6 ms·

Elizabeth Goodspeed on the delicate art of nostalgia in branding

44 points by webmaven 3y ago

keiferski 3y ago
The article reminded me of this scene about nostalgia from Mad Men, which for my money is the single best sequence in the entire series. (Especially if you’re aware of the story at that point.) https://youtu.be/rq3n2sJ43Hg?si=B5J0vuLjHxSXsbae https://youtu.be/rq3n2sJ43Hg?si=B5J0vuLjHxSXsbae
- resource_waste 3y ago
  Nintendo/Disney watches this before bed every night.
- Telemakhos 3y ago
  It’s also wrong. “Nostalgia” is not the pain of an old wound, but homesickness, the pain of longing to return home. Nostos, or “homecoming,” is a major theme in Greek poetry like the Odyssey.
  - keiferski 3y ago
    Well, spoilers, but… The entire premise of the scene is a lie. The family life Don portrays in the photos is an illusion that is rapidly falling apart at that point in the show. That’s kind of the major theme of MM - the illusions of advertising and of life in general. I’m fairly certain that the writers were well aware of the word’s etymology, but wrote Don’s dialogue to emphasize the artificiality of it.
entropy47 3y ago
A visual for anyone else wondering: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Tf2UyZUq7HHao7LJv3fANo-970-80.jpg.webp https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Tf2UyZUq7HHao7LJv3fANo-970...
- Animats 3y ago
  That one visual is far better than the original article, which blithers about this change without showing it. It's not even clear how that package is used. Do you invert it and snap open the brown plastic flap, or what? Was that just concept art, or did they actually sell that. What they seem to be selling now is a minor mod to the 19th century design.[1] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Lyles-Squeezy-Golden-Syrup-325g/dp/B013P141JG/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_2/142-1205053-8109238 https://www.amazon.com/Lyles-Squeezy-Golden-Syrup-325g/dp/B0...
  - kingkongjaffa 3y ago
    Its a plastic squeezy bottle, the brown cap has a lid section that opens and theres a hole membrane, you squeeze the side and this pushes the contents through the membrane.
  - KineticLensman 3y ago
    Agree that the picture is worth a 1000 words, but per kingkongjaffa, one is a squeezy bottle while the other is a robust tin. My dad used to have dozens of the tins in his shed, each holding a collection of screws, washers, resistors, capacitors, bolts etc 'that will come in useful one day'. I still can't see the tins without thinking of his re-use collections. That's my biggest gripe with the new container: it's a single-use throw-away plastic thing. The traditionalist press in the UK is also upset by the new image: stylised logo, compared with a 'proper' picture of a sleepy lion surrounded by bees.
    - qingcharles 3y ago
      Haha, I think every household in the UK had these tins filled with screws :D The tins keep the old branding, for now. Only the squeezies get the new branding. I don't get that they went from a serif to a lifeless san-serif font on a vintage brand like Lyle's, though. It loses a lot of soul with that transition and wasn't necessary.
  - unraveller 3y ago
    > That one visual is far better than the original article, which blithers about this change without showing it. What do you expect, she showed it to her followers and they hated her for it. It's also on a site that introduces the owner by name every post.
tgv 3y ago
Aside, but the name Elizabeth Goodspeed in the context of branding sounds like a character from a Gibson's Pattern Recognition.
- tonetheman 3y ago
  [dead]
xhkkffbf 3y ago
This is especially tricky and maybe entirely impossible these days. For instance, in England now it's considered poor form to simply display nice landscapes. Why? They evoke "dark nationalistic feelings." If simply looking at some pictures of trees and a valley do that, how can a brand manager come up with something that's not a hot button? https://www.yahoo.com/news/paintings-british-countryside-evoke-dark-140508085.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/paintings-british-countryside-evo...
- unraveller 3y ago
  welcome to modernity where there are no emotions left to exploit by art and nobody presents their convictions in case someone finds an emotion to exploit.
Dunedan 3y ago
> In 2021, Bahlsen’s redesign was acclaimed by the design community for its clean, bold modernity (even winning them a D&AD award). Nonetheless, the rebrand resulted in a 12% drop in sales the following year. This decline was attributed to a variety of factors: low on-shelf recognition, reduced emotional resonance, and smaller, less appetising photos than the original, “dated” packaging. In other words, even if the branding was good, it didn’t feel right. Or, you know, maybe sales dropped, because inflation caused by Russia invading Ukraine hit and people spent less money on more expensive foods like Bahlsen cookies.
- Dunedan 3y ago
  And while talking about Bahlsen: Check out their stylish, yet utterly unusable website: https://www.bahlsen.com/ https://www.bahlsen.com/

44 points by webmaven 3y ago

The article reminded me of this scene about nostalgia from Mad Men, which for my money is the single best sequence in the entire series. (Especially if you’re aware of the story at that point.) https://youtu.be/rq3n2sJ43Hg?si=B5J0vuLjHxSXsbae https://youtu.be/rq3n2sJ43Hg?si=B5J0vuLjHxSXsbae

resource_waste 3y ago
Nintendo/Disney watches this before bed every night.
Telemakhos 3y ago
It’s also wrong. “Nostalgia” is not the pain of an old wound, but homesickness, the pain of longing to return home. Nostos, or “homecoming,” is a major theme in Greek poetry like the Odyssey.
- keiferski 3y ago
  Well, spoilers, but… The entire premise of the scene is a lie. The family life Don portrays in the photos is an illusion that is rapidly falling apart at that point in the show. That’s kind of the major theme of MM - the illusions of advertising and of life in general. I’m fairly certain that the writers were well aware of the word’s etymology, but wrote Don’s dialogue to emphasize the artificiality of it.

entropy47 3y ago

A visual for anyone else wondering: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Tf2UyZUq7HHao7LJv3fANo-970-80.jpg.webp https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Tf2UyZUq7HHao7LJv3fANo-970...

Animats 3y ago
That one visual is far better than the original article, which blithers about this change without showing it. It's not even clear how that package is used. Do you invert it and snap open the brown plastic flap, or what? Was that just concept art, or did they actually sell that. What they seem to be selling now is a minor mod to the 19th century design.[1] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Lyles-Squeezy-Golden-Syrup-325g/dp/B013P141JG/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_2/142-1205053-8109238 https://www.amazon.com/Lyles-Squeezy-Golden-Syrup-325g/dp/B0...
- kingkongjaffa 3y ago
  Its a plastic squeezy bottle, the brown cap has a lid section that opens and theres a hole membrane, you squeeze the side and this pushes the contents through the membrane.
- KineticLensman 3y ago
  Agree that the picture is worth a 1000 words, but per kingkongjaffa, one is a squeezy bottle while the other is a robust tin. My dad used to have dozens of the tins in his shed, each holding a collection of screws, washers, resistors, capacitors, bolts etc 'that will come in useful one day'. I still can't see the tins without thinking of his re-use collections. That's my biggest gripe with the new container: it's a single-use throw-away plastic thing. The traditionalist press in the UK is also upset by the new image: stylised logo, compared with a 'proper' picture of a sleepy lion surrounded by bees.
  - qingcharles 3y ago
    Haha, I think every household in the UK had these tins filled with screws :D The tins keep the old branding, for now. Only the squeezies get the new branding. I don't get that they went from a serif to a lifeless san-serif font on a vintage brand like Lyle's, though. It loses a lot of soul with that transition and wasn't necessary.
- unraveller 3y ago
  > That one visual is far better than the original article, which blithers about this change without showing it. What do you expect, she showed it to her followers and they hated her for it. It's also on a site that introduces the owner by name every post.

tgv 3y ago

Aside, but the name Elizabeth Goodspeed in the context of branding sounds like a character from a Gibson's Pattern Recognition.

tonetheman 3y ago
[dead]

xhkkffbf 3y ago

This is especially tricky and maybe entirely impossible these days. For instance, in England now it's considered poor form to simply display nice landscapes. Why? They evoke "dark nationalistic feelings." If simply looking at some pictures of trees and a valley do that, how can a brand manager come up with something that's not a hot button? https://www.yahoo.com/news/paintings-british-countryside-evoke-dark-140508085.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/paintings-british-countryside-evo...

unraveller 3y ago
welcome to modernity where there are no emotions left to exploit by art and nobody presents their convictions in case someone finds an emotion to exploit.

Dunedan 3y ago

> In 2021, Bahlsen’s redesign was acclaimed by the design community for its clean, bold modernity (even winning them a D&AD award). Nonetheless, the rebrand resulted in a 12% drop in sales the following year. This decline was attributed to a variety of factors: low on-shelf recognition, reduced emotional resonance, and smaller, less appetising photos than the original, “dated” packaging. In other words, even if the branding was good, it didn’t feel right. Or, you know, maybe sales dropped, because inflation caused by Russia invading Ukraine hit and people spent less money on more expensive foods like Bahlsen cookies.

Dunedan 3y ago
And while talking about Bahlsen: Check out their stylish, yet utterly unusable website: https://www.bahlsen.com/ https://www.bahlsen.com/