Why all things nostalgic are making a big splash in the ad world

In the elevator, there are only two buttons: “Present Day JetBlue” for the first floor, and “1960s TWA Hotel” for the second. Nestled in a tucked-away corner of New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, this elevator is a time machine. Ascending to an isolated foyer, visitors exit into an arching tube that spits them out in the TWA Hotel, a sculpted, Instagrammable cavern of unmistakably ’60s curves and “Chili Pepper Red” carpeting. Employees dress in retro uniforms; Solari split-flap departure boards spin with the long-gone likes of Pan Am, Eastern and, of course, TWA. In the Sunken Lounge, ambient Frank Sinatra hits play while martinis and old-fashioneds are served alongside The Howard Hughes, a cognac-based cocktail named for TWA’s eccentric former owner. It’s a carefully crafted illusion meant to transport guests back to the golden age of air travel, and save for some selfie-snapping visitors and electronic check-in kiosks, the illusion is unbroken. While the TWA Hotel is among the latest embodiments of corporate nostalgia presented to the public, it’s just one of many examples born of an ongoing trend that has seen brands embrace their histories. In recent years, thanks in part to positive feedback from consumers, nostalgia has seen a resurgence in popularity with dozens of storied names in the hospitality, travel and food and beverage industries, among others. Marketers have been bringing back logos, slogans and campaigns and even long-lost products from their pasts in an effort to connect (and reconnect) with a broad range of audiences. There are several reasons for this shift: brands hope to attract culture-hungry millennials who crave a product’s backstory; they’re riding waves of pop culture generated by retro-oriented entertainment; they hope to attract attention for their brands by rekindling nostalgia. “For customers, we know emotional bonds matter, and nostalgia is a strong driver of emotion. When effectively tapped into, it can be a successful marketing strategy,” says Connie Birdsall, global creative director for brand consultancy Lippincott.Taking flight Dreamed up in the 1950s by architect Eero Saarinen at Hughes’ behest, the TWA Hotel began its life as the TWA Flight Center, a neo-futurist incarnation of the Jet Age that was way ahead of its time; it was one of the first airport terminals in the U.S. to be built with now-standard features like enclosed jetways and baggage carousels. While the terminal was adored by both JFK’s staff and the public, it quickly found itself facing an early retirement as jet aircraft got bigger and security restrictions got tighter—two things Saarinen and his relatively small, open-concept design failed to account for. With TWA’s 2001 collapse, the obsolete property was shuttered while developers, preservationists and airport officials debated at length about its fate. It was nearly razed as JetBlue sought to build an expansive terminal on the site, though it was eventually agreed that the airline’s new Terminal 5 would be built partially encircling the landmark structure, left vacant and earmarked for potential use in the future. That’s when New York-based hotel developer MCR Development stepped in. “The plan from the word ‘go’ was to bring it back,” says Tyler Morse, CEO of MCR, which purchased the abandoned property in 2015. Morse, a former Delta Air Lines baggage handler, saw the revitalization of the TWA Flight Center as an opportunity to merge his passion for aviation with his expertise in hotel development, restoring the 512-room property to its former glory using original architectural prints and materials. A quick glance at the hotel’s online availability calendar shows several sold-out dates through the end of the year despite an average $250-per-night room rate and some lukewarm online reviews—a sustained popularity that Morse attributes to more than just the hotel’s convenient location. “I think it’s kind of like Disneyland for adults. If you appreciate good architecture, if you appreciate good art—it’s candy for the eyes,” he says, adding that the hotel, which opened May 15, is an embodiment of a “terrific era” that captures the public’s imagination and has drawn a steady stream of guests.

Why all things nostalgic are making a big splash in the ad world

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