Retro. Vintage. “The good ole days.” Phrases that may mean different eras or decades depending on one’s age. There is an undeniable romance of times of our childhood, or previous decades that resonate with us deeply, somehow.
Now more than ever – the concept of going back to the good old days before – way before 2020 and what led up to it – is more attractive than ever, and can be put to great, successful promotional use.
First, a nomenclature lesson. Terms get used interchangeably but have somewhat distinct meanings.
· Antiquities: Objects from any time prior to the Middle Ages. “Ancient”
· Antiques: Objects that are 100 years old or older.
· Vintage: This is somewhat tricky, as there is no time delineation. In current culture, “vintage” commonly refers to objects from the 20th mid-century through the 1980s.
· Retro: A synonym to vintage but a bit more recent. As a current example, objects and clothing from the 1990s is “retro” now.
And then there’s the rather mercurial word, “nostalgia,” which calls forth more of a feeling than a time period; it is, however, a word that is understood to mean the vague “past.” According to www.the shelf.com (“Nostalgia marketing”) – “Nostalgia works on a couple of different levels - individual, familial, community, nationally, culturally, generationally....”
For example, Baby Boomers’ nostalgia would be Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon, the hippie culture, the women’s movement. Generation X is all about childhood in the 1970s and teenage years spent in the 1980s. As you can see, “nostalgia” for each generation is different decades. Cultural references tend to be music, TV, and movies, and to a strong degree, sports.
Selling “the past” necessitates creativity but it is based on providing a bond for the recipient to have with his/her own past, and appreciate it – when this is accomplished through a logoed promotional item, the warm, strong link is created with your client. Clients that have history in business are perfect for vintage/retro. For example, any client whose history begins in the 1950s or early 1960s, can celebrate its heritage by giving either employees, or repeat customers Logomark’s Vintage Retro Bluetooth® Speaker (with and without packaging, #GC6022-P1, #GC6022, respectively).
Anything Bluetooth® today is current, modern. One of the main things this technology works with is the phone, or “telephone.” People older than 25 remember that there used to be a “landline” phone attached to a wall, or on a table. This quaint relic, or a replica, of a telephone handset can be logoed and used as a promotion by Wonderful Thinker, which offers its Handheld Retro Phone (#W2995), combining old and new technology. It can be used with the recipient’s cell phone or other Bluetooth®-enabled device. It comes in a range of colors, and would be a conversation-sparker for clients such as Realtors or any other sales/communication-oriented client.
Heritage Advertising appeals to clients looking to provide something useful in the household, economically friendly, and with a touch of nostalgia: the wooden rulers and yardsticks. For example, the company suggests, popular slogans along with your client’s name, website, and number can be:
“Best by Any Measure”
“Quality is our Rule”
“For the Competitive Edge…”
“We’re with You Every Inch of the Way!”
“Where Service Rules”
“A Small Measure of Appreciation”
If any one of your clients is going to host a retro/vintage decade-themed event, Promotions Now provides decade nostalgia candy boxes. For example, its 1960s-themed box includes: Wax Sugar Lips, Bubble Gum Cigarettes, Candy Necklace, Chuckles, Dots, Jawbreakers, Red Hots, Necco Wafers, Root Beer Barrels, Smarties, Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Roll Pops and more. Its 1970s box includes such decade favorites as Bubblicious bubble gum, Blow Pops, Banana Laffy Taffy, fun Dips, Pixy Stix, and more. Have a client that wants a younger generation that’s recently retro? The company also offers a 1990s nostalgic candy mix containing Swedish Fish, Skittles, Haribo Gummy Bears, and more.
Have fun with this category by creating your own collection – for yourself and then to share. If you don’t already, journey to flea markets, antique malls, estate sales, yard sales – and hunt for promotional products from the past. They are plentiful and speak volumes about the culture at the time. There are also crafts you can make. For example, vintage promotional rulers can be crafted into tabletops, wall art, and more.
Collecting promotional items from the past is fun – it’s a combination of the hunt, the find, and the research behind the find (for the more curious). And it of course serves as conversation starters.
It could be plastic and glass swizzle sticks, pins, tins, thimbles, bar glasses, ashtrays (used now for trinket trays), mugs, matches, thermometers, platters, trucker’s caps, band or sports memorabilia, or fellowship items such as VFW, Lion’s Club, etc. You can even choose themes to collect, for example, 1950s/1960s state tourism items, local bar items, and so much more. And when you actively collect, you can share this historical enthusiasm with your clients – and by doing so, foster a creative brainstorming session.
Perhaps you can start the conversation with – “what is the earliest memory you have of a promotional item?” One person can say, “The 1976 Philadelphia Flyers pint glass my brother got at the game,” or “My grandmother had a 1950s bridge notebook from her bank on her side table in the living room.” And on and on.
Next question: “How does this memory make you feel?” More than likely you will be met with a positive response attached to the story. At this point, you can ask, “Why not give the same thing to your client/customers, vendors, or employees?”
Any way in which you can bond with your client to walk down memory lane can be the seeds for a creative promotion that will succeed.