When Brands Refuse to Die: the power of nostalgia marketing
Olajumoke Ola
Polymath| Design, Branding & Marketing, Analytics, Project Management, Business Strategy | Personal Development Enthusiast
Have you ever woken up from slumber one day and realized that certain brands have been gone for a while?
“What? Have I been in coma? When did XYZ brand disappear from the market? What went wrong?”
Sometimes no one really comes out to tell us why. No one comes out to answer these questions. That brand that has somehow been integrated with our lives, that has become part of our stories is gone and we feel helpless about it.
However not all brands mysteriously or silently disappear. Some die off amidst some massive brand crises or scandal like this one. Some come out to declare bankruptcy and then that ends the journey.
“Goodbye to XYZ brand. Till we meet again in my dreams :(”
And sometimes, these brands just take our ever unstable, growing needs and preferences, including technological advancement for granted; a competitor launches a major missile (a market share-grabbing product/service) and then they die.
However, there are times when a miracle happens and behold our favorite (dead) brand gets a resurrection. It is back in our lives again! Now, how in the world does that happen?
Brands that Died…
—?Nokia
Let’s take a trip down memory lane, back to the time when an “unbreakable (durable) phone” (aka o jabo ko fo in Yoruba Language) with a battery that could last for 10 days on standby mode was king.
In the days of technological innocence, the Nokia 3310 ruled the world of mobile phones with over 126 million units sold across the globe...
?
In the early 2000s, Nokia was king of the mobile world and everyone paid homage to its rulership. Other?phone models by the brand **insert your favorites** had their successes and for a time it seemed like Nokia was here to stay.
But customer loyalty really didn’t exist in the world of technology. It's either you join them, you are ahead of them or you get beaten. And that was exactly what befell the beloved Nokia. It failed to evolve with the advancement in the mobile operating system (OS) technology and got beaten big time by smart brands like Apple and Google with the iOS (formerly called iPhone OS) and the Android OS respectively.
Microsoft strolled in and attempted to save the brand with its Windows mobile OS but even that didn’t hold the powers. The acquisition of the Nokia mobile brand by Microsoft in 2014 was more like the official announcement of the brand’s demise in the world of smart phones.
Eventually the king got ousted from its throne with Apple and its shiny iPhone + iOS taking over!
— Arthur Anderson
Founded by Arthur E. Andersen and his partner Clarence DeLany in 1913, Arthur Andersen was one of the five biggest accounting, auditing and consulting firms in the world (alongside Deloitte, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), EY (Ernst and Young) and KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler))
It thrived on its reputation of integrity and steadfastness in upholding high accounting standards and ethics as lay down by its founder from a humble background- Arthur E. Andersen- until a massive scandal that brought down one of its biggest clients- Enron (the energy giant) - in 2001 sent it six feet under the ground.
The Arthur Andersen brand that had grown from nothing to one that experienced decades of success and prosperity was no more, rendering its 85,000 employees across the globe jobless.
—?Volkswagen Beetle
This brand sends some old skool chills down the spines of the Beetle fanatics of the 20th century. If you didn’t drive one, your dad/ mum did, your uncle did, your grand dad did, someone in your family’s generation probably did!
Loved for its simplicity, reliability, fuel economization, and unique design, the Volkswagen Beetle (aka ijapa in my local dialect) was ranked 4th on the list of most influential cars of the 20th century in the 1999 Car of the Century competition.
The first set of Volkswagen (VW) Beetles were produced in 1938 in Germany just before the 1939 World War II and continued after the war in 1945. Over 15 million units were produced within 65 years (1938-1979) of the old Beetle’s existence.
However, sales began to drop significantly due to competition from more sophisticated and modern designs in the automobile industry and in 1979, the US and Canada saw the last of the old Volkswagen Beetle. Subsequently, production of the old VW Beetle ended in Germany but continued in Mexico until 2003 after hitting 21 million units, marking the end of production of the iconic car.
Now, one would have thought they’ve hit their “final end” but Nokia, Arthur Andersen and Volkswagen Beetle are typical examples of brands that died…
… And Got Resurrected
Something about brands that have once experienced success with market share, customer loyalty and brand equity: people will never forget the good times.
Memories can be powerful: you remember the good times in an old relationship and suddenly you want it back, ignoring the not-so-good times that also came along. This is how dead brands get a comeback into our lives. They latch onto the good memories we have of them and then use that as a stepping stone to win our share of mind and wallet once again.
And that was the game plan in…
The Nokia Mobile Revival
On the?1st of December 2016, a Finnish company, HMD Global began operation after acquiring the exclusive rights/ license to the Nokia mobile brand from Microsoft who still had the rights it acquired from Nokia?(the company) in 2014. This company, composed largely of former Nokia employees, set out on a mission to revive the Nokia mobile brand.
However, HMD Global was not alone; it went into partnership with Foxconn Technologies, the renowned manufacturers of the kingly iPhone to launch Nokia mobile back into the game of smart phones, tablets and other mobile technologies. And then it was time to play on the consumers’ happy memories of the much beloved Nokia brand.
In February 2017, the Mobile World Congress (MWC)?in Barcelona got a show-stopping announcement:
“The iconic Nokia 3310 is back!”
HMD Global announced the official awakening of the brand including an introduction of new Nokia smart phones powered on the Android OS.
The Nokia 3310, back and better with 2G (and?3G) network, color display, 2MP camera and other improvements, got sold out as soon as it hit the market. Demand for the iconic phone was way more than its supply, even Vodafone had to restock!
Now pause.
“What just happened?”
HMD Global used old customers’ fond memories of the Nokia 3310- aka nostalgia marketing - to launch the brand’s comeback.
“Please, come forth and tell me of a smarter way to run this show!”
At the moment, the brand is pushing its Android OS smart phones (Nokia 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8, with 9 already in the works) into the market with about 1.5 million smart phones already sold as at 2nd quarter 2017- less than six months after launch (spot the power of nostalgia marketing!). The brand is climbing its way back into the game and hopefully right back to the top where it once was.
The Volkswagen Beetle Awakening and Re-Awakening
As it appears, even Volkswagen couldn’t get over the iconic Beetle. The car got its first major redesign and in 1998, a new Volkswagen (VW) Beetle hit the market.
It had its engine at the front unlike its predecessor with a rear (back) engine, and a modern, more sophisticated design (cute enough to wow your little cousins). However in 2010, Volkswagen produced the “Ultima (final) edition” of the new VW Beetle, the brand was killed a second time (still not the “final end”?) and then in 2012, just two years after ending production, the VW Beetle was brought back to life… again!
Arthur Andersen arises from the dead as Andersen Tax
You see, customers aren’t the only ones that experience nostalgia or miss the good ol’ (old) days. Even employees do as well!
?
In 2014, the Arthur Andersen brand got resurrected with the name Andersen Tax by 23 former Arthur Andersen partners who had come together initially as WTAS (Wealth and Tax Advisory Services) just after the fall of the great firm in 2002. But then we all know that their reasons for bringing back the brand goes way beyond nostalgia; there’s a more profitable reason…
Why Resurrect a Dead Brand?
—Brand equity
Brand equity is the power or value of a brand in the minds of its customers/ audience and other stake holders. It is built by consistently delivering positive brand experiences that appeal to the target market or audience.
A brand that has great brand equity is well known, has a strong (positive) reputation, high customer loyalty which results into huge sales and long term profits.
Brands die for various reasons but even while the product/ service is dead, a brand that had high equity before death usually still lives on in the memories of its old customers and other stakeholders therefore, bringing it back to life reduces marketing spend, time and other efforts on building brand equity i.e. getting the brand to be known, remembered, trusted?and patronized by target customers which would have been a?challenge for a new brand.
"Resurrecting a dead brand reduces the time and money it would cost to have customers recognize and reckon with the brand, develop affinity or emotional connection with the brand and eventually develop brand loyalty that drives the brand’s success in the marketplace."
HMD Global didn’t need a huge marketing budget to launch Nokia mobile’s comeback compared to what it would have cost a new brand to launch into the market. The announcement of the Nokia 3310’s comeback at MWC was a fantastic marketing strategy for the brand.
HMD Global knew the 3310 model was one of the most memorable and widely purchased Nokia product lines, it knew how much equity the 3310 had and then went ahead to use that to create the much needed media attention and buzz.
And in marketing, it’s all about the hype. When a brand gets hyped it not only receives more attention from old customers, it also attracts attention of new potential customers. The nostalgic moments celebrated by the brand’s fanatics tend to draw attention and produce interest in new customers leading to increase in sales and market share.
The iconic past of these brands- Nokia, Volkswagen Beetle and Arthur Andersen- are still being used today, in marketing campaigns for the brands (nostalgia marketing) to remind customers of the journey so far and to keep customer loyalty intact.
What’s the fate of Resurrected Brands?
—Nokia
The world of technology has been changing at a rather fast pace and competition is even more intense. Nokia used to be a market leader in its peak days and the expectations from its fanatics haven’t gotten any lighter.
The brand already has high expectations from consumers and it would be a shame to have it struggle again in this generation of smart phones and mobile technology. Therefore, it would be only wise to adopt a rather customer centric approach, to tighten its customer loyalty by developing solutions that are truly meaningful to its customers, solutions that will help customers achieve more and be better off rather than simply chasing blindly, a dream to reclaim top spot it used to have in the past.
—Andersen Tax
Life is getting a lot simpler with the advancement in technology we have today.
—Volkswagen Beetle
?“Who still drives a VW Beetle? Will my grandchildren drive a Volkswagen Beetle too?”
This Brand has definitely got its own niche that has stayed loyal over the years. It has shown resilience and has managed to maintain its appeal in the automobile industry for generations upon generations (since the Hitler days!) however, for how much longer?
I have seen speculations about the VW Beetle joining the technological trend of electric cars (way to go?).
Well, what’s your take on these brands? Where do you see them going in this age where competition is even stronger and customer demands/ expectations are even higher? What’s your opinion about nostalgia marketing?
?
Short Bio?
My name is Olajumoke Ola. I have a curious mind and I usually express that through my (endless) questions and research.
What you have just read is my first (official) article on brands, brand strategy and marketing. You can follow or get connected for more posts on the segment.
By reading and sharing your thoughts, you become a part of my journey… welcome aboard! :)