The Power of Nostalgia

The Power of Nostalgia

by Jeff Weiss

Born in Canada, I was fortunate to grow up listening to some amazing artists including Rush, Bryan Adams, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Shania Twain and more recently, Drake and The Weeknd. There was never a shortage of great music to enjoy whenever the radio was on.

I have been to my share of concerts over the years, although I have become more selective in who I will see and what venues I will visit (hint: I’m done with the large venues where you spend the whole time watching the concert on one of the big screens next to the stage).

The concerts I attend now tend to feature artists who are at the tail end of their careers, including notables like Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, Cat Stevens, Robert Plant and Blue Rodeo (known to my fellow Canadians who are reading this). You never know how much longer they will keep performing and how long their vocal cords and/or instrumental skills will last.

I don’t think I’m alone in my habits and a recent search revealed that eight out of the top 20 highest-grossing tours of 2025 were led by performers who were 55 years of age or older. These acts included Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Billy Joel & Sting, and Paul McCartney who is still performing at the young age of 83. This is quite something, compared to anyone else I know who is 83 years of age!

For my 62^nd birthday this year, my family gifted me (and the four of us) with tickets to see one of my favourite (Canadian) bands of all time, The Guess Who, fronted by music icons Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, who are 78 and 82 years young respectively. They performed all of their classics including These Eyes and American Woman, as well as You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet and Takin’ Care of Business, both of which were performed by Randy when he was part of BTO (or Bachman, Turner Overdrive).

It was an incredible night for all who attended.  And if I had to guess, the average of age of the concert-goer that night was probably around 70. Regardless of age, we all danced, sang and embraced the energy from the crowd. Age be damned!

After the concert, I was able to reflect on the magic of the night and a few themes came to mind:

• You can (still) have fun no matter how old you are
• Not caring what other people think about you (and your singing voice in particular) is highly liberating and brings greater joy to the moment
• Being able to reminisce brings back memories of happiness when we were younger
• Today’s music and musicians have nothing on the acts from the 70s and 80s (at least in my humble opinion!)

So, what does all of this have to do with marketing to older adults? It’s about the power of nostalgia to trigger memories and engage older consumers more deeply with brands, products and services that understand and meet their changing their needs.

Some time ago we conducted a survey with our Revolution55 community to determine which senses are most likely to trigger a sense of nostalgia in them. The results were interesting and insightful. See below for the results.

Nostalgia can be a powerful tool in marketing to older adults, but works best as a supporting emotional cue vs. being the core strategy. It helps by signalling authenticity, familiarity, and positive memories, which are especially useful when reaching older consumers. And given that older adults often respond well to brands that feel genuine and recognizable rather than trendy or flashy, nostalgia can create a “this feels trusted” effect by connecting a product to places, moments, or cultural references they already value.

For older adults, nostalgia can help grab attention and build trust, but it should be combined with usefulness, clarity, and authenticity. In other words, it should feel familiar and worth buying today.

If you are interested in discussing how you can use the power of nostalgia to both reach and engage older adults, feel free to reach out to me at jeff@ageofmajority.com.