Reimagining a Classic: How to Gain Inspiration From Nostalgia Without Being Stuck in the Past.
Effectively leveraging nostalgia takes a level of awareness to understand not just what’s old, but what’s timeless
Nostalgia is and always has been a driving force in marketing. There’s overt, like you’re seeing a lot in advertising right now—Kid n’ Play are selling insurance, and other obscure 80s and 90s celebrities are coming out of the woodwork. Then there’s the more subliminal, which is more common in brand.
Campbell’s Soup, Canada Dry, and many others are livening up classic brands while still retaining a historical slant. Vacation is effectively leveraging nostalgia by design to deliver a new product that feels straight out of 80s Daytona Spring Break. Even the classic brands that went sans serif just a few years ago have begun resurfacing more ownable type, as well as legacy assets (Burberry).
Why now, and what’s next?
Why are these legacy organizations choosing to look like legacy organizations (or, like themselves) again as opposed to startups? To us the answer is obvious and long overdue: brands are realizing that to try and keep up with trends and best practices is an ever-evolving battle at the brand level. In this era of unending content and stuff, you have to stay true to you. You have to find your character and identify how it fits in the world at large. From there, you adapt to fit what your brand stands for given technology, medium, etc. Finding your character and staying true to it is how you will confidently navigate an uncertain future.
But effectively leveraging nostalgia takes a level of awareness to understand not just what’s old, but what’s timeless. Since rebrands are at the top of our minds as we begin 2024, we are digging deeper on the topic and specifically focusing on reimagining legacy brands. What are the effective tactics to ensure that you draw inspiration from a classic without leaving it stuck in the past?
“…effectively leveraging nostalgia takes a level of awareness to understand not just what’s old, but what’s timeless.”
Tips for reimagining a classic brand.
1. What macro factors make the time right to revitalize a legacy brand today?
2. What about the brand at its core would still be relevant today, given those macro factors?
3. How can we modernize those timeless assets without losing their character?
4. How does that character extend into things that likely didn’t exist when the brand was started?
5. Where are the opportunities to create new?
From there, there’s plenty of work left to do, but at least your foundation is set to always balance the duality of old and new, of dated vs. timeless. And that’s just good old fashioned hard work. Examine how your audience (wants, needs) have shifted, scour the whitespace (product offering as well as visual), keep it current, buid it to endure, illustration that feels inspired but current, logo marks that are optimized for the digital arena (technically sound but born from a previous era).
A legend, reimagined: Christian Moerlein
We leveraged this mindset first-hand for our recent rebrand of Christian Moerlein Brewing Company. A Cincinnati legacy brand with over 170 years of cultural relevancy, we were tasked with reviving it by going back to its roots.
We rebranded Moerlein as “The Beer That Built Cincinnati,” matching that bold tone with a full suite of revitalized (and optimized) brand marks. From there, the timeless nature of Moerlein was translated to primary packaging concepts, where we featured striking color blocking techniques that highlighted the profile of each brew. The brand has since been translated to web, merchandise, restaurant environmental, sales collateral, print and digital advertisement, semi truck wraps, and much more you will see in this folder.
So what’s the key?
What’s the key to bringing renewed energy that stays true to a classic? It’s not as simple as bringing back old elements. It takes a tactical eye for timeless relevancy, a deep understanding of the brand’s history and how it translates to an unknown future, as well as plenty of respect.
In need of some energy for a legacy brand? Reach out to us and let’s reimagine possible in 2024.