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Nearly every time I read a marketing newsletter or analysis, I see a reference to something old becoming new again. If you have a brand story to tell, nostalgia marketing seems to be the wave to catch these days.<\/p>\n
It’s been a while since I wrote about the power of nostalgia in marketing, so I decided to go down the rabbit hole. I found a new twist. Nostalgia marketing is so resonant right now that even startups with no brand heritage<\/em> are using 1980s and 90s iconography and aesthetics to promote their products. Does that seem bizarre?<\/p>\n Let’s explore this together today. This article explains:<\/p>\n If you pay attention to marketing trends as I do, advertising seems to be in a time warp. Throwback products and images are everywhere:<\/p>\n Fashion<\/a>: Low-rise jeans, baby tees, butterfly clips, platform shoes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Accessories & tech<\/a>: Digital watches (vintage Casio) are being rediscovered.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Branding & marketing: Retro logos, reissues, limited \u201cvault\u201d drops from early 2000s design cues. Retro sneakers<\/a> are the latest trend, as Adidas and Nike drop limited-edition versions of shoes from the 1990s.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Food:<\/a> More than 70% of consumers are drawn to childhood-evoking treats. Brands are leaning in with retro packaging and revivals precisely because it translates to sales lift with Gen X and younger shoppers alike.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Let’s keep running up that hill. Today, I’ll look at why and how you might capitalize on this trend (even if you have a new company with no significant brand history).<\/p>\n Side note:<\/strong> The generation born roughly 1997-2006 (Gen Z) is drawn to \u201ceras before their lifetime\u201d to find aesthetic distance or escape the present. While researching this post, I learned a new word. \u201cAnemoia\u201d<\/em> means nostalgia for a time you didn\u2019t live through. Don\u2019t assume nostalgia needs to be their<\/em> memory.<\/p>\n My friends at The History Factory<\/a> created an interesting piece of free research<\/a> on the new momentum of nostalgia in culture and marketing. Highlights:<\/p>\n So, this trend is undeniable and growing, especially with young people. Why now?<\/p>\n There are three main reasons nostalgia marketing is extremely relevant right now, especially with Gen Z:<\/p>\n Let’s break each down in more detail.<\/p>\n Jola Burnett<\/a>, SVP of consumer research company Ipsos<\/a>, attended my Uprising retreat a few times. At a recent session, she presented on the most important global trends and said:<\/p>\n “This generation is not living through a crisis. It is living through multiple crises. It is a time of extraordinary economic, environmental, and social strain.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In this context, a search for “comfort food” makes sense. During periods of unusual stress, people seek emotional regulation and a sense of belonging. The American Psychological Association<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span> notes nostalgia boosts well-being, eases loneliness, and restores meaning.<\/p>\n In the words of Dr. Krystine Batcho, it\u2019s \u201cthe soothing ointment that helps people manage the anxieties from conflict<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Nostalgia is an important part of “brand therapy” to get through the blues. And, we have a LOT of blues.<\/p>\n I wrote about the influence of nostalgia<\/a> in 2020 and noted that the evolution of media helps explain why old is gold.<\/p>\n Up until the 1980s \u2014 and the advent of cable programming \u2014 there was almost no direct marketing to children.\u00a0Most of the early children\u2019s television programming, like\u00a0Sesame Street<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Mr. Rogers,<\/em> was on PBS \u2014 no ads.<\/span>\u00a0And at prime time, children watched whatever network programming mom and dad had on the tube.<\/p>\n Cable TV introduced fully dedicated channels for youth-oriented cartoons, movies, nature programs, and educational programming. This increased exponentially with the advent of the internet and surged again with the rise of smart devices, when children could watch anything, any time, and anywhere. An entire media ecosystem was created for kids.<\/p>\n Starting about 30 years ago, the golden age of children\u2019s programming and youth-oriented product marketing began. The Millennials who grew up in this era have an incredible abundance of media-driven emotional connections compared to any other generation.<\/p>\n If nostalgia means longing for a happy childhood place or experience, you could say that kids growing up after 1980 have been thoroughly prepped for it.<\/p>\n There is a third reason why nostalgia connects now — a search for shared experiences.<\/p>\n Our fragmented media environment means we have fewer common references than we did in the past. Everybody curates their own media experiences alone, through their earbuds.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t have nostalgia without a shared past to return to \u2014 and you can\u2019t have commonly understood jokes without a shared understanding, or even, in the truest sense, a shared language. The appeal of nostalgia is that it allows storytellers to set their adventures in the last period where we really did have that shared understanding — before the smartphone shattered our world in more ways than one.<\/p>\n There are many newer brands and startups that look like they dropped from a time machine. Look beyond your own timeline.\u00a0Some nostalgia opportunities don\u2019t come from your brand history\u2014they\u2019re cultural overlays you can tap:<\/p>\n Olipop is an example of a startup connecting to classic flavors and retro design elements:<\/p>\n My grandmother always kept a stash of Cream Soda for me, so I’m all in on Olipop!<\/p>\n Take a look at Vacation Sunscreen. The fast-rising brand created a 1980s world to establish the emotional connection to its product:<\/p>\n Vacation sun lotion even comes with its own “radio station” that plays oldie hits and commercials from the 1980s:<\/p>\n\n
Nostalgia marketing is everywhere<\/h2>\n
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Anything old is new again<\/h2>\n
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1. Comfort food in chaotic times<\/h2>\n
2. Media trends fuel the nostalgia marketing trend<\/h2>\n
3. The search for shared experiences<\/h2>\n
What if you don’t have a nostalgic story?<\/h2>\n
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