Asil Nadir, Opal Fruits and the power of nostalgia

Perhaps it’s the recession, perhaps it's cyclical, perhaps it's happy coincidence or perhaps it’s the fact that I spent Sunday evening dancing to Nik Kershaw (http://bit.ly/aEB1ws), but I can’t be the only (just) 30-something noticing nostalgia creeping up the agenda recently?

Scargill’s back. Asil Nadir’s back on our shores – http://bit.ly/cc37pN – twenty years to ‘recuperate’? Whatever. Ken Clarke’s back in the cabinet. The A-Team’s back (albeit appallingly). And there’s that oddly stage-schooled girl on the X Factor who dresses like early Madonna. All we need is Ivor the Engine and the Clangers (here for your ‘hit’: http://bit.ly/OQqN7) and we’ll be sorted. Even the French are at it with a return to nostalgic cakes (quoting the Times P. 38 today: “The French disease is nostalgia and nowhere more so than for their cakes”). Marie Antoinette was right all along.

But we’re not just seeing it in the news. Realising the strong emotional potential of nostalgia and understanding how it can act as a ‘balm’ in hard times, brands are harking back to supposedly ‘better’ times.

Mars has brought back the ‘made to make your mouth water’ line for Starburst (now make them Opal Fruits again and while you’re at it, let’s have Marathon back). The ‘Tetley Tea Folk’ are back under the hackneyed guise of ‘by popular demand’ (http://bit.ly/aRpYWA). Virgin Atlantic, Persil, Fairy, M&S and Thinkbox have all been at it (thanks nicofell: http://bit.ly/cSHB95).

And what would a trend be without its own festival? The ‘Vintage at Goodwood’ festival a few weeks ago (http://bit.ly/aniXbN) celebrated all things British going back 5 decades, in collaboration with brands like B&Q, Bonhams, Audi, Fortnum’s, John Lewis, Tanqueray – the list is long and distinguished.

Brands with ‘nostalgic pull’ not looking to use it at a time when people are crying out for some comfort marketing are missing a trick. The key is in understanding how to create that warm feeling: lots of brands (Fairy, M&S, etc) take the easy route and simply re-introduce old ad mechanics and strap-lines. Cleverer ones (like Virgin Atlantic) hark back to a golden age in their industry in a contemporary way or celebrate the culture of a different age (as all the brands at Vintage@Goodwood have recognised).

Whatever the route, nostalgia is an emotionally effective marketing strategy and every brand should look at how to use it whilst the uncertainty of recession remains.