Getting Nostalgic with Comfort Marketing; Macy’s Makes a Movie

Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

Comfort Marketing...aka "using nostalgia to woo consumers during uncertain times" is one our fav topics, if only because the "times" have been particularly uncertain for a long time now, and specifically, for most of the past 10 years(!) that we've been blogging here.

If you are first time visitor, I'm a big fan of this type of advertising (go ahead, you can call it branding if you want), and the NY Times presumably piggybacked on our opining about this topic after they [coincidentally] ran on a piece on this very topic last January, immediately after we talked about it..

They're baaackkk! Courtesy of a great piece in today's NYT written by Stuart Elliott, Macy's is set to launch a TV ad campaign (and presumably, complemented by an online and a mobile-device compatible version) which "artfully co-mingles" Boy Bieber, Donald "You Can't Trump This!" Trump, Martha Stewart and Taylor Swift with clips of Edmund Gwenn aka Kris Kringle from the 1947 iconic film, "Miracle on 34th Street."

“The Macy’s campaign is indicative of a trend on Madison Avenue known as comfort marketing, using nostalgia to woo consumers during the uncertain economy. Other examples include revivals of familiar brand characters like Speedy Alka-Seltzer as well as campaigns that commemorate milestone anniversaries.”

For all of you marcom gurus and talking heads that have the attention of corporate sponsors, this is a strategy that always works well, if executed with creative thinking..

#MadMen Return Inspires Nostalgia-Style Ad campaigns

"..Nostalgic cues in advertising do indeed influence the type of thoughts consumers have during ad exposure, and that these thought processes appear to have an influence on attitudes toward the advertisement and advertised brand.."

The above excerpt is courtesy of a 2004 white paper appearing in the Journal of Advertising, and is presumably  one of many cues that the creators of the hit AMC show "Mad Men" sought to exploit when writing their first outlines for that show.  We know for a fact that the producers were particularly mindful when digesting the 1991 Miami University white paper "Use of Nostalgia in Television Advertising" with the abstract:  

Nostalgia was used by means of theme, copy, or music about 10% of the time according to a content analysis of more than a thousand commercials sampled from ABC, CBS, and NBC. Nostalgic references were to family activities or to the “olden days,” among other themes, and were most likely to be used with food and beverage commercials. The study suggests nostalgia may be especially important in a changing world because it connects us with our past.

This 'theme' in advertising is as ageless as the Coca-Cola logo, if not always used as propitiously as planned (e.g. Honda's 2012 SuperBowl ad featuring Matthew Broderick aka Ferris Bueller).

And, as TV watchers, advertising industry fans, and brand marketers are all aware, "They're baaackkk..", and the new season of Mad Men is accompanied by among other initiatives, a special edition of Newsweek Magazine populated with art-deco style ads and throw-back images and slogans, to an assortment of ad campaigns in a host of mediums courtesy of a broad spectrum of brands that seek to exploit/leverage/capitalize on an approach that touches the individual yearning for an idealized past.

The buzz words spewing from the mouths of your favorite ad strategists are flying faster than a buzz saw right now; "nostalgia", "vintage", "brand heritage" are just a few, but let's be as clear as the black and white films of yesteryear; this blogger LOVES leveraging nostalgia within brand marketing, advertising or any other tactic that captures mind share.

A good update on the state of old images and new ideas courtesy of the New York Times is right here.