How startups can use nostalgia marketing to build trust, spark loyalty and stand out with storytelling, vintage design and emotional connections.
Updated
January 8, 2026 6:35 PM
Vintage beer pong posters showcasing colorful, diverse designs from different eras in one collection. PHOTO: FREEPIK
Turning the subtle power of nostalgia into meaningful marketing.
Think of nostalgia as a time machine for brands—it doesn’t just take people back; it brings their emotions forward. And emotions sell. For those who are unfamiliar, nostalgia marketing is a strategy where brands use elements from the past—like familiar sights, sounds, or stories—to evoke warm memories and emotional connections with their audience.
This emotional pull isn’t just anecdotal—research shows its real impact: according to The Team and Forbes via The Drum, 80% of millennials and Gen Z are drawn to brands tapping into nostalgia, while 92% of consumers say nostalgic ads feel more relatable. And for startups competing in noisy markets, this is a goldmine.
In this article, we’ll explore why nostalgia marketing can be a game-changing strategy for your company.
Out of all the popular marketing methods—like influencer partnerships or attention-grabbing ad campaigns—nostalgia is unique because its impact starts intrinsically, in the brain. By triggering the release of dopamine, a reward-system neurotransmitter, Nostalgia evokes feelings of warmth, happiness and comfort. Consequently, people don’t just remember a moment—they relive it. Take, for instance, your favorite cereal brand bringing back childhood cartoon characters or using retro fonts and colors. You might choose it over a healthier breakfast option simply because it reminds you of the mornings you enjoyed as a kid. Similarly, speaking of stirring fond memories, Coca-Cola has mastered this effect, using classic holiday ads, vintage packaging, and iconic imagery. Those associations make people see Coke as more than a drink—it’s a familiar feeling they’re willing to pay extra for.
New marketing campaigns can spark curiosity but often trigger skepticism—especially when audiences lack prior connection to the brand. Nostalgia marketing breaks down this barrier by tapping into familiarity, using retro jingles, vintage fonts, pastel colors, or familiar packaging that immediately resonate. This recognition builds an emotional connection and trust with the brand. More importantly, it fosters social connectedness by making consumers feel part of a larger community—giving that reassuring “others remember this too” feeling. As a result, this sense of belonging reduces loneliness, strengthens warmth and trust, and encourages word-of-mouth sharing, naturally amplifying the campaign’s reach and impact.
While luxury brands can afford massive campaigns, startups and small businesses can tap into nostalgia as a cost-effective storytelling tool. In a world where marketing often chases the “next big thing”—from AI to futuristic tech—nostalgia offers the opposite: a chance to revisit the past. More importantly, nostalgia allows brands to stand out in a crowded, fast-scrolling feed by delivering something comfortingly familiar with a fresh twist. Think of Polaroid: in an age where smartphones boast crystal-clear cameras, it wins hearts with pastel hues, a vintage lens, and the tactile charm of instant prints—selling not just images, but a moment that feels straight out of the past.
The same principle worked brilliantly for Tiffany & Co., whose 185-year-old brand refresh featured Jay-Z and Beyoncé in a Breakfast at Tiffany’s-inspired campaign, blending timeless charm with contemporary star power and racking up millions of views. In essence, when done right, nostalgia doesn’t just market a product—it invites people to relive a story they already love.
Nostalgia resonates across generations speaking to diverse audiences. For Millennials, it’s a chance to relive the cultural touchpoints of their youth, while Gen Z approaches it with curiosity, eager to explore eras they never experienced firsthand. This crossover creates a unique marketing sweet spot: one group is driven by memory, the other by discovery. Pokémon proves this power by keeping lifelong fans engaged through retro trading cards while introducing younger audiences to its history. Similarly, Nike used nostalgia to bridge two different generations by reissuing retro classics, keeping both longtime fans and new sneakerheads excited. By appealing to both memory and curiosity, brands can create lasting connections that keep different generations engaged at once.
Nostalgia can be your startup’s non-cliché marketing mantra. Imagine a small bookstore that offers handwritten recommendation cards designed like vintage library checkout slips. This simple touch invites customers to slow down and rediscover the joy of reading. Or picture a local coffee shop serving drinks in mugs inspired by classic diner ware, evoking comforting memories of simpler times. Overall, the lesson is clear: combining nostalgic design with stories that connect people to shared moments creates emotional warmth and trust. Thoughtful nostalgia turns everyday products into meaningful experiences—building loyal communities eager to return.
Keep Reading
A look at how motivation, not metrics, is becoming the real frontier in fitness tech
Updated
February 7, 2026 2:18 PM
A group of people running together. PHOTO: FREEPIK
Most running apps focus on measurement. Distance, pace, heart rate, badges. They record activity well, but struggle to help users maintain consistency over time. As a result, many people track diligently at first, then gradually disengage.
That drop-off has pushed developers to rethink what fitness technology is actually for. Instead of just documenting activity, some platforms are now trying to influence behaviour itself. Paceful, an AI-powered running platform developed by SportsTech startup xCREW, is part of that shift — not by adding more metrics, but by focusing on how people stay consistent. The platform is built on a simple behavioural insight: most people don’t stop exercising because they don’t care about health. They stop because routines are fragile. Miss a few days and the habit collapses. Technology that focuses only on performance metrics doesn’t solve that. Systems that reinforce consistency, belonging and feedback loops might.
Instead of treating running as a solo, data-driven task, Paceful is built around two ideas: behavioural incentives and social alignment. The system turns real-world running activity into tangible rewards and it uses AI to connect runners to people, clubs and challenges that fit how and where they actually run.
At the technical level, Paceful connects with existing fitness ecosystems. Users can import workout data from platforms like Apple Health and Strava rather than starting from scratch. Once inside the system, AI models analyse pace, frequency, location and participation patterns. That data is used to recommend running partners, clubs and group challenges that match each runner’s habits and context.
What makes this approach different is not the tracking itself, but what the platform does with the data it collects. Running distance and consistency become inputs for a reward system that offers physical-world incentives, such as gear, race entries or gift cards. The idea is to link effort to something concrete, rather than abstract. The company also built the system around community logic rather than individual competition. Even solo runners are placed into challenge formats designed to simulate the motivation of a group. In practice, that means users feel part of a shared structure even when running alone.
During a six-month beta phase in the US, xCREW tested Paceful with more than 4,000 running clubs and around 50,000 runners. According to the company, users increased their running frequency significantly and weekly retention remained unusually high for a fitness platform. One beta tester summed it up this way: “Strava just logs records, but Paceful rewards you for every run, which is a completely different motivation”.
The company has raised seed funding and plans to expand the platform beyond running, walking, trekking, cycling and swimming. Instead of asking how accurately technology can measure the body, platforms like Paceful are asking a different question: how technology might influence everyday behaviour. Not by adding more data, but by shaping the conditions around effort, feedback and social connection.
As AI becomes more common in consumer products, its real impact may depend less on how advanced the models are and more on what they are applied to. In this case, the focus isn’t speed or performance — it’s consistency. And whether systems like this can meaningfully support it over time.