Drop in a few verses of “Time After Time,” and I was sold. Sign me up, McDonald’s! I’ll give your new McNuggets a try. If this grown-up TV dad trusts them for his sweet daughter, they must be OK, right?
Science Weighs In
So what exactly is going on here? Why does nostalgia have such a strong pull? Is this something new or has it always been an important influence?
As it turns out, nostalgia wasn’t always viewed as the feel-good emotion it is today. In a 2013 video, New York Times science columnist John Tierney discussed nostalgia research, noting that until fairly recently nostalgia was considered an illness — a psychosis or melancholia that even had demonic undertones. From the Greek for “a longing for home,” the term was first used in the 17th century to describe feelings experienced by Swiss mercenary soldiers serving far from their homeland. Tierney explained that one theory held that these men, who perhaps had gone a bit mad from years of hearing cowbells in their alpine villages (no, I’m not making this up — check out the video clip), were ill-equipped to handle the rigors of months spent in an unfamiliar environment. But, as Tierney pointed out, scientists now believe nostalgia has a lot going for it. Rather than just a wistful longing for the past that keeps us from moving forward, nostalgia is thought to give us hope for the future, providing a sense of continuity and an optimism that steers us forward.
Connecting with Your Team’s Past
Perhaps it’s that spirit of optimism that prompts sports franchises to roll out retro jersey styles from earlier eras. After all, when players parade out in the glory-days garb, it’s pretty hard not to long for the team’s good ol’ winning days. But a more likely explanation is sales, plain and simple.
Old-time jerseys — called throwback by the NFL, vintage by the NHL and retro by others — are worn by players in all the professional leagues a handful of times each season. They might commemorate the anniversary of a league (such as 1994, when the NFL celebrated its 75th season) or of a team’s founding, or hark back to a franchise’s winning season. The retro styles have proven to be big sellers among the faithful. In 2007–08, Pittsburgh found itself in the enviable position of hosting two teams with coveted jerseys — the Steelers, with their 75th-anniversary throwbacks (a minimalist look reminiscent of their 1933 threads; the much-maligned bumblebee stripes would show up five years later, in 2012), and the Penguins, with their Winter Classic gear that celebrated the team’s 1967 founding. NBC News’s David Sweet reported that some diehard hockey fans had to wait up to five weeks to get one of the popular baby-blue Penguins sweaters.
In a November 2016 article, Rolling Stone’s Chris Illuminati mentioned jersey sales, specifically sales of throwback styles, as a constant in an otherwise uncertain NFL landscape. He quoted ESPN’s Darren Rovell, who said, “Despite declining TV ratings, NFL merchandise sold by Fanatics, which runs the official NFL Shop, is up 20 percent year to date versus last year, and October sales were up 22 percent over October 2015.” Illuminati added, “This revenue stream means only one thing — a rampant return of throwback gear and waxing nostalgic about the glory days.”
Products That Take Us Back
If authentic throwback team jerseys aren’t enough (or if at $300 they’re a tad more than enough) to trigger fond memories, we can count on a few retro products to help us relive the past — but in a newfangled way. Take, for instance, the pocket-size Polaroid Snap camera that lets users instantly print photos in much the same way the original Polaroid did back in its heyday. This time around the camera itself is sleeker, the technology is digital, and the photos print without the use of ink — modern touches that make the old-school camera fresh — and sought after.
Not in the market for a retro camera? No problem. Perhaps you’ve been longing for that satisfying click that greeted you each time you snapped your ’90s flip phone closed. Good news! Your next smartphone might be able to quell that craving. Yep, one of those quirky little old-school gadgets we all love to mock might find its way into a purse or pocket near you, if Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft have anything to say about it. Patent filings by each of these phone manufacturers show prototypes with an updated folding hinge rather than the snap-close mechanism we remember, but close enough, right? Who’s lining up at midnight with me?
The current popularity of vinyl records is more evidence of nostalgia’s sway. Records never really went away (mine definitely didn’t, although I haven’t had a turntable to play them on for years), but they certainly got pushed aside when cassette tapes, CDs, and digital formats were introduced. We may have 2008’s Record Store Day to thank for triggering vinyl’s resurgence, but, as Chris Morris reported for Fortune, that unofficial holiday ended up doing more than helping out independent record stores. “A funny thing happened in the following years: Records — actual LP record albums — mounted a comeback in pop culture,” he wrote. “Initially, vinyl saw a resurgence as hipsters in their 20s and early 30s sought a way to differentiate their music listening.” Morris added, “Albums were old-school, filled with hisses and pops that digital music had erased. But those flaws added a depth and warmth to the music that even people who once owned extensive album collections had forgotten after years of listening to digital music.” By 2015, sales of vinyl records had jumped 32 percent, their highest level since 1988, accounting for $416 million in sales and finding their way onto shelves in such unlikely spots as Urban Outfitters and Whole Foods, according to Fortune.
The Smart Way to Tug at the Heartstrings
Our attraction to retro products may be part nostalgia, part curiosity, part keeping up with the Joneses. Clearly the nostalgia part is a heavy hitter, and one that marketers need to approach intelligently. “It’s important to note that just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s nostalgic,” Brandon Siewert wrote for Business 2 Community. “Moreover, just because it’s nostalgic, doesn’t mean it’ll be effective for your marketing. The questions you should instead be asking yourself [are], ‘Do people miss it?’ and/or ‘Do people need to remember?’ If, after researching, you can confidently say that they do, then run with it. Just make sure you understand exactly what about it they miss first.”
The popularity of memory-triggering features like Timehop and Facebook Memories attests to the pull of yesteryear recollections.
If marketers do decide to run with a nostalgia campaign, there are a few things to keep in mind, brand strategist Andrew Moore pointed out. In a blog for Adido he urged marketers to avoid using retro marketing for strictly emotional appeal. The key, he said, is to retell a story for a new generation, while also reaching older audiences. He cited the success of last summer’s Pokémon GO game and mobile app, which worked its magic by coupling nostalgic sentiment for the original Pokémon craze with a modern element: augmented reality.
Volkswagen Netherlands took this advice to heart in its 2011 “Fanwagen” campaign. The promotion featured a contest in which followers voted via Facebook likes for their favorite vintage VW vehicle — the Beetle or the T1 campervan. The first vehicle to collect 20,000 likes was manufactured into a lucky winner’s retro ride. This updated VW came equipped with all kinds of social media extras, including a license plate that showed your relationship status and a dashboard accessory that could print your news feed.
Strategic use of social also can aid a nostalgia-marketing campaign, Moore wrote. The popularity of memory-triggering features like Timehop and Facebook Memories attests to the pull of yesteryear recollections. He urged companies to post #ThrowbackThursday, #FlashbackFriday, and #WaybackWednesday photos and videos that give followers a look back at the brand’s past in an authentic and a meaningful way.
A Beneficial Blast from the Advertising Past
There’s no doubt nostalgia can move people — and products. “Nostalgia has a pretty amazing effect on our minds,” Moore concluded in his Adido blog. “Blasts from the past have been shown to enhance mood, increase self-esteem, reduce loneliness and stress, and get people feeling positive about the future.”
I like the sound of all that. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to settle in with a Crystal Pepsi and some Crispy M&M’s while I catch up on a few episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show (RIP, Mary Tyler Moore).
Marcia Kirlin
Freelance Contributor
BMDG
Photos: Shutterstock
Originally published at www.brittonmdg.com.
