Monday, April 19, 2010

Nostalgia Advertising Wins the Hearts and Minds of Millennials

Why do Millennials have an inherent disdain for advertising delivered through traditional media (television commercials, print advertising, product placement in film, etc...)? As digital advertising struggles to standardize and find new ways to annoy us, I've noticed a trend towards nostalgia that seems to open Millennials' wallets faster than Apple stores on release day.

Verizon's Big Red campaign channels the familiar chewing gum jingle for cheap laughs and big bucks.

It may simply be that the only advertising Millennials respond to is from the time when there was no internet or Tivo; the glory days when advertisers could literally sear a message into impressionable brains by simply running ads over and over again (things aren't so simple anymore).

The eyes are clearly on the content - do you Millennials out there feel particularly drawn to advertisers who have jumped on the nostalgia bandwagon (either by running their own nostalgia based ads or advertising on nostalgia based sites)?

Nick Kinports (@ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive world for over 9 years, and helps the Fortune 100 identify unmet consumer needs, create ideas to fill those needs, and bring them into market. He currently works at Maddock Douglas.

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