Nostalgia Marketing

With the world seemingly moving at a breakneck speed, immersing yourself in nostalgic paraphernalia is just like wrapping yourself in a warm cozy blanket of comfort— the “gold ol’ days”, reminding you of simpler, happier times.

Nostalgia marketing works by capturing your customer’s attention by tapping into fond memories and familiar trends from the past. Be it the music you often listened to, the older games (with older gaming consoles!) that you played, or the food/ drinks you consumed, so many things can elicit such fond memories now at the age of modern technology.

Studies suggest that nostalgia inspires consumers to spend their money because it promises an immediate return in the form of happy memories and comfort. This is why nostalgia marketing campaigns have grown increasingly popular in recent years, as brands begin to discover the value of connecting with their customers on a more in-depth, emotional level.

Why nostalgia marketing works?
In the age of hyper-organized, impersonal social media, humanizing your brand is a move that can send lasting impacts to your audience/ viewers. Nostalgia allows brand to support optimistic feelings that comes with a walk down the memory lane. When customers feel nostalgic, they’re naturally inclined to share their thoughts and feelings.
A study published by Journal of Consumer Research found out that nostalgic feelings can make participants more inclined to spend money on consumer goods and services.

And now, let’s try to go to a more practical example first. You may not think much about it, but the average person experiences nostalgia about once a week. Once a week? Really? And on another note, Facebook will often give users the chance to repost some of their popular posts from years past!

At one point in time, this little fella might pop up in your Facebook timeline.

And there you go. If you use Instagram/ Twitter or maybe both, you have probably made some #throwback posts in the past! From there, we get to be nostalgic on purpose.

Back to how nostalgia works in a company’s marketing strategy, how do we as human beings have a penchant for things that are retro/ vintage/ old-fashioned, despite living in the age of innovation?

There might be two explanations that are more logically-explained. Research tells us that nostalgia counteracts boredom, loneliness, and anxiety. Some even suggested that nostalgia can be triggered as a coping mechanism with difficult life transitions and stressful moments. And this also illustrates the next point, which is a psychological phenomenon.

Pizza Hut restaurant with the 1967–1999 logo in Athens, Ohio. Photo: Ed! at English Wikipedia.

Some of the world’s most well-known brands have already launched—and proved to us that nostalgia is a very useful element in marketing. Brands such as Pizza Hut and Pepsi are already using retired logos and designs from the past, with these elements being reintroduced as “throwback” or “retro” options. Mass media such as shows, movies, and even music videos are also tapping into retro/ vintage design and storytelling strategies to tickle the nostalgic nerves in their viewers.
The question is, what kind of values that you can use to create your own nostalgic marketing campaigns? Of course, it will be a case-by-case basis, but we can provide you some tips below:

Nostalgia Dos!

– Utilise current events, holidays, and trends to build content as a flashback to your audiences. Christmas is a great holiday to use nostalgia since it can easily take us back to our childhoods. So, a pretty effective piece of content could be ‘15 Toys From the 90’s That Every Kid Wanted.’
– Identify on how your brand can connect itself to an aspect of the past.
– DO, and we mean it with the capitals, leverage social media to know what your consumers want.
– And last but not least, do invite and engage your consumers for ideas. Bring back the old from the back, with a few twists and new touches here and there.

Nostalgia Don’ts

– Do your research. Time and laws have change, therefore means the trends changed, too. Learn and observe some of the memories and bygone trends that could be perceived as offensive to certain group(s) of people.
– Brands who rush into employing retro strategies without placing the modern world in context may be seen as out of touch—or worse, irrelevant.
– Pushing it too far. As awful as it sounds, using emotion in your marketing could alienate your audience. They might label it as manipulative. Push things too far and you’ll achieve the opposite of what you wanted.

Netflix’s sci-fi series “Stranger Things” season 1 promotional picture.

Now that you have read until this far, I know this will be a lot of information to unpack. Creating a sentimental value—without being seen as daft or even hackneyed— in your customers mind is a challenge in itself. And you may even wonder that this confirms that this advertising strategy can only work for brands with an established presence in the industry. However, the truth is that isn’t necessary.

Take a look at Netflix’s sci-fi show “Stranger Things”, for example. Released in 2016, the show features soundtrack, imageries and references that play homage to some of our all-time favorite thrillers, such as the X-Files, E.T., and many more. However, the show connects nostalgic elements with storytelling and character developments. By referencing at Stranger Things, and other brands that have used nostalgia marketing strategy so effectively in the past, every brand, both big and small, can look back and take some nostalgic elements.

Kreatiklan’s team can guide you into the right steps in your nostalgia branding to achieve the results that you wanted with your customers. Consider yourself to get a right nostalgic marketing strategy by contacting us info@kreatiklan.com or simply hit (+62) 87-780-561-569.

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