The Beauty of Nostalgia

A few weeks ago Kylie Cosmetics announced a collaboration with The Wizard of Oz. This stopped me in my tracks for a few reasons 1. Official collabs other than with her sisters are a relatively new thing for the Kylie Cosmetics brand, and 2. This collab actually made me want to buy the products. Having been an early fan of the brand since it launched, the Kylie Lip Kits have been a staple in my beauty arsenal since 2016. But over the past few years, especially given the pandemic, I moved away from the brand. Whether it was because of not wearing makeup or boredom, I definitely lost interest. So when I came across this unexpected collaboration my interest was piqued.

I found myself wondering, what is making me interested in the brand again? And then it clicked. The nostalgia. The Wizard of Oz is so iconic and means so much to so many people. No matter gender, race or sexuality, most of us have a memory related to the film. The ruby slippers, the Scarecrow, Glenda or the Wicked Witch of the West—this film absolutely transcends pop culture to an almost universal-level. You might be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of the film. And it’s that nostalgic element that will make this collab so successful.    

Adroll defines nostalgia marketing as “the strategy of tapping into positive, familiar concepts from previous decades to build trust for new ideas and reinvigorate modern campaigns.” With a brand as familiar as The Wizard of Oz, the pairing with a beauty brand welcomes the wide fanbase of the movie into the Kylie Cosmetics world. Of course the point of collaborating with a brand is to borrow from its existing fanbase and Kylie Cosmetics is capitalizing on this wide potential audience. A Nielsen study found that during the pandemic, more than half of consumers seek comfort through familiar, nostalgic content. Not only is this collaboration a smart strategic move, there is also psychology to prove why this will be successful.    

A few years ago when I worked at Coty, Sally Hansen saw a huge success when they partnered with Jelly Belly.  We did some research and social listening to try and figure out why this partnership was so successful and it came down to nostalgia. So many people had memories of Jelly Belly especially around Easter. The candy brand is so iconic and the fun colors and flavors lended themselves so well to nail polish. The collab was a hit. 

Another great example of nostalgic marketing is Barbie. We've seen Barbie partnerships across nearly every category including fashion, beauty, lifestyle, home and more. The reason brands keep partnering with Barbie is that it's an iconic piece of pop culture. Almost everyone either knows the brand or has a memory associated with Barbie. The beauty of these types of collaborations is that they allow you to revisit that childhood memory through the lens of a new product. Customers are able to have a unique experience of the familiar and something new all at once. And when something is familiar it could make us trust the product more, as if we already know it.

One of the reasons I am so drawn to beauty is that it empowers and gives people the tools they need to express themselves. When beauty products are combined with the powerful and comforting feeling of nostalgia, it deepens the connection between the consumer, the brand and the product. In simpler terms, it makes the products special and therefore they hold more value to the consumer. And it’s that feeling that will keep them coming back to shop.