I was in Berlin recently on a (very messy) stag do and stayed at a brilliant hostel called the ‘Ostel’. Located in a totalitarian looking tower block in East Berlin, the hotel is a throwback to the time and style of the old DDR or soviet controlled German Democratic Republic. Brown wallpaper and garish orange sofas compete for your attention with old transistor radios and seventies light fittings. Our apartment even had a framed photograph of Erich Honecker – the now deceased president of the DDR, hung on the wall. It’s all part of the recent trend of embracing the culture and daily life of the old DDR, a love for all things East or ‘Ost’ in German. They call it ‘Ostalgie’.
Nostalgia is a strange and interesting phenomenon. People look back on things with a misplaced sense of fondness and positive reflection, despite the reality of the time being quite different (indeed Honecker presided over a state controlled, repressed society whose secret police the Stasi used fear, torture and intimidation to mute any dissent).
As time, technology and progress marches on never-ending, so does the feeling of uncertainty, fear of change and unhappiness – and as a result people increasingly look to the past for comfort, answers and security. In our modern high tech world of iphones, facebook, linked in, twitter and all the rest, people are not only craving a connection with real people today (as John Naisbitt says in his book High Tech, High Touch) but also a ‘re-connection’ with people, places and things of the past. The paradox is forever continuing – a thirst for the future and at the same time a longing for the past.
The importance of memories hasn’t been lost on the brands and companies of today as they re-issue old brands & styles with a modern twist – the fashion world has been doing this for eons and trainers are a great example (Dunlop Volleys & Green Flash, Converse High Tops etc). Adidas originals are the epitome of retro chic, still retaining the classic trefoil logo across the range.
It’s not just fashion – food, drink and specifically confectionary has seen a boom in nostalgic brands as consumers rush to grab their childhood favourites (a gorilla, Phil Collins and the Wispa chocolate bar relaunch have helped revive Cadburys fortunes in the UK – they sold 20 million straight off the bat when they hit the shelves last year). And of course, there’s the motor industry – the MINI, the Beetle and now the new Fiat 500, hitting the market 50 years after it was first presented.
Interestingly though, re-connecting with the past has never been easier with modern technology – you only have to look at facebook to see that. There are though, a few examples of brands using both modern technology and the desire to reconnect to sell older, simpler, more ‘authentic’ products. Swiss Netgranny is a collective of 15 grannies recruited by the Tarzan Swiss fashion label. The grannies knit socks on demand and sell them online. Customers can choose their ‘favourite’ granny and colour and let them choose a surprise design. I must be getting old as I think that’s awesome.
But of course, some things never go out of fashion – The Week magazine, one of my clients, is launching in Australia next month and will continue to stick to a formula of success that hasn’t changed in thirteen years, a unique distillation of the best news, business, sport, culture and opinion.
- James
