Why Troll dolls, Pogs and Pokemon are the key to reaching into the hearts (and wallets) of the newest generation of nostalgics
As generation internet stuffs itself into adult society, its sense of nostalgia is spiking. The age range of the post-Gen X cohort is up for debate, but millennials are, by any measure, now old enough to lust after consumer products from their youth.
This Valentine’s Day, ’90s toy craze Tamagotchi was re-released as an app, much to the delight of the 20-somethings who love scrolling through old L.A. Gear ads on Buzzfeed Rewind, a Buzz Media vertical dedicated to rehashing not-quite-forgotten cultural touchstones.
In January, Microsoft was one of the first big brands to tap into millennials’ newfound nostomania when it released “Child of the 90s,” a video spot featuring snap bracelets, yo-yos and 3.5-inch floppy disks.
On any given #ThrowbackThursday, Instagram and Twitter are clogged with photos of fanny packs and Lisa Frank stickers, further nods to Gen Y’s yearning for the good ol’ days. More product revamps and throwbacks should be expected soon if the buzz around the recently announced Boy Meets World spinoff is any indicator.
Marketers looking to cash in on this nostalgia mania should strike fast. Soon enough millennials will be pushing 30 and Gen X will be the new target audience for Zoomer. By then the nostalgia carousel will have spun around once more, driving up ticket sales for One Direction’s reunion tour.
Given all the hype about the 90s, Marketing decided to look back on some of our favourite 90s brands that could ride the retro band wagon back to cultural relevance.
Here are our Five 90s Brands Due For a Comeback:
1. Modrobes: If you went to high school in the 90s, you remember all the cool kids wearing wide leg, crayon-coloured Modrobes pants. Created by Steven Sal Debus, the company’s first product – a loose fitting sweatpant with sidepockets – became synonymous with the brand as Debus traveled across Canada selling them in a station wagon.
More than a decade later, Modrobes has re-branded itself as a lifestyle and fitness brand made with sustainable, recyclable materials. Commendable, but come on: also boring. We miss the days when a Canadian brand told us it was cool to wear sweatpants in public.
2. Umbro: Umbro, a British brand worn by all the best soccer players in your childhood recreational soccer league, is synonymous with soccer and the current brand of Manchester City, but there was a time in the 90s when it was acceptable (and trendy!) to wear Umbro shorts off the field.
Urban Outfitters sold throw back versions of the shorts (which featured a very cool shiny checkered pattern in a single colour) for a short period, suggesting the style might enter the zeitgeist again, but the trend’s resurrection fell flat. That said, we spotted 90s rock star Noel Gallagher (of Oasis) wearing a Umbro Machenster United kit on the brand’s website, so maybe Umbro is planning a 90s driven resurgence after all.
3. Manic Panic: Of all the 90s brands we looked at, Manic Panic is the one that best held onto its original form. Minus the Instagram and Pinterest icons, Manic Panic’s website looks like it was built on Geocities by a suburban middle schooler in 1999, and given the brand’s history, we love that.
Manic Panic was actually founded in the 70s, but we associate its line of bright hued hair dyes with the Green Day fans who used to smoke cigarettes outside the mall. Given all the girls we’ve seen lately with ombré dip dyed hair, we’re hoping Manic Panic has maximized on the reassurance of cotton candy and green apple locks.
4. Lisa Frank
Did you cover all your textbooks in Lisa Frank stickers, too? If not, we probably wouldn’t have been friends. The sparkly, psychedelic rainbow stickers, notebooks and stationary made by Lisa Frank were the defining aesthetic from girls (and some boys!) in 90s classrooms all over North America.
Like Umbro, the purveyors of 90s culture at Urban Outfitters have capitalized on millennials’ nostalgia for the Lisa Frank brand with a collection of ‘rare’ and ‘vintage’ Lisa Frank stickers.
5. Nokia: Aside from the brick Zack Morris carried around on Saved by the Bell, there’s perhaps nothing as closely associated with the rise of cellphones as the Nokia brand. The phone Cher used in Clueless? Yep, a Nokia 232. Since the 90s, though, Nokia’s presence in the phone market has faded away as smartphone makers like Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry delivered more technologically impressive phones.
By tapping into its brand history, we think Nokia could connect with young consumers. We’d start with a Nokia branded app with old school games like Snake and Brick Breaker that were on our first Nokia phone.
