Retro’s nostalgic comeback: a trip or a trap down memory lane?
Reconnecting with the past through visuals, taste, music (and other references) is a sure-fire way to drive engagement across multiple generations. But have you considered where this reverie for the good old days is coming from — and where it’s taking us?
Brandish a retro-style design on product packaging and you will likely see an increase in profit. Add a dosage of nostalgia to the latest TV show, music or any other form of pop culture entertainment, and crowds will come flocking to it. Whether we are talking about fashion borrowing styles from the ’80s and ’90s, production studios churning out remakes of classics, or just soundtracks pulling strings of nostalgia, they all tap into a rose-tinted view of the past (often filtering out the less dainty aspects).
This begets the question: are we really running out of fresh ideas or is there something else at play? Besides, in the age of fast-forward, how does this trend of longing to rewind the tape get so much love and attention?
Blast from the past
Our drive to reconnect with the past is especially strong when we seek assurance and stability during turbulent times. If you feel seen, just know that 79 percent of people are in the same shoes at least once per week, waxing nostalgic— albeit this figure is based on a study from 2006, so we can probably bump that figure up quite a bit to paint a timelier picture.
From a psychological perspective, nostalgia is a coping mechanism and a response to threats, so how strongly we experience it depends on the significance of the problem(s) we are facing.
Flipping that coin will show that our inclination for “once upon a time” narratives and memories come with plenty of upsides. Research has shown that nostalgia serves four main functions, namely:
- improving mood and making one feel content,
- increasing self-regard (or self-esteem) and thus boosting optimism for the future,
- raising the desire to socialise and cooperate, thereby enhancing one’s social connectedness and social competence,
- and even boosting existential meaning through revisiting important moments in life during reminiscing.
Now, viewing life as meaningless actually increases nostalgia, which feeds into this cycle, but the same logic can be applied to all other points. For example, if someone is feeling low and discontent, they will also be more susceptible to perceiving the past as “better”. Put simply, it’s a bit of a catch-22.
Apart from these double-edged psychological benefits, a rogue physiological effect exists, as well. Nostalgia also increases resistance to cold, thereby improving our sense of comfort — and on colder days, people are more likely to feel nostalgic. In other words, our blasts from the past also serve to cushion ourselves physically.
So, how you draw strength from your memories to combat negativity is effectively a delicate dance between self-preservation and escapism. But that is just one point of view. Another way to look at postmodern nostalgia is to consider it a celebration of past styles, and the enjoyment multiple generations can find in (re)discovering them.
In with the old — retro marketing
Brands that are looking to freshen up their image or simply rally nostalgia-prone audiences will often reach for retro styles in design and advertising. Consumers have a tendency to lean towards nostalgic products and content (often driven by a need to belong), which gives marketers an easy way to target them.
Retro marketing doesn’t just link consumers with happier times and memories of the good old days, but actively builds on this emotional connection. (In fact, nostalgia is in some way the opposite of materialism — feelings win over the need to simply hoard status symbols and stuff.)
Once memories invoke positive feelings, customers will then subconsciously associate that same feel-good state with the brand. Hence, even if a company had no role in shaping those fragments of individual consumers’ pasts, they can subtly insert themselves into this mental “formula”. In a state of nostalgia, we tend to feel safe, happy, and even careless, which also nudges people to part from their money more easily.
Still better if there is a shared past between customers and the brand. For this reason, Millennials tend to be cited as the perfect target audience, as they grew up with a landline in one hand and an iPhone in the other, metaphorically speaking. But across all ages and generations, personal memories have the most impact when it comes to shelling out the cash. Not to mention that a fair share of nostalgia also makes us believe the quality is better and it further amplifies loyalty towards a brand.
At the same time, consider how we are bombarded by 4,000 to 10,000 ads each day — and yet, 99% of these have little to no impact, due to advertising overload. Retro marketing dodges this to some degree by locking products into established rosy memories and associations, driving consumer engagement by easing mental fatigue.
As highlighted before, nostalgia also makes us feel more connected to others, which makes it a perfect ingredient of social content that can then be shared. For example, the hashtag #TBT (Throw-Back Thursday) was crafted for sharing nostalgia-inducing images, and brands could chime in and piggyback off this trend on social media.
So, is “retro” just playing dirty tricks to influence consumer behaviour? Not necessarily. At the end of the day, borrowing from the past offers a window of experience for those who did not get to participate in that segment of history. And as for those, who did; refreshing positive memories can be just as wholesome.
Connecting through design & brand heritage
The promise of reliving childhood memories and seeking comfort in the familiar is a charm that toy companies can (and do) wield with creativity. After all, who wouldn’t want to reach for fantasy and play during their R&R downtime? Legacy brands are especially savvy in this regard, as they can not only cater for younger audiences, but also (re)create products for adults and wider families — by weaving nostalgia into the mix.
Hasbro announced a Retro Collection series in 2019, which saw Star Wars figures re-released based on their original state but with additional detail, and perhaps more notably, with the same vintage packaging. The design got recreated, paying homage to the original Kenner look from 1978. It was even given a distressed texture along the edges to give it a faux ageing effect, transporting fans back in time by suggesting it is weathered memorabilia from the past.
This was categorically aimed at adults, as confirmed during their Q4 2020 earnings call, with the aim of boosting fan engagement and, needless to say, profits (that IP license doesn’t pay for itself, after all).
But if you are not into this specific franchise, perhaps a Hello Kitty Tamagotchi could soothe your adult soul, or riding the resurgence wave of hopping on a scooter might make you cool with the youth once more.
Alternatively, you may wish to get your hands on a Furby Connect toy to refresh your childhood nightmares, instead. Did you know you can kind of turn them evil? Cute. Glad they kept to the original reverse-USP. (Frankly, the line should have been drawn before these got released. If you want to traumatise your kids, read them Coraline instead.)
On a quest to bring back childhood memories
Taking video games as an example, Nintendo also didn’t shy away from capitalising on fond memories of the past. Its 2016 decision to re-launch mini versions of its retro gaming systems could have been taken as a cry for help as just a year before this announcement, the company was barely returning profits. But by September 2018, they sold almost 10 million units, including its SNES relaunch, which was promoted in a fitting '90s-style commercial.
Doug Bowser, the company’s US head of sales and marketing pitched their angle during a press release:
“Many of us have fond and wonderful memories of the original NES. We want to replicate the nostalgic feelings of sitting down and playing the NES with your family for the first time.”
But this wasn’t even the whole game plan. In a 2017 briefing, the then-president of the company, Tatsumi Kimishima, confirmed that this was part of a more elaborate strategy. Besides regaining market share, this also helped boost Nintendo’s visibility after the Wii’s decline in popularity.
“We also see the nostalgic interest in these products as an opportunity to draw consumers’ attention to our latest game system, Nintendo Switch.”
The moral of the story? It worked. As of May, the Switch has sold over 107 million units. The bottom line here is that nostalgia can be a significant springboard for the whole brand, not just for sole marketing campaigns.
Back to the future
To recap, retro marketing, design, and entire experiences can be used to infuse enchantment where disillusioned audiences crave something old, new, and borrowed — all at once.
One way of tackling this can be in the form of revisiting old-school looks in logos in the spirit of rebranding, much like Burger King’s retro aesthetic making a comeback. A revamped appearance can also convey a larger message; such as a symbol of removing artificial additives in food (which is why that funky blue crescent is now gone), and thus increase the brand’s quality and taste perception through design.
A different tactic could be re-integrating the past into the present; but also segmenting the two from one another. This was the case of Blizzard introducing World of Warcraft: Classic (alongside the current version of the game) to mimic a more nostalgic experience so players could effectively time-travel back to when the game first launched.
Hence, here is the takeaway: when the present is all too grey, reaching for the past to uncover and remedy what’s missing in the now & then can be a smart move. Nostalgia is quite literally based on revisiting past experiences, and with the right intentions, some magic can be channelled back via design. Just, you know, play nice.
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References & Credits:
- Nintendo and the magic of nostalgia marketing by Amanda Abrams
- Stranger Things is Proof that Nostalgia Marketing Works by Albizu Garcia
- Hasbro (HAS) Q4 2020 Earnings Call Transcript by The Motley Fool
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