Ohhh The Memories...

So before Christmas, a new term was introduced to us.. Nostalgia.  Yep your probably thinking the same thing as me, that's a funny word.  But after it was explained it's actually not a funny word at all, but more of a happy word, that fits into everyday life without even realising it.

There are a few terms for Nostalgia they include:

• Dictionary.com describes it as "a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time."
• "a mixed feeling of happiness, sadness and longing recalling a person, place or event from the past, or the past in general." (mediadictionary, 2011).
• "a bittersweet emotion where we view the past with both sadness and longing." (Solomon et al, 2010). 

So basically nostalgia means memories of the past that individuals have, they are usually happy but some can be of sadness and longing. Nostalgia is different to every individual as people will have unique and diverse memories.

Take for example my memories compared to my parents.  During the lecture we all created a Nostalgia mood board, mine included things such as: the power puff girls, Sabrina the Teenage witch, two of a kind, the Spice Girls, S Club 7, Magic Stars, tamogotchi and barbies.  These were all common within my childhood.  However I asked my parents the same question and what memories they have. Things they described included; big leather jackets, soldier soldier, etchasketch, The Jackson Five, the Brady bunch and sweet tobacco (yes that is a sweet). When asking about the past I saw how my parents seemed very happy about talking about it, they kept referring to each other and saying "do you remember...." whilst I was sitting there with no idea what they were talking about.  This was similar to what happened in the lecture, when we were asked to discuss a few things from childhood everyone started expressing different aspects and yes a huge majority of them we all remembered.  From someone born in the 90's, I look at the things my parents used to enjoy and think how different things have changed within just half a century.

Toys, games and technology have changed significantly throughout the years going from a simple amusement like a slinky to a more powerful gaming experience like the PlayStation 3. Here is a little game for you to see how many retro top selling toys you actually know:

http://www.sporcle.com/games/cwright/best_selling_toys. 

This link is also good for looking at how toys have changed through time.

Marketers and advertisers use people's nostalgia as an advantage for them.  They use nostalgic themes so that consumers can link the happiness and good feeling they had previously to a product which they are trying to sell.  This increases the chance of a consumer purchasing the product so that they can 're-live' that moment.  Using nostalgic adverts within marketing campaigns also means that a person already has a perception of the product, they know what it is and the chances are they like it.  This also leads to more purchases of the item.  I personally have done this with many items; a slinky, Pokemon cards, yo-yo's,  I've purchased these items, well for the fact that they were in my childhood and brought back fond memories, not necessarily because I need them.  This is what marketers hope will happen and lets be honest they do it very well.

Marketers will use the five senses to appeal to Nostalgia.  Music, images, smells, touch and taste can all act as a memory trigger.  A song that was well known in the 80's will provide memories for those born near that era, images of old iconic fashions will trigger individual memories for people who owned those items, smells of parent or grandparent perfumes will appeal to childhood memories, tastes in food, sweets and drink may also create references to the past for people who ate/drank the different things and maybe liked or disliked it.  Finally touch of a fabric or similar can provoke a memory for an individual due to them remembering it from their childhood.  Marketers use these sensory branding with nostalgic adverts as it creates a greater emotional tie between the consumer and the product.  It allows the consumer to gather an instinctive feeling about it as they already have had a past experience.

Examples of nostalgic adverts are:

http://www.popular-nostalgia.com/toys-r-us-magical-place-song-1168/ This is a link for the Toys R Us advert which was shown in the 1980's.  They have brought back the same theme tune "Magical Place" in the adverts which appear today.  This creates a musical nostalgic for many people who remember Toys R Us when they were young.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4tFzuFGUOI This is a link for the Hovis advert which has been shown within the last year.  The advert itself includes contents of all different time periods, such as; World War 2, when England one the World Cup and the millennium.  This is a very clever advert as it appeals to every generation, due to each individual remembering each time period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydLs2miJP-c&feature=related  This is a link for the Milky Way advert this was first premiered in the 1980's but was re premiered recently.  This is a very good example of nostalgic advertising as it helps bring back memories for the older generation, but also younger children will also enjoy it.

Retro products are becoming increasingly popular nowadays whether it is a 'retro kettle' or a 'retro dress'  marketers and businesses have realised that nostalgic products are popular within society. They have discovered that people in fact do like triggers from their pasts and more likely to buy something that they remember in a happy era.  Retro sweet shops are becoming increasingly popular, even within The Eden Centre in High Wycombe they have opened up a retro sweet shop.  This type of shop does not just appeal to a young generation who frankly just like the shop because it has sweets in, but also appeals to the older generation who can identify each sweet from their childhood.  I  have discovered how fashion is also nostalgic, I have lost count the amount of times my mum has said to me, "I had a similar dress to that when I was your age" or "that came out when I was young."  This just shows how even after technology improvements and advances in all different aspects of life people still prefer the simple life, interests and tastes are similar and when something is good previously why not bring it back and try it again? All different types of businesses know and use this.  A good example of a business who does this is Sony who produces retro games for the PlayStation 3. They use similar and the same characters for different games as they know people are more likely to buy them because they remember them from when they were young.  Good examples of these are; Crash Bandicoot and Sonic the Hedgehog, the graphics and controls  may have changed but the characters and the game play will most likely be the same. 

So when grandparents or even parents say "it was better in my day," it is not necessarily true, it is just due to them having Nostalgia, good and very fond memories of the past.

So What Memories Of Childhood Do You Have?