This is Contagious

The Industrial Nostalgia Complex: how brands can profit from the past

Episode Summary

Nostalgia. Cultural déjà vu. Kidulting. Why are so many people desperate to escape the present? In this episode, Contagious investigates everything from why adults are rebuilding their teenage bedrooms, to landlines for kids and the return of the iPod, and revealing why the past has become one of culture’s most powerful refuges.

Episode Notes

Nostalgia. Cultural déjà vu. Kidulting. Why are so many people desperate to escape the present? In this episode, Contagious investigates everything from why adults are rebuilding their teenage bedrooms, to landlines for kids and the return of the iPod, and revealing why the past has become one of culture’s most powerful refuges.

Along the way, we unpack Happy Meals for adults, the psychology of anemoia, and why brands are increasingly selling comfort, tactility and emotional safety.

We’ll explain:

• Why the past is haunting the present and how it stops us imagining the future
• The data and drivers behind the analogue tech comeback
• Why the nostalgia cycle is shortening
• How a sunscreen brand has created a sensory portal back to the 1980s
• Why Gen Z feels nostalgic for decades they never experienced
• How the Proust effect works and why it’s slightly more disgusting than you assumed
• Why the Prime Minister of Canada might be wrong about strategy