By Bahk Eun-ji
Park Soo-yul, a 43-year-old civil servant in Gyeonggi Province, stopped in front of the display window at a bakery nearby his house. Park took his seven-year-old son to the bakery to buy a birthday cake for him. What caught his attention was a chocolate cake decorated with “Robot Taekwon V”, a cartoon character from the 1970s.
“I was a big fan of “Robot Taekwon V” when I was seven, my son’s age right now. As soon as I saw the chocolate cake, I vividly recalled my childhood, so I couldn’t help buying it,” Park says.
The cake left a strong impression on his son as well.
“My son was strongly interested in the colorful robot miniature on the cake but of course, he didn’t know about the cartoon at all,” Park added.
The cake that attracted father and son together was launched by Tous Les Jours, CJ Foodville’s bakery franchise. The group has often used animation characters popular among children such as Pororo in 2011 and Robocar Poli in 2012 on their cakes, but it was unusual for the group to use a 30-year-old character.
“It’s important to use effective strategies during these hard times in an ongoing recession. Consumers are apt to spend more money on products that enable them to share stories,” said an employee of Tous Les Jours.
In fact, marketing has always had something to do with nostalgia, but “retrospective marketing” (retro marketing) has recently become a trend, because the sluggish domestic economy has deterred consumers from making purchases.
Retro-marketing was usually used as a gimmick in TV dramas, movies and musicals, but now it’s proliferating into the food, beverage, cosmetics and electronics markets.
Statistics show the effectiveness of these strategies.
The “Taekwon V” cake from CJ Foodville shows the retro marketing works.
Around 40 kinds of new cake were released in 2012, and the robot cake has been selling two and a half times more than others so far, according to the CJ Foodville employee.
“Lucky Cream,” a face moisturizing cream, made 65 years ago by LG Household & Health Care, popular among female customers at that time, has been reproduced including the original packaging design.
The cream was well received by mothers who took a trip back in time to the 1940s. Over 70 percent of 10,000 packs were sold by the end of June after it was initially launched in May.
While such products are sold using marketing strategies that exploit sentimentality and nostalgia, other marketers are implementing more aggressive tactics that appeal to consumers.
Lock & Lock, a Korean kitchen and household product brand, sold its products at prices discounted by 50 to 70 percent from Sep. 6 to 20. The company’s official said the prices were almost equivalent to those a decade ago.
A tooth paste made from sea salt roasted in a bamboo tube from LG Household & Healthcare is currently on sale this month at a price last seen 20 years ago.
“I’m so glad that I can purchase them at a low price especially in this difficult season,” says Kim Yong-rhan, a 40-something housewife living in Seoul
“I don’t know much about how marketing goes around, but as a consumer, there’s nothing bad about buying decent quality products at cheap prices. The quality of the toothpaste has already been proven because it has sold steadily sold for 20 years and I am also one of the customers who have regularly bought it for many years.”
However, researcher Kim Na-Kyung at LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI) advised caution about retro-marketing in her report, “The retro-style trend of 2012”
Kim pointed out that the trend is no longer just a passing fad but an established marketing strategy targeting different age groups.
In contrast to the earlier tendency of using ’70s or ’80s retro style, the recent trend is to target people with nostalgia for the ’90s.
“It’s mainly because the purchasing power of consumers in their 20s and early 30s has increased tremendously to as much as that of the older generations. Those people spent their adolescent period in the ‘90s, and now they miss the old days,” Kim says.
Kim explained several reasons why people are fond of retro style.
“Retro-marketing attracts people, because people are inclined to feel comfortable when they deal with things they are accustomed to. The most up-to-date electronics gadgets such as smartphones or tablet PCs are fast and convenient, but people are not comfortable with them because such devices take time and effort to learn how to use them.”
Specifically, it seems that some customers find solace by recalling fond memories especially during tough times.
“Due to this, the trend will continue until industries overcome this recession,” Kim added.