About Me
What Does Nostalgia Do
Nostalgia can do more than you think. It can create new desires, cloud better judgement, and create bittersweet moments.
Occasionally, just going about my day, something will catch my attention and I will remember the days of the past. Playing Pokémon or Minecraft, spending my deep into the game within the flow state and enjoying the process. Typically, this will cause one of two scenarios. Most of the time, let’s say 80%, I will remember fond memories and skip over it. However, the other 20% I’ll be tempted back into playing the games. Lulled by the desire to relive the joy and peace of my childhood, I jump back into it and delve deep into it for a few months. It’s enjoyable at first, fun to revisit it, but over time I drift away even further and the cycle then repeats itself later.
Why?
I’m interested in exploring how brands can take advantage of that nostalgia and benefit from it. The feeling of power that nostalgia can give me is overwhelming, and I do wonder how that can happen. It is prompted by feelings of desire to return to the old days, the attachment to small creatures, or the emotion attached to the games themselves? My sense is that it is the latter - the positive and negative emotions, the feelings of happiness, are what are most effective. Here’s how gaming companies can induce nostalgia and bring back old fans.
How?
Marketing
By far the most important aspect, you need to be keeping your brand fresh in consumers mind and understand your target audience. If the audience has grown up, consider aging your marketing strategy. For example, the Pokémon Audience had Ash at his oldest in Kalos when experienced fans all tuned in to see him win the Pokémon League. Of course, the less said about that the better.
Ash and Alan face off in the most epic Pokemon battle in the Kalos series.
New Products - approach with care
Everyone loves a successful refresh. Minecraft introduced Realms and has made significant updates to the games, while Pokémon has released new games every year. While I initially thought this would be a positive point, the more I consider it the more I think this could be a negative. People’s nostalgia is based on what they played in the past, like vanilla Minecraft or the greatest game ever - Pokémon White 2. Providing a new game that is unfamiliar to them may cause a disconnect from the consumer perspective.
Protagonists riding the ride Pokemon with the starters. 
Pokemon legends arceus's main poster.
Embrace The Nostalgia
Remember what people enjoy about the games. For Pokémon, it’s the chance to create a bond and take on engaging stories and save the world. For Minecraft, it’s the chance to explore creativity, enjoy an isolated environment and be able to compete with friends. Access that, harness it and turn it into something more.
A simple landscape in Minecraft you can do anything with.
Overall, nostalgia is an important tool and a beautiful one - a reminder of great times, and a chance for us to revisit them. Companies need to give us the chance to access that again through effective marketing and refreshed design that maintain the charm of the original process. Make your game more nostalgic through excellent music, a quality community experience, and showing passion for the previous iterations.
Comentarios