Jordan Ogren

April 29, 2021

Nostalgia and marketing DO NOT go together.

Every now and then, I let myself slip.

I turn on some Netflix and watch the Rugrats movie. The nostalgia sinks in, and I'm back.

Back in the past, when life seemed simple and peaceful. 

Nowadays, I struggle to feel peace. (Sorry, I forgot that I'm not emailing my psychiatrist)

While I enjoy my brief escape, it's not something I do routinely.

Why?

Because I see nostalgia as a trap.

We romanticize it at the expense of the future.

Example: We think the past was a much happier and simpler time. That's not true. 

And thinking that veils the peace and happiness present right now.

We cannot access it because of our mindset that today will never beat that day in the past.

What does this have to do with marketing?

Everything.

Think about the people who can't give up newspaper ads.
Think about those stupid ads that get syrup all over them at local diners.
Think about people running TV ads.

The failure to let the past go is a contributing factor in why most marketing sucks.

Both in the macro, as discussed above, and in the micro (i.e., We have always done a newsletter, and we aren't changing that now).

Nostalgia kills growth and inhibits evolution.

And right now, marketing is evolving at an unseen rate, making the consequences for not changing even more severe.

It's great to remember the past. It's even better to appreciate it.

But letting it cripple you from advancing is not good.

To keep going—improving and growing your marketing—you must let it go.

What got you here, will not get you there.

🧠 // JO