Harnessing Nostalgia in Your Video Marketing
One of the most notable trends in video marketing today is the use of nostalgia to win over the audience. Savvy marketers know how bringing up strong happy memories from the audience’s past can capture their attention like few other techniques. Nostalgia can also help a marketer to tie their brand. Just look at how effectively Pepperidge Farm has tied its brand to childhood and a simpler, pastoral lifestyle. However, the popularity of nostalgic appeals also means that it’s tough to make your video stand out. We’ve put together some techniques that will help you craft a meaningful nostalgic appeal for your video.
Tailor the appeal to your target audience
The nostalgic appeal in marketing has been used countless times. As such, certain themes like high school, your first kiss, and other broad topics are unoriginal. While they still might be valid appeals that excite certain feelings in the audience, the fact that these themes have been used so many times will prevent you from effectively associating your brand with that idea.
Instead, identify specific features about your target market. For example, if you are targeting a specifically people in the 40-50 age range with a product that is meant to make them feel young, perhaps incorporate music that was on the radio when they were in high school. In the case of a video, have the actors dress in the style of youth from the ‘70s. This will not only encourage your audience to associate your product or service with their “glory days”, but also give them the feeling that your brand understands them and their history.
Avoid political statements
As with any other marketing strategy, avoiding contentious topics such as politics and religion is key to effectively leveraging nostalgia. However, nostalgia has a particular tendency to have hidden entanglements with politics. For example, one song that is often used in nostalgic marketing campaigns is Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”. Its chorus and name invokes childhood and national pride. Football and 4th of July cookouts. However, those who listen to the song more closely will recognize the heavy protest of treatment of Vietnam veterans. This represents an opportunity for certain audiences to take exception, and many people on both sides of the Vietnam war issue are still influential consumers and members of society.
However, if the nature of a marketing effort calls for some sort of political statement, focus on issues that are largely settled. There are few people in America today who will decry the spirit of the civil rights movement, for example. And those who do are largely marginalized for their unsavory opinion. As such, tying your marketing campaign to such a historical effort would be acceptable. On the other hand, tying your product or service offering to major social shifts can be distasteful. A savvy marketer must be careful that an appeal to nostalgia doesn’t try to commercialize major social events in the past.
Use humor
People love to feel like they’re part of an inside joke. This provides the potential for a creative and fun take on nostalgia marketing. Making fun of fads or customs that are now outdated and ridiculous is a great way to endear yourself to your target audience.
The appeal here is that your audience must have prior knowledge of the target of the joke, and the more you can tailor the joke while still keeping it relevant the better. However, if you do choose to poke fun at a fad from the past, be sure that it will be interpreted in good spirit. Targeting competitors, even in a lighthearted manner, can be interpreted as an offensive tactic. Therefore, while a shoe company might play on the monumental (and hilarious) downfall of New Coke, Pepsi should avoid what may be seen as an attempt to slander a competitor.
Ultimately, there is one key to nostalgia marketing that must be kept in mind. When building a marketing campaign, it’s important to remember that while people love to reminisce about “the way things were”, things change for a reason. Fads fade and customs adapt in response to social trends and marketing campaigns should acknowledge this fact, or at least avoid making any assertions that things used to be better.
What are some ways you’ve used this strategy in your marketing? Share in the comments below!
