Axios Event: Consumers are craving nostalgia, and brands are serving it up

CANNES, France – Brand leaders are using cultural nostalgia as a way to connect with audiences, they told Axios at a roundtable discussion event on June 18 at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Why it matters: Marketing campaigns that evoke feelings of nostalgia appeal to consumers' emotions, which can be a successful marketing tactic.

Axios' Eleanor Hawkins moderated the June 18 discussion, sponsored by Yahoo.

The big picture: Nostalgia is a growing trend among consumers, especially younger age groups who've heard stories about past eras.

• "I think that early 2000s vibe in fashion is so relevant right now. … People want to feel something, they want to feel connected to something, I think, bigger than them," said Emily Marcus, founder and CEO of Emily Blair Media.

What they're saying: "This recipe around nostalgia for us really starts with a data-backed instinct and a consumer trend we want to tap into, and then figuring out how to build a campaign or a product in a way that drives the business in a very authentic way and adds value to the consumer," said Dani Dudeck, Instacart chief corporate affairs officer.

• Dudeck highlighted recent Instacart ad campaigns centered around nostalgia – a Super Bowl campaign highlighting iconic mascots like Kool-Aid man and Pillsbury Doughboy, and the "Summer Like It's 1999" campaign for consumers to "shop your summer favorites like it's 1999 prices."

The bottom line: The effectiveness of nostalgia in consumer marketing is all about the emotion it creates, attendees said.

• "That creates a connection point, and I think that's why nostalgia does really well, and we're finding that it's not just about millennials … even Gen Z, they're craving [nostalgia]," said Betches CEO and co-founder Aleen Dreksler.
• "The essence of Goodles is nostalgia, these warm feelings to a time gone by," said Paul Earle, co-founder of mac and cheese company Goodles. "Everything we do is really designed to leverage nostalgia and emotion and those powerful feelings."
• Consumers are ultimately yearning for comfort and connection with other people, Uber Advertising global head of measurement science Edwin Wong said.