Roseanne. You may all know that little show that was rebooted this year and went on to become the 2017-18 season’s No. 1 scripted show in Nielsen’s 18-49 demo. Of course, we all know the ending of this story: the star was fired for racial comments and the first reboot of Roseanne was abruptly cancelled.
ABC has announced plans for the reboot of the reboot debuting this fall and it got us thinking: why are we seeing more revisited trends and remakes than ever? And what do brand marketers need to know and be careful of when jumping on the reboot bandwagon?
For every hit like Netflix’s Stranger Things that revisits 1980’s nostalgia and the Mean Girls’ Broadway debut based on the 2004 movie, you have trends and fads that come back and fade just as quickly. We are looking at you, choker necklaces and so-called ‘one-piece bathing suits,’ that we have, on good authority, are already old news again.
If your head is spinning with all the reboots and revisited trends, you are not alone. From updates of the classic Western or a 50-year-old TV show, to sequels of movies that seem to have just left the big screen, or even refreshes of snacks and drinks today’s college students enjoyed when they were elementary schoolers, what was old is new again.
In picking apart what reboots will connect and which will only prompt an eye-roll, conventional ideas about the role of trend cycles can be thrown out the window. It’s not about a timeframe. You won’t see a full revisit from the 1970’s, 80’ or 90’s. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, frosted lips gloss, bedazzled anything won’t be hot again just because they once were. And when marketers revisit eras—say the 1980’s—they select individual trends and reboots to bring back. That’s not the mystery formula for picking the winners with which to associate. It’s about the audience and knowing what will land a connection. So how does today’s marketer pick what reboot trends to invest in and which to avoid?
Antidote for Anxiety
For all audiences, but Millennials and Gen Z in particular, the world is overwhelmingly stressful. This may seem a bit dramatic, but the basics of food, shelter and safety are not easily secured, and college debt is forcing post-graduation choices prior generations never had to make. The job market may be looking up, but that job market is filled with part-time positions that rarely offer benefits or first jobs that don’t even come close to meeting financial demands
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We may wish for simpler lives, greater stability, stronger community, and certainly more moments of joy, friendship and connection. Now add in Millennials’ and Gen Z’s obsession with coming up with next best, coolest, unique thing to post on social media, especially Instagram, and this sense of connection and nostalgia become major drivers in the reemergence of trends and fads. More than data analysis, your ability to empathize and to recognize the human need for connection help deliver the insights you need.
What Works…
This isn’t about reliving the “good old days,” whether the consumer was actually alive for them the first time around or not. Marketers must consider how consumers have evolved since the trend was once popular. Are we recreating a TV show that Millennials enjoyed in the 90’s in hopes that they’ll watch it again today (e.g. Gilmore Girls)? Or, are we revisiting a fashion trend that was popular among baby boomers when they were teenagers for their Millennial children of today (e.g. denim)? At the same time, there must be a nod to the modern world, a connection to the emotional state we all experience today.
Westworld is a hit, not because it was a 1970’s movie, but because it updates the Wild West with the relationship of man and machine. The “surprise” hit Stranger Things is an original and modern story, but the genius of it is the combination of the setting, 1980’s Indiana and the drama and intrigue of great storytelling. Even the show’s creators didn’t grow up then; it’s their vision of a less stressful time into which are injected unearthly events. It’s not by accident, either, that smocking, plaids and windbreakers came back into fashion on the heels of the show’s release. Brands that understood how to update the look for our era, and marketers that created experiences to mirror the show’s look, reaped the benefits.
And What Doesn’t…
What doesn’t work is when a reboot attempts to comfort, entertain or distract solely on its original merit. The new Will & Grace works because audiences want an update on those characters, and the show’s groundbreaking work can be furthered in other ways. A reboot of Friends would be a mistake. The show, as is, still delivers what audiences need, and we know our imaginations on where the characters might be today are better than any filmed version. And when it comes to fashion, those 1980’s Members Only-style jackets are experiencing a comeback because their timeless look still works today, unlike the neon craze some brands tried to reintroduce only to see these pieces filling the sale racks. Revisits of the 1990’s Track Pants are popular again because of the current trend of athleisure wear.
Marketers should also be cautious about the degree to which they stray from the original trend. There’s nothing worse than going to see a remake of one of your favorite movies only to come out of the theater disappointed by the use of today’s technology overshadowing the storyline you originally fell in love with. It seems there’s a balance that must be achieved between preserving original characteristics and making it relevant to today’s society. Certainly, the use of technology plays a huge part in this, but it must play a proper role. Isn’t the proliferation of stand-up electric scooters for rent like Bird, Lime and Skim just the next step in the old-school kick Razor scooter fad that was Toy of the Year in 2001?
It remains to be seen how long the trendy revisits of mirrored and round sunglasses, sampling of 80’s/90’s songs in current music, higher-waisted pants with the ‘new’ crop tops, and series reboots like Magnum P.I. coming this fall on CBS will each last. But the effort by brand marketers to play a role in revisiting fads and trends certainly isn’t going anywhere soon. Which brings us back to the core point about the value of empathy with the audiences you are trying to reach. They won’t buy hype for hype’s sake, and neither should you and your brand. And a reminder, not all trends or once-hot products, shows, fads are worth revisiting. We are never going to successfully pull off velour and there was a reason they never made Grease 3. Fingers crossed they never return.
Darren Ross is president and Michael Carey is executive vice president at Riddle & Bloom.
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