If last year’s social media creative trend was sensory marketing (catch up here if you missed it), then 2025 belongs to nostalgia.
In fact, nostalgia is touted as a trend that’s never-ending; a strategy that when executed well performs again and again.
Nostalgia marketing offers creative storytelling on steroids, tapping into consumers’ core memories, milestones and life events, touching on emotional nerves to establish a connection to brands.
The toys, films, games, snacks, and TV shows that people loved as children or teens are deeply emotive and resonant when seen in marketing campaigns and product releases. It feels comforting and familiar, is instantly shareable among group chats, and has strong viral potential across platforms.
This nostalgia taps into another key trend of the last couple of years. The ‘kidult’ movement brings uninhibited joy back to adults, encouraging them to lean into toys and games no matter their age, offering a sense of play and enjoyment through cuteness and collectibles. Of course, we’ve seen the likes of Lababu take off and contribute to this trend recently.
Another benefit of nostalgia marketing is its universal appeal: nostalgia is felt widely across generations, with people young and old referencing each other’s cultural moments as inspiration.
Nostalgia has tapped into content production too, with analogue formats like VCRs, camcorders, early digital cameras (shout out to the Canon G7X girlies), and flip phones all becoming hyper familiar in not just social media content but broader campaigns and product development.
Here’s a round-up of some of the best nostalgia marketing campaigns:
McDonald’s: who didn’t have a McDonald’s birthday party, or at least attend one, when they were a kid? Seeing the vintage mascots like Grimace and the Hamburglar evoke such strong ties to childhood for many, and bringing them back as faces of campaigns and menu items is a genius move to connect emotionally with those memories.
Kylie Cosmetics: the King Kylie era of 2016 was MAJOR, and we’ve seen TikTok trends reminiscing on 2016’s cultural moments as a peak time. Something must have clicked for Kylie Jenner and her team who have just re-launched the King Kylie aesthetic – think her iconic blue hair, bold brows, and *those* sell-out lip kits – with a new collection almost a decade later. The real throwback to 2016. Snapchat. Jenner teased and dropped the first looks on the app that she prolifically used back when it all started.
Bubly: Bubly, or Bublé if you can’t not call it that (IYKYK), just brought us back to 2008 with their new apple flavoured sparkling water, using the Flo Rida song ‘Low’ with the lyric “apple bottom jeans” directly referencing their new flavour. The campaign creative? Lots of denim (a nod to those jeans again), and calling it “limited Y2K drop”… which may be slightly incorrect but we’ll look past it.
Lancôme: makeup obsessives were crushed when Juicy Tubes, Lancôme’s iconic lip gloss from 2000, was discontinued in 2018. Celebrating the 25-year anniversary of the product, Lancôme launched a campaign this year featuring immediately notable 2000s and 2010s faces, including Ed Westwick reprising his role as Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl, and Paris Hilton with a subtle nod to her penchant for a Juicy Couture tracksuit.
Let us know your favourite nostalgia marketing campaigns – we’d love to see them!
