Nostalgia is one of the most complex and powerful human emotions.
Hepper, Ritchie, Sedikides, and Wildschut (2012, Emotion) describe it as, “[involving] a complex emotion that involves past-oriented cognition and a mixed affective signature.”
Nostalgia can be triggered by just about anything - finding a family heirloom, conversations with an old friend, or a scent or a song you used to love but forgot existed. Recalling these transport us back to a moment from our past (the reality of which is irrelevant) on which we look back fondly. Nostalgia has a way of putting a rose-coloured filter on our memories, giving us a (sometimes false) sense of comfort and a longing for the past.
Krystine Batcho, a New York-based psychologist explains in the Globe and Mail “We remember things as being better than they were because we selectively recall the aspects that we enjoyed – they’re what we keep in our memory.”
Nostalgia does the brain good, serving both our psychological and emotional needs. People have reported feeling a stronger sense of belonging, higher continuity between their past and present, describe their lives as more meaningful and experience higher self-esteem and positivity when engaging in nostalgic reflection. It activates two parts of the brain: the hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores memories, and the mesolimbic dopamine system, the part of the brain that actually triggers the release of dopamine, a hormone that promotes good feelings.
Nostalgia also brings us a sense of comfort that we associate with (or romanticize from) being young and free of the burdens of adulthood and societal pressures or expectations. A time before we started overthinking everything and just enjoyed things. Nostalgia holds a particular significance to Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millenials. For them, it’s reminiscent of a simpler time, before everyone had a computer in their pocket and social media reigned supreme. Millennials were the last generation to have a more “traditional childhood”, devoid of all the current technological distractions. In a way, it was a more carefree way of living that promoted more mindfulness and being present in the moment.
By incorporating nostalgia into promotional strategies, you can take your audience’s positive associations with their past, and (fingers crossed) have them transfer those same feelings to your company and/or products. This is known as (surprise, surprise) nostalgia marketing. It can be an extremely effective marketing tactic and is a great way to establish personal and emotional relationships with your audience. Nostalgia helps to differentiate your brand from others when a potential customer is choosing between similar products from different brands at a store. It can also help to establish brand awareness, trust and brand loyalty.
There are many ways to implement nostalgia marketing. Iconic ads from the past have themselves become a part of popular culture nostalgia, so why reinvent the wheel when you’re already sitting on gold, right? Let’s take a look at some of the most notable examples:
L’Oreal-owned North American cosmetics company Maybelline released their signature slogan, “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline” in their ads in 1991, which ended up gaining so much traction that it became one of the most recognizable marketing jingles, just ask any woman who wore makeup in the 90s and early 2000s, After more than two decades of the catchy slogan, Maybelline decided to update it to “Make it happen” in 2015 (remember that? Neither do we), which was a bit of a flop. Recently though, Maybelline has decided to turn back the clock and give the people what they want, reviving the original “Maybe it's Maybelline” slogan, breathing new life into it with social media influencers in a nostalgic new TikTok campaign. Over 30 years later, the old slogan still has a whopping 84% brand recall, proving just how much it had permeated popular culture.
The Original
The Reboot
In the 70s, Life cereal launched a series of ads featuring a child named John Gilchrest as “Little Mikey”, a picky eater who actually enjoys Life cereal and inspires the tagline “Mikey Likes It!”. The catchphrase and campaign became so well known, now considered one of the most memorable campaigns of the past 50 years, that it’s no surprise that the company revived it many times in the following years in different forms. These new versions included ads featuring a female version of Mikey, an ad released in the 80s in which John Gilchrest, now grown up, reprised his role and most recently a series of minimusicals starring Hudson Uebelhardt as (you guessed it) Mikey.
The Original
The Reboot
In the early 2000s, everyone was greeting each other with a “Wassup?”. Even if you don’t recall the origin, you likely remember the phrase. It was made famous by a Budweiser campaign that ran from late 1999 through 2002, in which a group of friends call each other to perpetuate a seeming inside joke rather than to actually chat, each taking a turn to (rhetorically) ask “Wassup?” (which was actually inspired by a short film). The phrase became such a pop culture phenomenon, showing up in TV, movies and music and more that it became a huge part of the zeitgeist. In the two decades since its release, there have been many new iterations of the original ad, most notably a 2020 Super Bowl commercial in partnership with Uber to reduce drunk driving.
The Original
The Reboot
Re-releasing a product from the past (whether or not it was actually good or successful) and calling it “limited edition” is a major marketing hack that Pepsi has utilized to their advantage with their “Pepsi Crystal”. Originally released in 1992 to mediocre sales that eventually lead to its discontinuation in 1994, it (apparently) still serves as a positive and comforting memory for many, creating quite the buzz when it was re-released in 2022 to celebrate its 30th birthday. While it was never actually made available for sale, nostalgic fans entered a Twitter (now known as “X”) contest using the hashtag, #showusyour90s to win 20 bottles of the (previously failed) product.
The Original
The Reboot
If you grew up in North America, you likely have fond childhood memories of being taken to McDonalds, being treated to a Happy Meal, and being met with colourful characters such as Ronald McDonald, the namesake clown, burger thief, “The Hamburglar” and Grimace, the anthropomorphized taste bud (apparently). While the characters have since disappeared in an attempt to modernize McDonalds’ branding, there’s no doubt that they still live in our collective subconscious as a nostalgic, grease-filled fever-dream, reminding us of happier and simpler times. So when McDonalds released a purple milkshake last summer to celebrate Grimace’s birthday, not only did it draw in huge crowds, but the social media creators had an absolute field day with it, propelling the hashtag #GrimaceShake to billions of views on TikTok alone. A spike in sales, increased awareness AND free marketing? Sounds like McDonalds hit the jackpot with this one.
The Original
The Reboot
Speaking of jeans, Levi’s has just remade their iconic 1985 “Launderette” commercial, in which model Nick Kamen enters a laundromat and strips down to his undies to wash his Levi’s 501s as other patrons look on incredulously, set to Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”. This time the ad features Beyonce, set to her new song “Levi’s Jeans” from her latest album “Cowboy Carter”. Sometimes the stars just align, and an opportunity for a perfect reboot presents itself and of which a company would be completely remiss not to take advantage.
The Original
The Reboot
Whether you’re reviving a beloved past slogan, breathing new life into an old, proven concept, or releasing a limited edition run of a long-since discontinued product, harnessing the power of nostalgia can be an effective way to connect with your audience. Sometimes lighting really can strike twice.
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/nostalgia/what-nostalgia-is.page#:~:text=Hepper%2C%20Ritchie%2C%20Sedikides%2C%20and,conversations%2C%20or%20by%20feeling%20lonely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi4PBf-FQKs
https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/beyonce-cleans-up-in-remake-of-levis-iconic-launderette-ad/
https://www.pajiba.com/web_culture/did-everybody-else-know-that-the-budweiser-whassup-ad-was-based-on-a-real-short-film.php#:~:text=Budweiser's%20advertising%20campaign%20that%20ran,'
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/examples-nostalgia-marketing-ads
https://whitelabelcomedy.com/funny-ads/budweiser-uber-whassup-again-2020
https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2024/09/23/gap-is-putting-a-new-spin-on-the-same-old-song-and-dance?mbcid=36944231.288882&mblid=f5c768765c37&mid=4080b66f4553d506784b78f7e3a8c868&utm_campaign=mkb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article-nostalgia-had-a-big-year-which-is-good-news-for-your-brain/
