‘Nostalgia ‘ain’t what it used to be’…

In marketing, this can actually be a true.  It’s always going to be a winner for John Lewis at Christmas time, but an effective campaign needs to be more than just ‘remember how great things used to be’.  The reaction to our postcards campaign for Pilot pen, showed how a creative idea which grabs the imagination and engages the target audience can be so much more than just ‘nostalgia’.

In the times of smart phones, ipads and notebooks, there’s something very appealing about the simplicity of a hand-written postcard using a good, solid pen. When communication is almost entirely electrical, to take the time to compose a message in your own hand has become something of a treat. It’s not rushed; it’s more personal and seems somehow more civilised and sophisticated.

Our campaign really hit a chord and we received over 250 postcards, far more entries than we had anticipated – especially as this was purely promoted via Twitter and Facebook, no on-pack or in-store creative!   We simply asked customers to send Pilot a postcard with a memory of their best summer holiday.  Although there was a prize for the winning entry (a fantastic Forest Holiday Weekend), there was a sense from all the entries that this was something they wanted to do, we were just giving them the excuse to pick up a pen a write.

With the postcard campaign we didn’t use nostalgia as a marketing tool.  Instead it’s was people’s own nostalgia that reminded them what they loved about the product. Part tool, part inspiration- a pen is not just a pen. It’s the feel in the hand and the flow of the ink which create the handwriting unique to the author. In the right hands, a pen can take the user on a wonderful creative journey.

Grab a good pen (Pilot of course!), and give it a try, and when you get to wherever you’re going, be sure to send chicken/egg a postcard.