Think back to your childhood: the sounds, the smells, the sights. Did you brush your teeth with Crest toothpaste? Eat Honeycombs for breakfast? When you think back, are you in a simpler world? A safe place filled with warmth and consistency?

If so, you might buy into one of the recession’s latest trends: retro marketing. Retro marketing is the technique of using “throw back” advertising and marketing tactics to elicit childhood memories and drive sales. How, you ask? Retro marketing slogans and art trigger thoughts of “the good old days” before the recession, when the world was less complex and more stable. By purchasing the product, a consumer subconsciously travels back in time and is, for a moment, comforted by the familiar.

Giants like Pepsi, General Mills and McDonald’s are taking part in the phenomenon, reverting to vintage logos, sepia tones and 70’s taglines. However, this tactic holds promise outside the general consumer market — particularly in agri-marketing.

Due to the recent price turbulence and growing opposition, farmers — a naturally nostalgic group — have become even more nostalgic the past few years. They seek stability, comfort and a return to “good times.”

Does this make them even more responsive to retro marketing than the average consumer?

Not sure. But agri-business presents a lot of opportunities to test this theory. Many ag brands have been around for generations, making them a natural fit.

It won’t be as easy as throwing an old logo on a bag of seed, though. It’s about attracting a new and loyal following to an old-style product. Like any successful campaign, it needs to be a solid and believable brand story, told with sincerity.

What do you think? Does retro marketing have a place in agri-marketing? What about other industries?