Expertise

Legacy Brands Leaning In

By

Sarah Miller

Brands that are demonstrating the staying power to connect with new audiences and younger generations are the brands that have heart.

At Bernstein-Rein, we believe retail intelligence comes from consumer insights, a true brand purpose, and half a century of unrivaled experience. We put these beliefs together to accelerate growth. This approach is called Retailigent™ – it's what drives our work every day.

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Brands that are demonstrating the staying power to connect with new audiences and younger generations are the brands that have heart.

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BR has been fortunate to work with a number of iconic brands. Walmart. McDonalds. Hostess. Just to name a few. As we’ve worked with these brands, we’ve learned that identifying new audiences is a core strategy to growing the brand and maintaining market share. Attrition is real, and if brands don’t find new audiences, it can mean a slow but inevitable brand death.

Gulf Oil is on our current client roster, and they’re an iconic brand as well. Known for their heritage and legacy, when you talk to customers, you quickly get tales of fueling up there because their parents and grandparents did and how they just know they can trust and depend on the brand. But as the brand grows, they’re looking to find new audiences too. Evolve or die. And they’re choosing to thrive.

As part of our work, we delved into other legacy brands who are successfully connecting with new audiences. We found some interesting commonalities that together build a strong foundation for moving your brand into the future and connecting with new audiences. Here’s what we uncovered.

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Own Your Icons

Brand icons carry significant emotional value with your existing audience and new audiences alike. Icons that evoke nostalgic memories can play with generations that may not have even been born when the icons were created. Tapping into nostalgia allows each generation to relate to your brand based on their unique memories.

Gaming brand, Nintendo, has been leaning into its icons and nostalgia for successful connections with Gen Z. The recent Nintendo Switch 2 launch featured Paul Rudd recreating a Nintendo ad from 1991. The Switch 2 is the fastest-selling game console in US history, selling 1.6 million units in its launch month alone.

Nintendo also successfully keeps brand momentum flowing with its prominent feature of iconic characters like Mario, Luigi and the rest of their misfit characters. They have timeless design, are easily recognizable, and are broadly represented across game genres and media – from movies to theme parks. The characters are household names and have fostered cross-generation appeal.

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Digital Dominance

Leaning into new audiences requires that brands not only embrace the media channels those audiences live in but find ways to bring their brand to life in a way that’s truly on brand. It’s not enough to just show up on the social platform of the moment. Your brand has to have a reason for being there, and something unique to say.

McDonald’s is dominating the digital dojo and scoring big with Gen Z. The brand represents itself well with its witty, self-aware voice. They’re true to who they are resonating with familiar and affordable messaging. But above all, McDonald’s speaks the digital language fluently through meme-based creative executions. They build on the brand’s pop-culture collaborations and continue to connect with Gen Z nicely.

@mcdonalds Best. Day. Ever. McDonaldland Meal out now… and reimagined song thx to @Toro y Moi ♬ original sound - McDonald’s

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You Gotta Have Heart

Purpose and authenticity are quickly becoming entry stakes for reaching new audiences – specifically Gen Z. Trust in institutions is at an all-time low, and people are looking for something to give them joy and hope. They’re looking for brands to celebrate shared values and what brings us together.

For brands that have a history of enabling self-expression and providing durable, affordable products, there’s opportunity to gain traction to this new audience, just by being who they’ve always been. Converse is a great example of such a brand. They’ve stood the test of time, while staying relevant by allowing their customers the custom, fashion-forward offerings they’re looking for. Converse continues to infuse artistry into their styles, at the same time providing the classic silhouette brand loyalists love.

Converse invites their customers to share their brand love through user generated content (UGC) that empowers self-expression and personal connection with the brand. Collaborations with artists and designers have also been a mainstay of their brand’s fashion forward focus.

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New Audiences Await

The first step to reaching new audiences is understanding who they are. At BR, we use our Mindset Modeling tool to identify who your highest value customer currently is, and then futurecast who your best new audience is. While we want to ensure we’re reaching your highest value customers today, we also want to be planting seeds with the best potential customers of tomorrow.

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