When what was once old is suddenly new again

Tim Burrowes

May 18, 2010 9:11

Marketers do love using nostalgia in their advertising to breath new life into old brands.

And who could blame them. It obviously works for some.

On Sunday we saw the return of Smith’s loveable alien the Gobbledok on TV.

It followed the return of Pantene’s brand ambassador Rachel Hunter and its old tagline “It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen” first used in 1992.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.

Topics

Advertising Gobbledok Smith's

4 COMMENTS

Someone 18 May 10

Well done to all of these. There is a time when communications becomes part of the equity of the brand. So if its an equity (i.e. it has value) why not use it.

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Heather 18 May 10

They’ve also started re-running those Chicken Tonight ads, it’s not even a reboot just the same crappy old 90s ad with the stomach-churning product shots of congealed chicken casserole. I thought MasterChef was turning us into a nation of gore-mets, but maybe not…

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Mel Campbell 18 May 10

I wrote about the marketing of consumer nostalgia last year re: the Barney Banana reboot.

Why come up with a new ad and whip up ‘viral’ activity around it, when you can tap into an existing well of consumer goodwill surrounding your old ads?

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