The Art of Running It Back: When to Bring Back an Old Ad Campaign
The Most Interesting Man in the World is back. The beloved campaign from Dos Equis captured the hearts and minds of America. You’ve undoubtedly seen the campaign, but we’ll describe it for you anyway. In each 30-second TV spot, audiences are treated to grainy footage of a multi-talented Renaissance man on his many adventures while Spanish guitar plays and a buttery-smooth voice-over says things like “He is the life of parties he has never been to.” Then it would end with a modern-day shot of him in a bar, saying directly to the camera, “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends.”
If by some chance you haven’t seen them, and that written description doesn’t do it justice (it doesn’t), then we suggest you watch this entire 18-minute compilation before you continue on with the blog. Yes, all of it.
The campaign started in 2006 and ran until 2018, though they replaced the original actor in 2016 (which might have contributed to the campaign not lasting much longer). There are countless reasons why it was not only a beloved but also an effective campaign. The humor makes it memorable and the slogan is so iconic that it feels like a no-brainer not to keep a campaign like this on the shelf for too long, but bringing back an old campaign requires nuance. There’s a danger in doing the same thing over and over again, and while Dos Equis absolutely hit it out of the park with this revival, there were many landmines they had to avoid. It’s certainly not as easy as they made it look, and other companies have had less-than-ideal attempts.
Brands don’t just have to decide whether to bring back an old campaign, but when is the right time to do it. How do they reintroduce it to the world in a way that will actually make it as effective as the original?
Reasons to Bring Back Old Campaigns
Nostalgia
As Don Draper once said, “Nostalgia. It's delicate but potent.” A blatant appeal to nostalgia is a time-honored technique in advertising. We always tend to remember the past as better than it was. No matter how bad the past was, people still long for it. Remember when the pandemic started and everyone was confused, anxious, and stuck at home? Some people even miss that, which is why advertising that appeals to nostalgia is such an often-used strategy.
When you bring back an old campaign, especially one that was prevalent in the cultural zeitgeist, it reminds people of all that they enjoyed about that period in time.
Reclaiming a Stronger Brand Era
The interesting wrinkle about bringing back an old campaign is that you’re not just reminding people of how they felt during a simpler time (because the past was always simpler, right?), but you’re also reminding them of their perceptions of the company.
The company wants to reconnect with a time when things were going better. It could be that the company was doing well because whatever campaign they were running was so successful. It could also be that there were numerous factors contributing to their success, and bringing back the campaign is a way to remind people of that time. “Hey, remember us. We’re still here.”
When Bringing Back a Campaign Is a Bad Idea
- If the original message no longer fits cultural values
- If the brand hasn’t done the work to earn goodwill again
- If it feels like a cash grab instead of a creative decision
How to Bring Back an Old Campaign the Right Way
One of the more noteworthy things about Dos Equis bringing back “The Most Interesting Man in the World” is they didn’t just start running it again as if nothing happened. They didn’t play the ads that ran from 2006 to 2016. Although those ads were great, running old ads may appear lazy or like recycling content, no matter how great the originals were. And running old ads would probably scratch the itch of nostalgia from people who remember and enjoyed them but it likely wouldn’t do anything to expand their customer base.
They needed to reintroduce the character in a way that stayed true to the original campaign to conserve the nostalgia.
- Simply replaying old ads doesn’t work
- There needs to be a new angle
Dos Equis flipped the concept from “the most interesting man in the world” to “the most mild,” creating an ironic twist on an old classic for the viewers who knew what they were watching while still making a "new" campaign.
Keep the Core Idea Change the Execution
It’s a difficult tightrope to walk, keeping the spirit of the original campaign but bringing it to a new audience in a new time, but it can be done so spectacularly. As long as you find a new angle on the old campaign, you can bring your brand back to its former glory.
If you’re thinking about bringing back an old classic but want to refresh it, then luckily for you, putting new spins on ideas is one of the things we do best. Fill out the form below and we can schedule a time to chat in our office bar. We’re not sure what beer is in the keg right now. There’s about a 95% chance it’s an IPA and not Dos Equis but we’ll make do.