This is what brought me to this month's blog topic: Nostalgia in Marketing. Nostalgia is unique to each of us, but there is one common thread - it has a sensory trigger that brings back happy memories. This idea plays a significant role in many aspects of marketing, from new product development to marketing communication campaigns. Evoking a memory of an experience or situation in the past helps to create an emotional link between the consumer and the brand.
Warm memories that conjure these emotions are exploitable assets in today's market and the increase in nostalgia-driven marketing may be associated with rapid technology change. In these days of high-speed living and the related stress, technology creates a distance between the process of production and consumption. Nostalgia addresses some deep societal need for authenticity and reaches back to a time when things were slower, simpler and more peaceful.
According to Eric Devaney of Hubspot, experiencing nostalgia can have a bunch of psychological benefits, including:
- Enhanced mood
- Increased self-esteem and feeling that your life has meaning/purpose
- Increased feeling of being socially connected
- Reduced stress
- Positive feeling about the future
Sign me up!
It doesn't hurt that nostalgia has proved effective at loosening consumers' grip on their wallets, according to Entrepreneur.com. We are more likely to spend money when feeling nostalgic, says a study in the Journal of Consumer Research. The role of new media cannot be discounted in their era of nostalgic marketing, as 'classic' brands that are well established in our consciousness are available in the digital environment.
For example, last September Coca-Cola announced the reintroduction of Surge, a citrus-flavoured beverage it discontinued 12 years ago. An online group called The Surge Movement spent years pushing the company to bring it back to market. The group raised enough money to buy a billboard near Coca-Cola's headquarters and used YouTube videos to get their point across. A fine example of a group successfully putting social media to work for a common cause. Many popular brands are taking a walk down memory lane with their customers - proving that living in the past isn't such a bad thing for profits.
Another way companies are using social media to promote nostalgia is #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT on Twitter and Instagram to share old images and posts, in order to connect with longtime customers. For brands that don't have that kind of reach, or quite as much history, #tbt can be used to share photos of your first store, early employees and customers, or share how your product has evolved.
Nostalgia allows people to look back fondly, and when used wisely, it can also create excitement for what's coming next. Social media has made nostalgia a simple marketing strategy that even young brands can use. Take advantage and you can build and keep loyal followers for life.
Hmmm, here's a BuzzFeed list that sounds interesting: "9 Totally Awesome And Kind Of Weird 1970s Celebrity Dolls". Gotta read that one!
