Nostalgia Marketing During Difficult Times

The long-awaited new Disney live-action remake of Mulan has flopped in the Chinese market, partially due to its murky political association with local government departments carrying out genocides in Xinjiang. However, in terms of marketing communication in general, I think they did a great job at using nostalgia to harness shared feelings with the audience. What’s more, research has suggested that nostalgia is effective at bringing positive emotions, which is especially significant during depressing times of COVID-19 pandemic (Rahman-Jones, 2020).

Nostalgia has always been one of Disney’s most powerful marketing strategies, repeatedly tapping emotionally into people’s lives and establishing a loyal future consumer base at the same time. In this case, the live-action Mulan features a slightly different story, taking out most of the original’s heartwarming, comedic components. There are no more songs and no more Mushu or Cri-Kee the cricket. Even so, the film still consists of significant components of the 1998 animated Mulan.

In most of the trailers, Disney doesn’t forget to feature an orchestral version of “Reflection,” the line “I’ll make a man out of every single one of you” from the original song “I’ll make a man out of you,” the tagline “loyal, brave, and true,” etc. Most recently, on Instagram, Disney released a special edition of the trailer for Disney+ on September 10, which features a montage and side-by-side edits of animated and live-action Mulan. This trailer definitely revitalized my nostalgic memories of watching the 1998 animated Mulan.

What can nostalgia do in turbulent times like this? According to Dr. Wijnand van Tilburg, a psychology professor at the University of Essex, nostalgia not only helps comfort anyone who is feeling lonely, sad, and bored by immersing one in a familiar world but also enhances the social connection between people (Rahman-Jones, 2020). For example, during times of COVID-19 uncertainty, nostalgia can bring individuals back in time to relive certain emotions, and parents who feel distant from their children can close that gap by sharing the same nostalgic experiences.

So, nostalgia may be an effective marketing strategy. But with increasing sequels and remakes in the market, should Disney be making more originals to attract new customers? Especially with Disney, some audiences are concerned with the amount of live-action remake films Disney is making in recent years, thus losing “freshness” in their content. Following Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan, Disney has announced to release nine more live-action remake films within the next three years.

In my opinion, one of the reasons behind this decision might be rooted in the ever-changing consumer interests in the film/tv market. Nobody knows what will work or what will not. However, film industries will often refer to what they know has worked in the past to reduce uncertainty. By producing remakes, Disney can secure a specific target audience, and that is Disney fans. It’s smart that Disney is making remakes and appealing to nostalgia, but there’s also some part of me that is looking forward to more original/ new stories that can bring the audience into a new world.

Sources:

Rahman-Jones, I. (2020, September 3). Mulan: Disney remakes and the power of nostalgia during coronavirus. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47696220