Why use nostalgia marketing?
What is it ?
In a nutshell, nostalgia marketing aims to create an emotional connection between a brand and an audience through the use of positive memories. This is a powerful technique as it allows brands to be associated with something that people already know, love and have fond memories of. Using nostalgia is not just about history but creating a narrative that binds generations of audiences.
Examples
McDonald’s
Their latest campaign, “As Featured In Meals” has got lots of marketers talking. The advert shows the fast food chain’s most iconic on-screen references, looking back at their journey and the shared experiences that have come with it. It is also a great showcase of their prominent existence since the 1980's.
Nintendo
One of Nintendo’s ads shows two young brothers growing up and playing together, both outside and on their Nintendo. As they grow older they grow apart and drift away from one another, as often happens with teenage siblings. They then happily reunite as adults to play Nintendo Switch together. This is clever in many ways as it highlights the age range that Nintendo appeals to, as well as the growth and change of the company’s technology, connecting old friends and families digitally, whilst inflicting a feeling of nostalgia.
Apple
A slightly more simplistic take on nostalgia marketing, but effective all the same. One of their ads shows the much-loved character, Cookie Monster, whipping up his favourite chocolate chip cookies. Beside him is an iPhone which he uses to set himself a timer. Not only does this show a character from the 60's being able to use an iPhone, indicative of the fact that anyone, whatever age, could operate the device, it also shows the iPhone being used for something you wouldn’t immediately think of as a primary reason to buy it.
Why is it good?
Nostalgia is a social connectedness phenomenon and serves an essential psychological function. It is a highly social emotion, which allows us to connect to other people and things. If we can tap into this through marketing, an emotional link between brand and audience can be formed. Ideally you want to create that warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia, whilst making a link in the viewer’s head to your brand.
Things to consider
A key thing to consider with this tactic is your target audience. Who exactly are you wanting to attract? For example, releasing an ad revolving around a 1980's arcade game would likely evoke a sense of nostalgia for boomers and millennials, but miss out Gen Z. There also needs to be some sort of link between your brand and what nostalgic character / scenario you are portraying.
How can you apply it?
Be sure to understand your audience and demographics so you know what they would have been interested in in the past. If you are able to incorporate your company history with that specific time period, this is a great start.
Overall, nostalgia marketing is an extremely powerful tool to use but there are a few things that need to be carefully considered before running a campaign.
Sunny wishes,
Jo & Vic
Comments