“A Place Where You Are Loved” CouldNostalgia Be Your Brand Play in ‘21?

It’s like a time machine. It goes forward and backwards. 
It takes you to a place. A place where you are loved.” 

 Mad Men’s Don Draper making a pitch to the Eastman Kodak Company in 1962 describing how to position their revolutionary new Carousel wheel slide projector in the now iconic Netflix series episode. 

As Kodak execs view color photos of weddings and smiling young children go by in a darkened room, it becomes pretty evident that Draper’s suggestion is to play on the emotional heart tug of nostalgia and happy memories. 

Is there possibly a nostalgia brand play for your company as we emerge from covid in ‘21? 

In my new book, The Coming New Impact Economy, to be published this year and available on Amazon, I present a detailed discussion of one of the distinct Impacts I label Sentiment. Really nostalgia. Longing. Reminiscence. Remembrance.  

And not many industries have a straightforward Nostalgia Brand play. However, the ones that do, are all over it because of it’s deep emotional pull. 

In the book, I cite Sir Richard Branson’s new Cruise line Virgin Voyages as a pretty strong play on Nostalgia. Entertainment giant Disney is another great example of a Nostalgia Brand.   

You see where I’m going with this, right? 

So, I think there are additional industries that could employ Nostalgia in their Branding in ‘21.  

One. I believe, could be Commercial Real Estate and I discuss this in my new book. Think about it. When you move into a new office, is the first thing you talk about is the great price per square foot you rented your new space for or the visit you just had last week from your new grand baby and her proud new parents? 

I’m betting it’s the latter and Commercial Real Estate companies would attract a lot more eyeballs with smiling families than they will by showing slick architectural photos and views out over the tree tops!  

So, here are some business tips I’d offer you for determining if Nostalgia’s in your Branding future. 

Business Tip # 1. Try and see if “memories” and “family” play an appreciable role in the “Customer Experience” you currently offer. Businesses like travel, entertainment and real estate all have strong Nostalgia or Sentiment 
branding components to them and, if you’re one of those three, you’re in luck. 

Tip 2. Experiment with photos and visual images added to your marketing materials to see if it results in more “views” or "likes” on your site. The acid test of interest these days – Haha! 

All for now and I wish you luck post covid! 

Talk later. 

Ciao.