Printing a 1980s brand is no guarantee of success

In May 2023, the German brand Telefunken will be 120 years old. The name was behind the first radio transmission system in the 1930s and, in Brazil, the transmission of the first color images on TV, in the 1970s, thanks to the PAL-M system, quite a novelty for the time.

Now, in the second decade of the second millennium, the brand returns to the country to name an extensive line of small appliances – from mixers to headphones, in addition to irons and even hair dryers. The name will work in the mid-priced and premium product segment; the brand’s planetary mixer, for example, costs around R$ 1,400.

“The brand evokes a very positive affective memory even with consumers, even though it has been outside Brazil for more than 30 years”, says Marcelo Palacios, general director of Someco Brasil. The Argentine company, specializing in professional audio systems and musical instruments, has licensed the Telefunken brand for Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

Electronics maker Telefunken no longer exists; there is only brand licensing, done by Telefunken Licenses. The products come from Asian suppliers.

Palacios recognizes, however, the brand’s need not to be dated in the eyes of the consumer. “The electronics market evolves and there are great competitors in the segment”, he says. “Our task is to bring products that continue to offer innovation.”

Telefunken seeks to boast of a name that was once associated with cutting-edge technology and reliable products, but to guarantee its space in the Brazilian market, it will need more than brand memory, according to experts heard by Sheet.

“What cognitive associations does a consumer of small appliances make today when deciding on their purchase? Does he look for references in what his mother or grandmother used? It’s not an easy task for this segment”, says Ana Duque-Estrada, marketing professor at ESPM’s communication and advertising course.

In retail, Mappin and Mesbla have not hit the mark so far

“Brands that became popular in the 1980s have a story to tell, but the association of their essence with the present day needs to be very well sewn”, says the specialist, who recalls the cases of the Mappin and Mesbla retail chains.

Memorable in the 1970s and 1980s, they went into decline in the 1990s, eventually going bankrupt. The brands were redeemed at auction and re-launched in the digital world. Mappin came back to life in 2019, being controlled by the same owners as Marabraz, while Mesbla was resurrected in May of this year at the hands of a former employee, Marcel Viana, and his brother Ricardo.

As a marketplace, Mesbla, which used to focus on clothing and reached 180 points of sale in the country, now sells everything: from clothes and shoes, including bed, table and bath, furniture, even tools, such as drills and circuit breakers.

“If the essence of the successful retailer’s brand was lost, it is not a name and a symbol that will sustain its trajectory from now on”, says Ana Duque-Estrada.

Set in the 1980s, ‘Stranger Things’ arouses curiosity

Psychologist Cecília Russo Troiano, general director of consulting firm Troiano Branding, agrees. “The names Mappin and Mesbla have not reached, by far, the relevance they had when they owned physical stores”, she says, remembering that in the category they operate today, marketplaces, these brands have strong competitors that arrived later. and consolidated their names, such as Amazon and Mercado Livre.

Cecília highlights the revival of old brands as legitimate. “The world cannot just move forward, it is necessary to build bridges between generations and many brands assume this role”, she says, referring to century-old brands that evoke nostalgia and continue to be successful.

“But I need to identify qualities in this brand that can make it contemporary, interesting for younger people, that somehow arouse their curiosity for a time they didn’t live,” she says.

The psychologist highlights the audience of the Netflix series “Stranger Things” as an example. Set in the 1980s, the attraction even managed to revive Kate Bush’s hit “Running up that hill” – a 1985 hit that has delighted pre-teens of the new millennium.