Mini Cooper, Lorina lemonade, Tann’s satchel… brand comebacks, always a success?

2023-04-16 13:35:19

At a time when vintage is more trendy than ever, many brands, which had their moment of glory several decades ago, are trying to win back the hearts of consumers. Sometimes successfully. Like Lorina lemonade, which almost disappeared in the 1990s.

To relaunch the machine, its new owner, Jean-Pierre Barjon, had chosen to bet on the “ancestral” aspect of the product and its recipe unchanged for a century, while distinguishing itself by its glass bottle and sleek packaging, its retro appearance giving it the look of a high-end product.

On a different note, BMW relaunched its Mini Cooper in 2014. The car retained its reputation as a movie icon while adapting its technology and becoming customizable.

Let’s also mention the Tann’s satchels that filled playgrounds in the 1980s before disappearing. The brand was relaunched at the end of the 2000s with new models (but always with the rigid aspect that made them successful) and ended up conquering yesterday’s schoolchildren who had become parents.

Bringing the product “up to date”

What do these successes have in common? Succeed in combining a return to the past and innovation. “Pulling out an identical product never works, it has to be brought up to date,” confirms Benoît Heilbrunn, professor of marketing at ESCP Business School. A balance to be found between heritage and the present, to avoid the “has been” side.

A challenge that some brands have failed to meet. Like Pschitt lemonade. Unable to seduce her former customers, she tried to attract younger ones by offering Pokémon cards. But the test did not turn out.

Same observation for Bolino de Maggi, the ancestor of instant noodles. The brand has relaunched its famous freeze-dried prepared dish, flavored with tomato pasta or shepherd’s pie.

If the concept was innovative when it was released, the competition has been there, and the taste, considered bland by consumers, has not appealed. “Without credibility, nostalgia does not turn into a purchase”, analyzes Johanna Volpert, professor at Kedge Business School and expert in retro-marketing.