How Pop Culture Callbacks Build Brand Connection

Nostalgia is a marketing cheat code when you use it with intention and aim it at the right people. We close out our Super Bowl series by breaking down why throwback commercials and pop culture callbacks show up every year and why they’re so effective at creating instant warmth, recognition, and brand recall.

We talk through memorable examples, from a full-on karaoke throwback with the Backstreet Boys to the classic Budweiser Clydesdales, plus the sitcom-era familiarity that makes viewers feel like they’re “in on it” right away. The real lesson isn’t just that these ads are fun. It’s that shared experiences create a shortcut to connection, not only with the brand but with everyone watching alongside you.

We bring it down to the small business level with practical, low-budget ways to use nostalgia marketing and cultural relevance. Whether that means sharing throwback photos, bringing back fan-favorite specials or building campaigns around references people already love. We also talk about a real world example with one of our favorite clients.

If you want marketing ideas that are clear, memorable, and actually doable this week, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co

Kickstart Collective is a creative marketing agency based in Wilmington, NC. We offer our clients a creative advantage through creative content and marketing strategies. 

Transcript

Welcome And Series Context

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Kickstart Your Week, brought to you by Kickstart Collective, a marketing agency focused on helping brands grow with purpose. Every Monday we're here to help business owners, creators, and marketers start their week with clarity, momentum, and practical ideas you can actually use. Kickstart Your Week is produced right here at Kickstart Studios and welcome to North Carolina. Let's Kickstart Your Week.

Why Nostalgia Ads Hit Hard

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Welcome back to Kickstart Your Week. This is our last video in our Super Bowl series. We've been going through and kind of um dissecting the different themes that we saw in the Super Bowl commercials this year because those typically kind of set the tone for marketing throughout the year or at least help with that. So today we are going to dive into the what is one of my favorites, probably my top favorite, the nostalgia and the pop culture callback commercials. Um which I just think are so fun. I love them.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

They're the best. It's like getting like a little like extra of something that you already love.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Yes. Yes. And the one commercial that we talked about in our first original episode, kind of doing a quick recap of all of these topics, um, was the Coinbase Backstreet Boys commercial that was the karaoke style.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Um literally an entire throwback. Like the entire thing was a throwback. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Exactly. And it was just it was very fun, very nostalgic. Um, I think some of the others that come to mind, obviously the Budweiser Clyde's Dales. Yes. Those are the horses. Those are nostalgic. Who doesn't love the horses? Obviously. Yeah. Um but one of the others that played on nostalgia that I liked was the Goodwill Duncan commercial that had all of the big players from the late 90s, early 2000s sitcoms. Even though the the editing confused me a little bit, and the I don't know what some of them were doing there, but it was still entertaining, it was nostalgic. Um it is it's just something that you like, we instantly you could recognize like what was going on.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Yeah, I I agree. The editing was a little off-putting at times. But the the familiar faces, the the things that kind of like connect you with that uh that time frame of uh of our lives was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Yeah. And I think that's what works so well about these sort of things is yeah, you you call back to certain pop culture references or just shared experiences that people had that you can instantly connect with. You connect with the brand itself, but then you also connect with people watching it and you're kind of all on the same page and you're all like, oh my gosh, I remember that. I loved that. Um yeah, it's just all about connection with the brand.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

It is, and it's the references that you get kind of like make you feel a part of whatever they're um they're showing you, uh, whether that be part of their the brand itself or just the entertainment factor.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Yeah. So for sure.

Small Business Nostalgia Ideas

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Um, so I think we have some examples too of like, I mean, that's kind of on a a broader sense. Obviously, it's a Super Bowl commercial, big brands, Duncan, Coinbase. Yeah. Um, but you we can definitely do that on a smaller scale too, if you're a business owner yourself. Um, because it can be fun too.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. You can kind of uh, you know, and at least in our country, in the country of America, the United States of America, uh, there's a lot of childhood memories that come to find out we've all kind of had. And I think that can be kind of a fun way to uh pull on people's heartstrings a little bit and just like the nostalgia of it and just like brings you back. And I think um that's a really good way that small businesses can do that. They don't need the big names, they don't need like the big set, but they can just simply, hey, you know, uh, do you remember how you were when you were this age or when you experienced this thing that out a large amount of the population did too? And I think that's a really cool way to kind of bring the emotions and nostalgia into what small businesses can market with.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Yeah, for sure. And I mean, there's a bunch of different ways that you can actually execute that. Yeah. Um, of course, it's always fun to see throwback photos of the business owner. If they've, you know, had the business for a while. That's always fun. Or, you know, if you're a restaurant bringing back a special that people loved.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

I always love that.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

I love that too.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

That means it gets you excited, you know, or like, hey, oh, I I love this place, and now I get to get my favorite thing that they had for a specialty item and it's part of the regular menu or whatever else. But big big companies do that and small businesses do as well. And I think those small businesses, it's a great way to build uh continuity with your with your your base.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

I feel like isn't that what Burger King did with the chicken fries? Or no?

Bringing Back Fan Favorite Menu Items

SPEAKER_00 5:02

No, it is. And uh McDonald's did it with the uh the McRap or whatever it was, with the tortilla? Yes, yes. Remember that with like the the chicken ranch wrap? Yes. I loved that person growing up as a kid. And then the fact that they brought it up was like, I and I went and I don't eat a McDonald's, but I got one. Yes. Because of that. Yeah. And it it's easily executable in like a small business as well. Um I mean, you can use it with uh like, for example, with Mess Hall, they will regularly bring back fan favorite specials that they uh love. Mess hall is one of the companies that we get to work with a lot. And they do that, they'll do that regularly where they bring back a special that really hit that month or or what have you.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Right. I feel like with Mess Hall too, um, we've had some fun with some of their campaigns and kind of calling back to nostalgic references or just pop culture references. We've had a good time doing that too.

Mess Hall Parodies And Pop Culture

SPEAKER_00 5:53

We have uh we we got to play off of Outer Banks and make a video that way with uh Outer Banks is the Netflix show. Um, and we got to kind of parody that with all of the uh employees there and with with the owner Sam. Shout out Sam. Yeah, we've had him play a mini characters and we even had him play seven or eight characters in one video. Uh he had that one, and then we've we had a Goodburger parody as well, and got to kind of tie that in, and that seems to really resonate with obviously the employees and owner, but also the people that are watching the videos and eating at mess hall or shopping with a business too.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Yeah, I think what what Coinbase did well with their video is, I mean, we've talked about this so many times, but knowing your audience. Yeah. And so if you're gonna go this route, figure out who you're trying to target and then think of something that would resonate with them that they were into back in the day. Yeah. You know, Backstreet Boys, they're obviously targeting certain demographic that is in a place where they can financially partake in crypto trading. And so they're using a reference that really hits home for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

And they're for them specifically, they're going after a demographic that you know, they're not trying to target the people fresh out of college. They don't have any money to, you know, use with their product but or with their service, but uh certainly the people that they were targeting to add to.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Yeah. So yeah, and what you said with the when we did our Outer Banks spoof with mess hall, really tapping into anything that is nostalgia does great. Tapping into things that are currently happening is also a great way to get traction because it's what people are currently talking about and currently care about. Um, so that's what that's what we did with the Outer Banks thing, and people were really receptive to it because it was what was culturally relevant at the time.

unknown 7:54

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Yeah, that wasn't a nostalgic one.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

I think I might have said I was nostalgic one, but that one really was literally shot this last couple of years, so could call that.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Yeah, nostalgic now, then it's over.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

True, sadly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

But yeah, I think nostalgia really works because it hones in on that on shared experiences. It creates warmth with people. They're instantly connected to you, they're instantly familiar with you, or at least the reference that you're making. Yeah. Um, and so they kind of make those connections later on when you're like, oh, I am thinking about getting into crypto. And then you remember Coinbase because of the references they made.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

True. And I I I hope that anybody that maybe, or maybe a couple people that watched the Outer Banks video, uh, or maybe the Good Burger video, any if they went back and watched the Outer Banks show, maybe they're like, wait, I I want a burger.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Now it's associated.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

That'd be pretty cool. I wonder if we can like run on like a quiz or something to figure that out.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Do you get hungry now when you watch Outer Banks?

Series Wrap And How To Support

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yeah, for sure. But, anyways, yeah. Thank you guys for joining us. Um, this is kind of the conclusion of our Super Bowl series. So feel free to go back and watch the previous ones that we've made. There should be four total. This is the fourth one. Um, and just we we encourage you to uh follow along and we'll have more stuff coming out next week.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Thanks, y'all. Thanks for listening to Kickstart Your Week. If today's episode gave you something to think about or try this week, be sure to subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a review. It helps more people find the show. And if you're looking to create your own podcast or content, Kickstart Studios is available for booking. We'll be back next week with another conversation to help you kickstart your week.