Nostalgia as a business strategy

 
Choi Sun-wha
 
The author is a professor of international business at Dongduk Women’s University. 
 
As Microsoft marks its 50th anniversary in 2025, the tech giant is celebrating its storied past while offering a vision of the AI-driven future through a series of commemorative events. Last month, it released a special set of desktop wallpapers featuring the retro designs of classic products such as Solitaire, Word, and Excel — evoking a wave of fond nostalgia for what some described as “tacky, but delightfully familiar.” The evolution of Windows wallpapers and startup sounds also captured attention, with many expressing particular affection for the vast green fields of Windows XP and its iconic chime. Now in their third decade, Facebook and YouTube, once revolutionary platforms, have also become repositories of shared memories between tech firms and their users.
 
Nostalgia, often described as “bittersweet,” is a complex emotional response that has become increasingly central to marketing in this era of rapid change. The mobility industry, now undergoing a major transition, has embraced the trend by reimagining vintage models with futuristic flair. Stellantis and Volkswagen, for instance, have revived the Fiat 500 and the Microbus — icons of 1950s culture — as electric vehicles. Ford recently brought back the Capri, a symbol of the muscle car era, with an ad campaign proclaiming, “The legend returns.”
 

Special set of desktop wallpapers featuring the retro designs of classic products. [MICROSOFT]

 
Nestlé and the long game in Japan
 
Brands with long histories often become objects of affection, linked to a shared past with customers. Their survival over time suggests accumulated expertise, inspiring trust. For this reason, heritage has become a key branding strategy. Heinz and Jinro Soju proudly mark their packaging with “EST. 1869” and “Since 1924,” respectively. Outdoor label Eddie Bauer retained “EST. 1920” in its simplified logo introduced in 2023, mindful of millennial consumers’ appreciation for tradition. The brand also spotlighted its World War II-era legacy as the first to patent and supply goose-down jackets to the U.S. military.
 
Cultural anthropologist Clotaire Rapaille underscores the importance of childhood experiences, arguing that early memories shape lifelong consumer behavior. When Nestlé struggled to gain a foothold in Japan’s tea-dominated market in the 1970s, Rapaille offered a radical solution: abandon attempts to market coffee to adults and instead target children with coffee-scented chocolate, cultivating future coffee drinkers. The strategy required patience, but paid off a decade later. A generation raised on coffee-flavored KitKat bars grew into a robust market, and Nescafé became the dominant brand in Japan’s coffee industry.
 

Morton Salt packaging changes over the century. [MORTON SALT]

 
Disney bets on cruises
 
Consumers often show an uncritical affection — and a willingness to pay premium prices — for products and services that evoke nostalgia. Disney, with its vast universe of stories and characters, has made the cruise business a core part of its future, pledging $12 billion in investment during the next decade. Its themed cruise lines — Magic, Dream and Adventure — cater to families, honeymooners and other travelers, with global routes expanding steadily. Despite being more expensive than its competitors, more than 80 percent of Disney Cruise guests say they plan to return, a testament to the brand’s emotional pull.
 
Even in commodity markets where differentiation is difficult, companies can avoid price wars by forging strong emotional ties with customers. Founded in 1889, Morton Salt became a household name with its iconic packaging featuring a girl holding an umbrella — a design first introduced in 1914. The enduring slogan, “When it rains, it pours,” originally a reference to the product’s ability to stay free-flowing in humid weather, evolved into a popular idiom implying that misfortunes often come all at once. The girl’s subtly changing appearance over the decades has made her a collector’s favorite, appearing on posters, mugs and other vintage goods.
 
Korean youth interest in brand legacies
 
Nostalgia is generally more influential in developed markets than in emerging ones. A study by Martin Heinberg, a professor at the University of Leeds, compared Chinese and Japanese consumers and found that nostalgia marketing was significantly more effective in the latter. In rapidly growing markets, consumers are more future-oriented, whereas in mature economies, they often look back longingly to earlier, happier times. 
 
Young Koreans, having grown up in a developed country, now hold high expectations for Korean companies and show growing interest in their brand histories. In a marketplace saturated with new products, they often gravitate toward familiar and proven brands. Amid economic and social uncertainty, the desire to revisit the past in search of comfort and stability only grows stronger. Far from being a fleeting marketing tactic, nostalgia is emerging as a foundational asset — linking past and future, consumer and brand, while expanding the long-term potential for corporate growth. 
 
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.