Brands are increasingly mining nostalgia for their visual and emotional cues, but is it just about creating a sense of the familiar, or is there a deeper psychological need driving this trend?

Heritage once meant decades of history, but now a brand can conjure up an anemoia, the feeling of nostalgia for a time we never personally experienced. Typography, packaging and sound—all can be used to evoke a particular era or feeling, creating familiarity without a true history.

With social trends moving so quickly, the danger is that brands can become indistinguishable and disposable. Nostalgia offers a way to anchor in the human, the tactile, the slower. But it’s not just about the look; it’s about the emotional qualities underneath the aesthetic. Optimism, rebellion, escapism—brands must identify and reinterpret these feelings, not just copy their visual shorthand.

This approach is particularly powerful for newer brands, who can create a world that feels established without needing decades of history. The key is to give audiences something to play with, not just something to look at. Nostalgia becomes social material: something people can personalise and pass on. As Christina, Chief Social Officer of VML, notes, heritage is increasingly something audiences help build.