Fond memories of the “good old days” can lead to a sentimental longing for the past. Even if your audience didn’t experience a certain decade, associating your brand with it can conjure up positive feelings of simpler times. If you’re looking for ways to use nostalgic marking and retro giveaways to build your brand—and encourage your customers to buy—we have some tips that are sure to stand the test of time.
Social media throwbacks
Social media throwbacks (aka #ThrowbackThursdays or #SendBackSaturdays) are a great way to reminisce with your audience and connect them to others with shared interests. Crowdsource images of people participating in their favorite pastimes, displaying fashions from the past or even showing off their most retro appliances or furniture (like that large-print floral harvest gold and pea green sofa in the basement). Enter everyone who submits a photo into a drawing for a retro vacuum bottle. And encourage engagement by offering everyone who shares, comments or likes a chance to win a memory game.
Select categories like “ugliest furniture,” “most creative hairstyle” or “craziest outfit” and have your audience vote. The person who submitted the winning photo wins a nostalgic prize like a tie-dye collapsible bottle or rainbow pop.
Bring back the old
Revive an old logo or another branding element for a fun, nostalgic marketing campaign. Put your retro logo on a translucent yo-yo and offer one free with purchase. Bring back old colors, shapes and textures too. For instance, use brown paper bags with retro fonts for your packaging. Give a retro duffel bag to the first 50 people who make an in-store purchase. Or send The Saturday Evening Post Norman Rockwell calendar with each online order. This paper calendar is filled with detailed, lifelike drawings from simpler times.
Blast-from-the-past events
Give your audience and staff an experience they won’t soon forget with an event that transports them back in time. Pick a decade and host a themed client or employee appreciation party. Invite guests to dress up—from 50s poodle skirts to 70s bell bottoms—and decorate with glitter rocket lamps. At the end of the night, raffle off the lamps. Play background music from the times to really get people in the mood. And provide a buffet of retro dishes from fondue to gelatin salads.
Don’t let attendees go home empty-handed. Nostalgic candies like Tootsie Rolls® will provide people with a great taste of your brand. And fun multi-color pens will have them feeling like little kids again.
Trips down memory lane
Gather old photos of employees, your office or your community and post in-store or on your website. Encourage participation by giving retro tie-dye sunglasses to everyone who shares a photo.
Ask staff to submit baby pictures and have everyone guess who’s who—customers can even get involved. Reward the person who has the most correct guesses with a premium retro gift. The vintage woodgrain wireless speaker looks just like a mini retro stereo but plays modern music without a single wire. Enter everyone who contributes into a prize drawing for a throwback rucksack backpack. This retro giveaway will leave a lasting impression whether they carry it to work or on the trail.
Or choose a contemporary product with a retro twist for your next sales giveaway. The nostalgic mug is a useful retro giveaway that makes a great leave-behind. Customers and prospects can use it every morning and be reminded of the good old days—and your brand.
Nostalgic marketing with retro giveaways
With ideas like social media throwbacks, blast-from-the-past events and using nostalgic gifts in your marketing, it’s easy to associate your brand with warm feelings from decades past.