Calvé's reuse of old advertising materials: an effective brand-building campaign?

The strength of successful brands lies in their consistent development of their brand identity. Consistency ensures that the brand becomes increasingly firmly rooted in the consumer’s mind. But is it possible to take this too far? To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Calvé grabbed the spotlight; instead of opting for a brand-new campaign, Calvé chose to evoke nostalgia with Pietertje: a bold move?

Looking back

Marketers deal with brand identity on a daily basis. It is an ongoing process that requires a combination of consistency, differentiation, and innovative marketing strategies. When people think of innovation, they often think of new, forward-looking ideas. But what happens when you look back at the past? There’s a reason why people say, “Everything was better in the old days.” Evoking that sense of nostalgia was precisely Calvé’s strategy.

Do you remember them?

Back in 1983, Calvé was already winning over viewers with Petje Pitamientje. And no one could have missed “Pietertje! Come on over for a quick swap, kid!” The Pietertje commercial won a Golden Loeki award in 2010 and was even nominated in 2015 for the best TV commercial of all time. The Pietertje storyline was revived in 2018 with a modern twist featuring a young Lieke Martens and in 2022 with tennis legend Esther Vergeer. Validators implicitly tested all commercials for emotional impact, and the results speak for themselves. All commercials score above the benchmark. The methods used have a high predictive value for the creative’s impact potential and are therefore key to an effective campaign or even a Golden Loeki.

Connecting vintage advertisements with the present offers opportunities. For example, repurposing vintage advertising materials provides an opportunity to create a strong emotional connection with consumers who cherish these memories. By evoking feelings of nostalgia, brand loyalty can increase, leading consumers to continue choosing the brand.

A new campaign with a familiar look

During its cross-media campaign in May, Calvé looked back on its successful campaigns. It featured a beautiful combination of footage from past commercials set to the nostalgic strains of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” It was a highly effective campaign that evoked bygone days in a beautiful and flawlessly executed manner.

Appelsientje also recently used footage from decades ago in a new commercial. They looked back on 50 years of Appelsientje. The brand has been bringing a little sunshine to the Netherlands for 50 years, and that’s reflected in the commercial. Just like with Calvé, Appelsientje also places a strong emphasis on music, which further evokes a sense of nostalgia in the viewer. Audio has the ability to evoke the past, and in doing so, it can elicit very positive emotions.

Just a chance of success?

Calvé and Appelsientje can, of course, draw on their fantastic commercials from the past. If your brand doesn’t have this rich advertising history, make sure to test which emotions the old commercials evoke. A wear-out effect can also set in after a few years, which could in turn cause irritation. Finally, consistency remains key. The old material must align with the brand’s current positioning and the spirit of the times. If your message from the past conflicts with recent campaigns or brand developments, little will remain of the nostalgic campaign.

But I’m looking forward to seeing more brands that bring back the good old days. Hopefully we’ll see Ruben van der Meer in a new Cup-a-Soup commercial or Harry Piekema back in the supermarket. Because let’s face it, wasn’t everything better back then?

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