Stephen Brown, Robert V. Kozinets, John F. Sherry Jr., (2003). Teaching Old Brands New Tricks: Retro Branding and the Revival of Brand Meaning. Journal of Marketing: Vol. 67, No. 3, pp. 19-33.
doi: 10.1509/jmkg.67.3.19.18657

Teaching Old Brands New Tricks: Retro Branding and the Revival of Brand Meaning

Stephen Brown,

1. University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland

Professor of Marketing Research1Robert V. Kozinets,

2. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Assistant Professor of Marketing2John F. Sherry Jr.

3. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Professor of Marketing3



Abstract

Retro brands are relaunched historical brands with updated features. The authors conduct a “netnographic” analysis of two prominent retro brands, the Volkswagen New Beetle and Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, that reveals the importance of Allegory (brand story), Aura (brand essence), Arcadia (idealized community), and Antinomy (brand paradox). Retro brand meanings are predicated on a utopian communal element and an enlivening paradoxical essence. Retro brand management involves an uneasy, cocreative, and occasionally clamorous alliance between producers and consumers.

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