Brand origin, nostalgia and sustainability in consumer and home electronics

Consumer marketing is not my "cup of tea". Growing up in post-communist Bulgaria on  €1 of daily allowance, I found it fascinating how wasteful people can be on things like fashion, fast cars, high-end watches and other everyday products that should be about serving a rational need rather than a status confirmation. And yet, here we are, living in the era of status brands, influencers and unpractical shopping behaviours. So is there any value in B2C marketing at all? Yes, there is but only in areas where products are of high quality, serve a pragmatic purpose and make a difference to your day-to-day struggles.

In this article I argue that consumer brands that are sustainable (high quality) and bring about nostalgia and national heritage associations in their users' minds, have a long-term advantage over cheaper brands relying on cheaper marketing tactics. Let's take consumer and home electronics as the example.

Brand origin

My beloved grandpa (long time gone now...) was born in 1920 and has spent most of his life under the communist regime (1944 - 1989), so the whole concept of private brands was largely unknown to him. Yet, in those years of isolation, he read books about Japan, Korea and Asia as a whole. He was impressed by the collectivism, discipline and dignity of these nations. Fast forward to the 1990-s when Bulgaria transitioned into democracy, suddenly my grandpa (a businessman and relatively well-off) started learning about foreign brands and was in absolute fascination with how far technology has developed while we were still watching black-and-white TV and driving Ladas. Upon entering the first electronics shop, he learned about a South Korean brand - Samsung and was immediately hooked. I remember his house vividly - a freezer, a washing machine, a TV set and other small appliances - all of them Samsung without an exception! His admiration for Asian culture translated into very positive associations for the brand and he was choosing it even though it was more expensive than most other brands.

I find myself in a similar situation with Philips - the awesome brand that stands for superior Dutch design and practical solutions. I consider the Dutch to be among the best engineers on Earth and this has translated into respecting the brand itself as a mark of Dutch design and engineering heritage. It started with a few small purchases but now I have more than 15 Philips gadgets at home and I love them all (still waiting for my new Philips Sonicare toothbrush and am super excited about it!). My extremely positive attitude towards Philips was further fueled by my 2013 visit of Philips Museum in Eindhoven. There I learned a lot about the brand but also about its social significance during WW2, when the company tried to keep as many Jews occupied at work as possible in order to save them from the German concentration camps.

My mom in Philips Museum, 2013, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Nostalgia

But there's more to consumer brands than just their origin - a very strong emotional driver is the nostalgia they bring for "the good old days". I think it's a key driver to shopping behaviour when it comes to premium-priced brands. Sticking to the 2 examples above - my smartphone is Samsung and has been for the past 10 years. Not that Huawei, One Plus and other brands are not good enough - but Samsung brings the memory of my grandpa and it will be my smartphone choice for the upcoming decades.

Philips is also a nostalgic brand for me - I lived in The Netherlands for more than 5 years and have a great "feel-good" memories about those times. Now that I am back living in Bulgaria, every Philips purchase brings me back to the low lands even just for a while.

Sustainability

I left this as the last point, but it's probably the most important one! Consumers should learn to consume sustainably or our planet will face even greater problems in the upcoming 20 years. So why is a high-end brand more sustainable and always the better choice? Well, for starters, that Samsung washing machine from the first paragraphs was bought in 1995 and is still perfectly working today! And unless it breaks down completely, my grandma will not replace it. So something that was expensive at the time is much more durable and cheaper in the long-term than Chinese spin-offs that would break down in 5 years. Paying a premium is not about status, it's about the practical decision to invest in longer-lasting technology that will reduce waste and pollute the environment less. In that sense, I think Price as part of the classic marketing mix is the most useful bit of consumer marketing - pricing should be smart and signify product quality that is sustainable and the better long-term option. The marketing communications mix is also critical to bring this message across - high prices are about pragmatism, not about ego-boosting status purchases!

In the last sentences I will strategically open the can of worms by stating that Apple is not a heritage, nostalgic nor sustainable brand - its user experience is crap and the extremely inflated prices have nothing to do with pragmatism. Change my mind in the comments! And have a great Sunday, *pushes the ON button of her Philips salad maker* . :)