Bratz, Barbie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Motorola Razr—lately, it looks as if the whole lot is getting a reboot, remake or revival. Some may understand the pattern as manufacturers missing contemporary concepts or mitigating danger by banking on previous recognition to gasoline future success. Nonetheless, there’s no denying our cultural panorama is steeped in nostalgia.
Whilst know-how advances, there’s nonetheless nothing just like the “good previous days.” Given the wistfulness for our previous lives in a post-2020 world, it’s no shock nostalgia advertising is in. When executed appropriately, nostalgia advertising spurs pleasure, conjures up model affinity and provides individuals a heat fuzzy feeling they gained’t overlook.
What’s nostalgia advertising?
Nostalgia advertising includes associating a product, service or model with constructive, acquainted components from the previous to evoke an emotional reference to goal audiences. By incorporating reminiscences into campaigns, entrepreneurs can bridge previous and current experiences to foster lasting relationships with customers.
Why the nostalgia advertising technique works
Nostalgia advertising works as a result of customers typically make buy selections primarily based on emotion. A Frontiers in Psychology examine in regards to the affect of social media model advertising on customers’ feelings says,“Customers have a tendency to decide on merchandise based on their very own preferences and values, taking note of emotional satisfaction and psychological recognition, in order that enterprises can achieve increased model loyalty.”
In different phrases, we cling to constructive reminiscences, so when a model, occasion or product is part of that reminiscence, they’re better off. Nostalgia allows us to bask in familiarity and luxury. We are able to reminisce on the laughs, the vibes, the memes—you needed to be there to know the cultural affect. Or do you?
Campaigns that incorporate nostalgia advertising aren’t restricted to the individuals who have these emotional heartstrings connected to a reminiscence. They’ve a possibility to make use of nostalgia as a mechanism for model storytelling and longevity by nurturing lengthy standing followers whereas additionally attracting new prospects, particularly from youthful generations.
How social media has enabled nostalgia advertising
Nothing dies on the web. Social media helps this digital immortality, enjoying a pivotal function in nostalgia advertising. It’s a digital time capsule, accumulating and preserving moments inside the cultural zeitgeist via content material like memes and web lore .
Manufacturers adept at leveraging this phenomenon can combine their merchandise, companies or campaigns into shared reminiscences that resonate with their audience. And with area of interest communities on channels like TikTok, each previous and new aficionados can dive even deeper into retro infatuations.
Nostalgic components in your social technique spark conversations and foster model loyalty. Whether or not via nostalgic adverts, retro-themed product launches or interactive challenges impressed by previous developments, social media provides a dynamic playground for nostalgia advertising to thrive.
When customers encounter posts that remind them of fond reminiscences, they’re inclined to react, remark and share with their networks, amplifying the attain and affect of nostalgia advertising efforts. The well timed nature of social media additionally allows manufacturers to capitalize on present occasions or popular culture by infusing them with nostalgic references, creating a strong mix of the previous and current that resonates with various audiences.
By harnessing the collective nostalgia of on-line communities, manufacturers can craft compelling narratives that transcend time.
How you need to use nostalgia advertising to attach along with your viewers
It’d look like a reboot means there’s a built-in viewers, however it additionally comes with dangers. Nostalgia is an emotional expertise that makes us really feel bonded to our favourite popular culture keepsakes. This stuff are valuable to us, so in the event that they’re redesigned or repurposed in a approach that followers aren’t receptive to, you’ll hear about it.
Listed below are 3 ways you will get nostalgia advertising proper:
1. Tune into the nostalgia melting pot on social media
2010’s teenhood was marked by a make-up obsession—and crushes on fantastical beings like vampires. At first of the last decade Colourpop was a distinguished fixture within the magnificence trade. Greater than ten years later, due to the resurgence of the Y2K aesthetic powered by content material creators and influencers, the model discovered its approach again into our timelines and hearts by collaborating with Twilight—the favored vampire trilogy from the late 2000’s and early 2010’s.
This isn’t an remoted occasion. Social media is a melting pot of nostalgia the place you’ll be able to reminisce and connect with a bigger group of individuals with shared pursuits. Social is swirling with conversations and content material about what customers miss from the previous, the reminiscences that carry them again to their childhoods and the manufacturers that left a mark alongside the best way (cue the Tumblr resurgence in 2022).
When entrepreneurs use social media listening, they’ll seize and capitalize on moments when individuals mirror on their model legacy. Colourpop has a social listening knowledgeable technique that has allowed them to promote out merchandise through the years. For instance, the restricted version Twilight assortment bought out upon launch. After seeing followers asking for extra alternatives to purchase, Colourpop held a number of restocks.
2. Give attention to viewers and relevance
What makes one particular person nostalgic, might make one other particular person really feel out of the loop. Age, pursuits, historic occasions and extra all affect what we maintain pricey.
On the floor, nostalgia advertising appears to slender the viewers you’re in a position to goal. However at its finest, it may well talk your model story to new audiences. As an illustration, Geico made promoting historical past in 2004 after they launched the Caveman to encourage individuals to make use of geico.com. The well-known tagline was “Really easy a caveman can do it.”
The insurance coverage firm introduced again the Caveman mascot via its “Legend of the Lizard” marketing campaign. In December, Geico launched a 15-minute mockumentary to create buzz across the Huge Recreation in 2024. The model later launched snippets on social and TV throughout the largest sporting occasion of the yr.
3. Reintroduce merchandise again by well-liked demand
Buying developments and shopper preferences repeatedly change, which is why many manufacturers often discontinue and launch merchandise. However when a favourite or go-to product disappears and is now not obtainable for buy, individuals often share their disappointment on social media.
With social listening, manufacturers can take inventory of the merchandise that individuals miss. If the dialog is massive sufficient, you may even contemplate bringing a discontinued merchandise again to shock and delight prospects. For instance, McDonald’s makes use of nostalgia to carry again the McRib just a few occasions each decade. The newest return was in fall 2023.
Nostalgia advertising examples from main manufacturers
Listed below are three main manufacturers that use nostalgia advertising:
1. Oh Polly
Oh Polly collaborated with Bratz to launch a doll-inspired competition assortment. Oh Polly is a UK-based retail model with a social-first enterprise mannequin centered on Instagram and Fb. They’re recognized for offering stylish, high quality clothes objects globally, so collaborating with our favourite 2000s women with a ardour for style is a pure match, particularly with the emergence of Y2K style.
As part of their social marketing campaign, they inspired prospects to enroll in an unique waitlist, utilizing iconic Bratz imagery just like the lip telephone on Instagram Tales and Reels.
2. Bobby Jack
Bobby Jack leverages their early 2000s recognition to attach with youthful Millennials and Gen Z. Together with new objects, the attire model provides a classic Y2K assortment.
Between their affiliate internet marketing program and powerful user-generated content material technique, Bobby Jack provides a masterclass in utilizing nostalgia advertising. Their model voice maintains the sassy, sarcastic humor Bobby Jack is thought for, whereas nonetheless feeling fashionable and easy.
You’ll be able to see well-liked colloquial phrases and phrases like, “Bobby Jack, for baddies solely,” throughout their social channels. They use social media to hitch in on related conversations, trending sounds and subjects for each youthful and older audiences.
For instance, within the Reel under, a sound clip from the favored actuality TV present, Love is Blind, performs within the background as a mannequin wears a pink jumpsuit. The caption reads, “You all the time need me once I’m gone, so don’t wait! Get your favorites now! Use code ‘FUN30’ for $$$ off your buy.”
The caption achieves the model’s tone whereas referencing a distinct segment subject related to each Gen Z and the OG Millennials audiences who bear in mind “the little unhealthy monkey with an angle” who had one of the best comebacks.
The model faucets into 2000s nostalgia, like within the TikTok under that options one in every of their most nostalgic ensembles: a Bobby Jack tee, brown gauchos, a Blackberry telephone and a tiny backpack with a keychain allure.
3. Lisa Frank
Lisa Frank’s recipe for contemporary attraction? Tried and true elements from the 80s—whimsical holographic materials, rainbows, sparkles and cute animals—with a touch of social media and model collaborations.
Lisa Frank embraces being a kaleidoscope of retro allure, grabbing the eye of older and youthful audiences alike. The model makes use of a multi-channel social media technique with Instagram, Fb and TikTok.
Though they use social media to attach throughout generations, they positively present like to the adults who grew up loving Lisa Frank. Once they launched their TikTok web page in 2023, they posted a video devoted to OG Lisa Frank followers who at the moment are adults with cash to spend on their childhood obsession:
And folks have been positively excited within the feedback, asking for Lisa Frank kitchenware, grownup planners and extra:
Lisa Frank companions often with fashionable manufacturers together with Crocs, Morphe, Orly, Loungefly and Casetify. Their collaboration with Posh Peanut, a household attire model, is a good instance of utilizing nostalgia advertising to attach throughout generations. The adults who grew up on Lisa Frank are creating new reminiscences with their youngsters via pajamas.
Create lasting impressions via nostalgia advertising
As you’ll be able to see, there’s an limitless reservoir of nostalgia-inducing alternatives for manufacturers to activate. Wish to study extra about utilizing nostalgia to domesticate group and longevity? Watch our webinar about utilizing nostalgia and innovation to raise your inventive efficiency.
