I have long been a proponent of nostalgia as a marketing tool. It is one of the most powerful of human emotions, and typically intensifies as the person ages. After all, they’ve got (I mean, I’ve got) a lot of mileage on this vehicle, and the rear view stretches farther than what I’m seeing through the windshield. As we age, these nostalgic yearnings are opportunities to relive—and retell—the story of our life.
By definition, nostalgia is “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.” There are variations on this, such as “hireath,” which is the desire to return to a place and time we previously experienced, and “anemoia,” pertaining to a desire to go back to a time and place we never experienced. That would be like me saying I would love to time-travel to the 1950s in Southern California, to see LA before it became a traffic-snarled, crime-ridden mess.
As we discussed not long ago, the Rolling Stones licensed “Start Me Up” to Keurig for their Father’s Day new product stunt, but as it turns out that was the third time this year they have partnered with advertisers. Back in March, they lent the same song to Applebees, and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” to promote new episodes of Ted Lasso. Not that the Stones need the money, mind you.
But sampling is one thing. There’s another trend afoot with old tunes, and that is remixing. Numerous advertisers have jumped on this bandwagon, often twisting and rewriting song lyrics to support the brand specifically. For example, Wendy’s leveraged T-Pain’s “Buy U A Drank” to become “Buy U A Frosty.”
Go ahead and cringe. I did.
Interestingly, and more proof that I am even older than I thought, is that the latest efforts are to infuse nostalgic thoughts among Millennials and Gen-Zers, using songs they likely remember from their youth. Sheesh, I was already 48 when the original was released.
Some might worry that there are so many marketers doing this now that they are at risk of trivializing their advertising efforts, and, in some cases, making people cringe like I did. And then there are the critics alleging that artists are selling out. To those buttercups, I say “Suck it up. Don’t you wish you had a hit song to milk?”
As in all advertising, though, it’s all about engagement, and the more you can make a brand relevant to your target, and also hit on some great pop culture touchstones along the way, the more likely you are to make sales. If young people can connect T-Pain with going to Wendy’s, then the Wendy’s folks just struck gold. You get the idea.
There’s risk not just to the marketer, though, because the artist stands to win or lose as well. If the connection is too much of a stretch either lyrically, musically, or even personally, then the artist’s luster could tarnish too. This explains why Rage Against The Machine will probably never have an advertising partnership, with the possible exception of the NRA riffing on “They rally 'round the family with a pocket full of shells.” Never mind that if RATM did that, it would be a sell-out of the highest order.
You get the idea there, too.
The fact that Gen-Zers and Millennials are feeling those nostalgic pangs is mere testimony that time is flying by, but nostalgia never really changes. It’s just the object of that nostalgia, and in some cases, there’s that anemoia-like wish to experience the era of their parents and grandparents, just as I wish to see the 1950s.
Of course, I could tell my kids all about the 60s and 70s, but maybe we’re all better off letting the marketers spin this story in their own way, because it is all happy talk in the end. No Viet Nam War, no Iranian hostage crisis, no drugs, no protests, no Three Mile Island, no cult suicides.
Play that funky music, yo, and let’s put smiles on faces. We have stuff to sell.
Dr “I’ve Got The Music In Me” Gerlich
