Weekly Column: 2017-07-14

What meaning does “memory” hold for humans? Also, how precious is that memory?

Writing the word “memories,” I fall into thought. Since there are times that I can never return to the past, memories feel more ardent and even regretful. On the other hand, they can feel beautiful because they formed what was to become my present life.

Of course, not everyone will automatically bring up a good memory, but most people have the habit of recalling good experiences when they think of the past. Even if it was a difficult experience, humans have a tendency to package memories beautifully, and this is called Mood Cela Syndrome. It’s a kind of regressive psychology in which one erases the bad memories and only remembers what one wants to. As time goes by, the bad memories fade away and only the good memories remain.

Recently, the trend of invoking these good memories in people is creating a good response in people. This is due to the increasing number of consumers who reminisce on their pasts and memories in this era where countless new products flood the market daily and trends change swiftly. No matter how new or luxurious something that is trending is when one comes upon something one hasn’t seen in a while, the familiarity and feeling of satisfaction that comes from it cannot be achieved with recent trends.

Therefore, through retrospective marketing, if we approach consumers by reinterpreting the memories of the past, we can bring out the feeling of satisfaction from the past. This is a type of emotional marketing, bringing out memories by stimulating the consumers, just as a perfume from a certain time will bring memories of the past. It might be a bit corny since a long time has passed, but many consumers already know that if something is new, it will get its own personality. It is the same concept of trends that come full circle.

Retrospective marketing’s greatest advantage is that since it has already been well-known and can induce nostalgia, by combining it with products and services and utilize the existing consumer awareness. In that way, you can bring up nostalgia and stimulate memories in your existing consumers while new consumers will be able to feel the new uniqueness of something they have never encountered before. However, there is no meaning in simply reproducing memories and nostalgia through retrospective marketing. You must assess whether this marketing will do well in this day and age and by combining these with existing memories, will it be welcomed by all consumers?

Although it may become marketing that sells memories to some if you approach consumers by infusing these memories with recent trends and add an element of mystery, wouldn’t it be able to relate to both the old and new generations and be loved by all consumers? You’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone when you use marketing that conveys the memories and nostalgia of the past to consumers and brings both generations together.