Have you ever yearned for specific products or consumables that just bring back certain tastes of childhood memories? Well, you are not the only one. In recent years, as technology becomes more advanced and a robotic future where flying cars seem to be realistically achievable, more and more people seem to crave a hint of old taste and trends from the past. And marketers realize this phenomenon.
Introducing Nostalgia Marketing – a marketing technique that incorporates past trends to invoke a nostalgic emotion in consumers by ‘bringing them to the past.’
How does Nostalgia Marketing actually work?
Well, with the use of social media, marketers can easily pinpoint certain keywords or feelings that consumers are constantly talking about. Social media is also used as a thermometer, which marketers can easily determine the exact moment when something switches from dated to retro. (Nostalgia Marketing: What is it, Social Media Today)
Marketing campaigns are incorporated with past elements and trends that are familiar to the target audience. For example, #Throwback is a very popular trend on Twitter and Instagram, where consumers share incidents from the past in videos and images. Brands do utilise this hashtag to engage with followers and consumers as well as coming up with themed campaigns inspired by this hashtag, like Funky 80s and Glorious 90s.
Why does Nostalgia Marketing garner so much attention?
- Authenticity and Originality
Nostalgic content is naturally more down-to-earth and authentic when it comes to personal appeal. Positive receptions of these types of campaigns are also higher as the content relates to the past memories of consumers, hence good memories and positive influence are often associated with the campaigns.
- Millennial Influence
With the target audience for most brands mainly consisting of millennials, you can’t deny that incorporating 90s throwback content won’t garner the attention of millennials. Having to see ads or marketing content that resembles iconic trends from the 90s are a major soft spot for millennials who grow up during that era. Hence, this causes consumers to willingly open up to brands that they have never even heard of before.
- Establishing Personal Connections
With plenty of digital content today, being catered to the general public, many ads and marketing campaigns do not resonate much with consumers, but a hint of nostalgia may invoke positive personal memories of a consumer. Thus, because of this, consumers feel a more personal connection to the brand that implements nostalgia in their marketing plans.