Nostalgia Marketing
A Blast from the Past, by Janelle Cynthia
If you’ve noticed the old-school vibe creeping into branded content, you’re not alone. Nostalgia marketing aims to capture—or in most cases, re-capture—the audience’s attention by tapping into older and more familiar trends from the past, and it’s being used by some of the most established brands in the world.
Nostalgia works on a few levels:
Gen Xers might fondly remember things like breakdancing, or the Friends gang hanging out at Central Perk.
Millennials will be more excited about Nickelodeon, and boy bands—and crushing on Justin Timberlake before he became the voice of Branch (the grumpy troll) for your kids.
Nationally, we have things we treasure as well. If you were too young to appreciate The Golden Girls back when the original episodes were airing, you still know who they are, and The Golden Girls are still a national treasure.
So, what is it about Nostalgia that works?
Nostalgia Feels Really Good
We trigger nostalgic moments as a self-soothing mechanism. Nostalgia actually lights up the brain’s reward center, which may be why we like talking about the good old days.
Think back to the times when having a flip phone was still a luxury and you spent the afternoon watching One Saturday Morning while feeding your Tamagotchi. Those memories almost certainly bring a smile to your face, and that overlap between memory and emotion is unique to nostalgia.
Case Study: Doritos
During the 2019 Big Game, Doritos aired a 60-second spot promoting its Flaming Hot Nacho flavor by teaming up Chance the Rapper and 90s boy band The Backstreet Boys. The spot saw Chance the Rapper and the pop stars doing a dance number in an airplane hangar reminiscent of BSB’s “I Want it That Way” video. The spot was epic in that it not only promoted Doritos, but it served to kick off The Backstreet Boys’ reunion tour. The campaign included a the branded hashtag #NowItsHot.
This is a good example that not every ad needs to include a hard sell. Instead, you can stay top-of-mind by creating a memorable, positive experience for your audience. These types of light-hearted entertainment breaks can make for highly memorable, highly shareable content, all while creating buzz for your brand.
Nostalgia Makes People More Optimistic
A University of Southampton study found that nostalgia makes people more optimistic about the future. Whether reading older song lyrics, seeing a #TBT post, or just remembering a significant event from the past, participants in the study naturally integrated more optimistic words into describing their experiences than those who were exposed to current music or lyrics, or who were asked to remember or talk about current events.
Example: Adobe
Take Adobe’s The Joy of Sketching project: a series of video tutorials for Adobe Photoshop Sketch on the iPad Pro. The project is an homage the late TV-painter and was released just in time to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Ross’ The Joy of Painting. Chad Cameron, an illustration artist and teacher is transformed into Bob Ross, and takes viewers through Adobe’s digital painting app, even dismissing the use of the Undo button because there’s “no mistakes, just happy accidents” in sketching.
Nostalgia goes hand-in-hand with optimism and inspiration. Appreciating the good times of the past makes people feel like more good times are on the way. Find a natural way to make your product more aspirational by triggering inspiration (but not envy).
When Nostalgia Kicks In, People Are More Likely to Spend Money
Science Daily reported that nostalgia compels people to spend more money. In a study conducted by the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers who were asked to think about the past were willing to pay more for a set of products than a separate group who were asked to think about creating new memories.
Example: Google Assistant: Home Alone Again
Starring Macaulay Culkin, Google remade and updated iconic scenes from Home Alone using today’s technology to promote their Google Assistant product. According to AdAge, the video has racked up 70.7 million views to-date. The Google Home app was also the 6th most downloaded app in the iTunes store the day after Christmas, suggesting it was a popular holiday gift.
The takeaway?
Creating an opportunity to tie your brand’s message to a fond childhood memory can help make your brand and your message more memorable.
Through nostalgia marketing, brands are able to elicit positive emotions from their audience, successfully push a soft sell for their product, and generate more revenue and visibility. Your audience will enjoy the stroll down memory lane where everything old is gold again.
Janelle is a Project Manager with VERB Interactive — a leader in digital marketing, specializing in solutions for the travel and hospitality industry. Find out more at www.verbinteractive.com.
