B2B nostalgia: how and when to go retro in your campaigns | Five creative approaches from the B2B Marketing Awards entries, with Guy O'Brien of Custom Influence — Trust & Influence in B2B

Nostalgia sells everything from trainers to TV reboots, yet it barely registers in B2B marketing. To find out why, Joel Harrison went through three years of B2B Marketing Awards entries in search of the exceptions, and invited Guy O'Brien, co-founder of B2B influencer marketing agency Custom Influence, into the studio to make sense of what he found.

➡️ Together they unpack five ways B2B brands are going retro, from Exel Composites retelling the Three Little Pigs to Allica Bank's bowler hat, and ask why so few try it. Guy's verdict is that nostalgia isn't wrong for B2B, it's just hard: target the wrong generation and you alienate the buyers coming through; lean too far into the joke and people remember the ad but not the brand. Joel adds a warning of his own about nostalgia that stirs the wrong memories. If you're weighing a bolder creative idea, this conversation will help you judge when going retro will pay off.

What You'll Learn

Why nostalgia is everywhere in consumer marketing but rare in B2B, and why that comes down to difficulty rather than suitability.
The five creative approaches B2B brands are using to go retro, with campaign examples from the B2B Marketing Awards.
How to avoid alienating buyers from other generations as B2B buying groups get younger.
Why the brand, not the nostalgic idea, has to be what people remember.
How a nostalgic idea can build a community rather than a one-off moment.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction: where this conversation came from

01:52 - Guy O'Brien and Custom Influence

03:44 - Nostalgia and the humanisation of B2B

04:27 - Trend 1: Generational era cues (Just Group)

09:45 - Why nostalgia is so rare in B2B

11:25 - Trend 2: Childhood storytelling (Exel Composites)

17:16 - Trend 3: Retro media formats (Infoblox and 6sense)

22:45 - Trend 4: Period-specific aesthetics (Ecolab)

27:14 - Trend 5: Iconography of tradition (Allica Bank)

34:29 - The verdict: is nostalgia viable in B2B?

36:14 - When nostalgia backfires

40:47 - Where to find the campaigns

Follow Guy O'Brien

LinkedIn: [link]

Custom Influence: https://custominfluence.com/

Closing boilerplate

If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to creative and thought leadership, whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader.

🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/

💬 Would you take your B2B brand retro, or is nostalgia best left to consumer marketers? Let us know in the comments below.

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