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LBB: Nostalgia’s 20/20. Is It Time to Stop Looking Backwards?

Amid the constant churn of new campaigns, product launches and brand platforms, a different pattern is emerging: a resurgence of the old. Brands are tapping into nostalgic sentiment and their own histories to forge deeper emotional connections.

From Coca-Cola’s revival of ‘Share a Coke’to Hovis leaning on faded billboards to reinforce its heritage, nostalgia is being used to signal authenticity and cultural relevance.

But is this about comfort in uncertain times, or a convenient creative shortcut? And where does that leave innovation?

To unpack the power and pitfalls of nostalgia, an array of creative minds from across the globe and industry shared their thoughts with LBB, including Wonder's very own Head of Strategy, Jonathan Izzard. 

Nostalgia is all relative. “At a macro level certain things resonate across the board, but even those are skewed, either generationally or geographically. Then you get into the minutia of memories: identical moments might be spine-tingling for one person but shudder-inducing for another. It’s no one thing. And whilst nostalgia is a notion to which everyone can in some way relate, we’re also all a product of the road we’ve individually travelled.”

Therefore, the value of nostalgia for Jonathan boils down to three things: legitimacy, originality and delivery. “The few brands that have a credible cross-generational connection (the likes of Heinz, Nike, McDonald’s, Nintendo and more) tend to leverage nostalgia authentically, if perhaps, at times, rather liberally,” he says. “For the rest of the world, I personally don’t mind a brand leaning into this territory as long as the insight is solid and the creative’s strong.”

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