The Implementation of Nostalgia in Modern Marketing Activities

Rad ne sadrži sažetak.Today’s marketing is based on one thing - creating a bond with the customer. This means a meaningful relationship that is based on mutual respect, constant support, and a feeling of excitement and safety. A bond means emotional involvement, and what better way to evoke positive emotions than to remind people of a fond memory, invite them to visit their safe space and show them the good old times. But, the perception of ‘the good old times’ is different for everyone. This can be an isolated event, such as a birthday or a stroll down the road with grandparents or even a whole decade when a person felt young, free, and careless. Nostalgia marketing is a marketing tactic that refers to companies that give consumers a certain nostalgic element in marketing activities to stimulate and activate consumers’ nostalgia, evoke memories deep inside the consumer, and eventually promote consumers’ buying behaviour. (Cui, 2015). It is a strategy that has been popular for decades now, and the marketers are finding new ways to engage their customers with the old times in an unexpected, creative and exciting way. From creative advertising and packaging to branded entertainment, the possibilities are endless. The last decade has been flooded with nostalgia-infused content in all industries, from food and beverages, fashion, music to media and entertainment. But, in order to effectively use nostalgia, one must know the psychological aspect it has on people and understand why this type of content works, in what form and for whom exactly. In this paper I will give a short review of nostalgia marketing – what it stands for, types and stages of nostalgia, what are some common strategies as well as give a psychological insight into customer’s perspective and the connection of nostalgia with identity, positive and negative feelings. I will also portray some notable international and Croatian campaigns in order to illustrate the importance of creativity, targeted audience differentiation and research that needs to be done prior to the campaign creation in order to successfully interest, engage and raise brand awareness through nostalgia