The Wall Street Journal
Advertisers use iconic images to attract seniors
BOYNTON BEACH, FLA.—In recent weeks, the Beatles, Gene Kelly and a dog named Lassie have been spotted at Flakowitz, a popular deli here.
There's usually a long line of customers, mostly senior citizens, waiting for tables. And lately, they've been passing time by leafing through a glossy new magazine stacked by the entrance. The free publication, titled Nostalgic America, matches iconic images with local advertisements aimed at seniors.
And so the Beatles' 1964 appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" is being used to pitch a long-term-care facility, Gene Kelly's 1952 rendition of "Singin' in the Rain" is paired with a company selling "final-expense insurance," and the 1955 audition of dogs vying for the role of Lassie is being used to bring attention to a home-care agency specializing in "hygiene supervision" and "medication reminders."
It may give us pause that people's memories of the Beatles are now being tapped to bring attention to a facility that offers "memory support" facilities and a locked Alzheimer's wing. But from a marketing standpoint, it makes sense.
As we age and our nostalgic yearnings swell, we become more receptive to advertisers, marketers, politicians and entertainers who make use of what researchers call "a longing for positive memories from the past." The science of nostalgia isn't yet fully understood, but studies have been identifying the nostalgic cues that can be exploited and the ways in which images from the past can yield favorable attitudes about products in the present.
For instance, people tend to most prefer musical recordings that were released when they were teenagers or young adults, with their interest peaking at about 23½ years of age, according to studies by researchers at Columbia University and Rutgers University. Those who were 23½ on Feb. 9, 1964, when the Beatles appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show," will be turning 70 this year. That places them in the right demographic for Classic Residence by Hyatt at Lakeside Village, the facility that shared Nostalgic America's cover last month with the Beatles.
Beatles photos, along with images of Wilt Chamberlain, Elvis Presley, Johnny Carson and others, are also used in a Classic Residence program called "The American Century," which serves residents in the memory-support and assisted-living facilities. The program takes residents through the decades of their lives, celebrating each era with food, music and pop-culture references popular at the time. Many suffer from dementia and have little short-term memory.
"They might not remember what they had for lunch, but they can sing along with Sinatra and know all the words," says Barbara Kelley, director of sales at the Lakeside Village Classic Residence, which has about 400 residents ages 70 to 100.
The music, cars and movies you identify with when you're young stick with you the rest of your life, say David Sprott and Darrel Muehling, researchers at Washington State University who study the marketing of nostalgia. While women may be slightly more nostalgia-prone than men, both sexes have a tendency to remember the past positively. "Most of us view ourselves as good, moral, competent people," says Dr. Sprott. "Memories of our past go in that direction, too. Negative details fade away."
The two researchers have found that nostalgia becomes especially potent during holidays, when people are more focused on family memories, and in uncertain times, such as wars, recessions or cultural upheaval. Moments of transition—retirement, job loss, graduations—also heighten nostalgic feelings.
For marketers, the key is finding the right music or images. It's not even necessary for a song or cultural reference to directly relate to their products, as long as warm feelings are stirred inside us. "The emotions generated from that good feeling then influences people's evaluation of the products," says Dr. Sprott.
Sandals Resorts is now using the song "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" in commercials for its romantic vacation destinations in the Caribbean. The song, recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, was made famous in the 1987 movie "Dirty Dancing," and as nostalgia, it does double duty, because the movie itself was set in 1963. So the song conjures up memories of both the 1980s and the 1960s. People who were in their 20s in 1963 are now in their 60s and 70s. Those in their 20s in 1987 are now in their 40s and 50s. Both age groups are key demographics for Sandals.
This month, Chubby Checker was tapped to promote the Social Security Administration. A promotional video begins in black and white, showing him doing the twist with young dancers in early 1960s clothing. As the dancers fade into the background, Mr. Checker's image brightens into color, while he says, "A new twist in the law makes it easier than ever to save on your Medicare prescription drug-plan costs."
Using nostalgia to reach both young and old consumers simultaneously can be difficult, but Coleman Co. is attempting to do just that. The company—which sells tents, lanterns and other camping gear—is now billing "the Coleman Campsite" as "the original social-networking site."
To create the campaign, Coleman asked its customers to send in home movies of their camping adventures from decades ago. The footage was then used in commercials, print ads and online marketing.
Like Facebook, old-style camping is all about "connecting and sharing," the ads explain. "The only difference between a campsite and a social-networking site is one you do online and the other you do when you don't want to shower for a few days."
Such a campaign has its risks. "The more you reinforce nostalgia, the more you risk alienating the younger generation," says Jeff Willard, Coleman's senior vice president of marketing. But his company thought the gamble was worth taking.
"We're in the entertainment business," he says. "Our competition is Xbox and Guitar Hero. We're also in the memory business. We're selling experiences that lead to lasting memories. So we were looking for a way to keep our nostalgic brand and heritage while connecting us with a new generation."
Even when people are fully aware that they're being wooed with nostalgia, they often embrace the effort. Howard Silver, a 79-year-old retired health-care executive who lives in Boynton Beach, picks up Nostalgic America at his local supermarket and saves each issue. He doesn't mind that images from his free-spirited youth are now being paired with ads reminding him that the road ahead may be short.
"The pictures bring a smile to your face and bring back good memories," he says. "The ads underneath the pictures bring you back to reality. But that's OK, because we have to live in reality. I lost three friends suddenly in the last year. I had a six-way heart bypass two years ago."
If Nostalgic America's experiment in South Florida is successful—matching iconic images with local advertising—it plans to publish editions in other key retirement locations, including Arizona and South Carolina. The Florida-based publication, which debuted last November, is available at numerous locations in Palm Beach County.
In its December issue, it featured a photo of the first Little League game, played in 1939, and matched it with a "hearing wellness center." Walter Cronkite's first day as a CBS anchor in 1962 was used beside an ad for a nursing and rehab center. The debut of "I Love Lucy" in 1951 was placed alongside a reverse-mortgage pitch.
"It's bittersweet seeing those pictures," says Mr. Silver. "I look at those days and wish they'd come back, while knowing that they can't. But it's nice for people my age to remember the good times. To tell you the truth, that's what keeps us going."
