Teaching Old Brands New Tricks: Retro Branding and the Revival of Brand Meaning
Journal of Marketing, Vol. 67, pp. 19-33, July 2003
16 Pages Posted: 11 Mar 2012
Date Written: 2003
Abstract
Retro brands are relaunched historical brands with updated features. The authors conduct a "netnographic" analysis of two prominent retro brands, the Volkswagen New Beetle and Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, that reveals the importance of Allegory (brand story), Aura (brand essence), Arcadia (idealized community), and Antinomy (brand paradox). Retro brand meanings are predicated on a Utopian communal element and an enlivening paradoxical essence. Retro brand management involves an uneasy, cocreative, and occasionally clamorous alliance between producers and consumers.
JEL Classification: Old Brands, New Tricks, Retro Branding, Brand Meaning
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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