Looking back as a means of coping with the present and future

On more than a few occasions over the past two years, it has occurred to me just how powerful “nostalgia” can be in the role of marketing. State simply, people like to think about “the good old days” when the current days aren’t as good as they’d like. It’s something I started thinking about when I saw the renewed focus on muscle cars a few years back (like Charger, Mustang, and Camaro).

But now—even though the long road toward recovery seems to be at hand—this trend toward nostalgia has been noticeably stronger. Last month, Media Post ran a story on the topic. Even the Super Bowl was loaded with nostalgia-based commercials this year, as summarized in this story from the New York Times. (The Times story fails to mention the nostalgia-based halftime show.) And it’s not just the old-timers who are digging-in to the “good ol’ days.” Last week, another Media Post story by Joseph Kessler suggested that Gen Y is creating its own set of flashbacks.

Implications: You’ve heard that sometimes, when someone has a near-death experience, a type of movie with scenes from their life begins to flash before the victim's eyes. Long ago, when I was training in a first responder program, a doctor gave me his explanation for why that movie trailer is such a common occurrence.

A near-death experience is often associated with a trauma that is the “first of its kind” for the person involved. So, the victim’s brain—attempting to make sense of this new and unusual trauma—sifts quickly through all of its records, looking for some kind of similar situation that has been experienced in the past. If a similar experience can be found, the brain might then remember what was done to cope with the trauma… thus equipping itself to deal with the current experience. That’s what people might remember seeing when they describe “their life flashing before their eyes”: Their mind flipping through innumerable visual images, looking for a comparable experience, so as to find a means of coping.

Maybe that doc was crazy… but I don’t think so.

The Great Recession was a traumatic experience, financially, for a good many people. And as those folks gravitate to nostalgia—or replay a movie of their life—perhaps they are, in some ways, looking for a means to cope with that economic trauma.

When you enjoy comfort food, you reflect on the enjoyment of a home cooked meal (when your parents perhaps couldn’t afford to go out to restaurants as often, but you were still happy).

When you think of the music you loved through high school and college, you’re thinking back to the days before you had a nice, fancy car (or big, anxiety-inducing car payment).

When you reminisce about the styles of yesterday, you’re making it “okay” to go shopping in your closet for a new look—one that is both comfortable and cost-efficient, compared with going shopping.

From a first kiss to a favorite movie, consumers are thinking back to a time when life was more simple and fun, even though they might have had less. Perhaps it is a way of coping… at a time when they’re learning to do with less in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

Do you offer a product, service, or experience… that takes the consumer back in time? Have you mentioned to the consumer how good it makes her feel?

Mike Anderson