I went on holiday back in time.

To a place where seatbelts aren’t mandatory and MOTs aren’t required. There are no traffic jams, and the railway is quite literally a London Underground carriage from the 1930s. By day, beautiful, quiet beaches adorned by historic forts host sandcastle competitions and by night, torchlit parades light the cobbled streets. (Appendix)

No, I (sadly) didn’t get in a DeLorean, though the teeny plane required to get there wasn’t much bigger. I didn’t even leave the UK, or maybe I did? The politics get blurry there. But it wasn’t Timbuktu; it was Alderney, Channel Island, 3.5 square miles, population 2,000.

Yes really, that’s it. Like all of it.

Why am I talking about this in a marketing newsletter?

A few reasons. In some respects, we’ve all been going on holiday to the past recently – that’ll become clear. I also believe that observing and learning from people, particularly those whose lives are vastly different to our own, is not just a good human quality but entirely necessary to being a good strategist. Besides, I’d hazard a guess that you’re already at least a bit curious to find out where this is going – if not, I would gently suggest you’re in the wrong business, given that ours is built entirely on influencing human behaviour.

We’re all magpies

Our industry is great at championing good work, and I believe we’re all the better for it, but we’re also very good at navel-gazing, and even better at following the crowd. “Oh, I too believe this McDonald’s campaign is the best I’ve ever seen.” “Wait, look what they’ve done now.” “NO. WAIT. THIS ONE.” You know the drift.

(My apologies to the genuinely talented teams at Leo Burnett and Wieden+Kennedy, whose work is, in fairness, excellent). But let’s call a spade a spade: most of us could only dream of those budgets. My point is that while we’re moths to the big, expensive, and highly manufactured, we overlook what actually works organically, day in, day out, and often without any intervention at all. Surely the best use of our powers as marketers is to amplify what already exists rather than try to carve behaviour from scratch every time? It’s easy to miss in the noise, but strip it all away and you’ll be pleasantly reminded. 

In small communities, news and gossip travel like wildfire. Marketing budgets don’t exist in  Alderney, but that doesn’t mean that marketing doesn’t happen. It just means that other mechanisms have to step up: word of mouth, chief among them. Most “advertising” on the island happens via a poster in a shop window, followed by half the island telling their friends about it.

Case in point:

“The solar eclipse is tomorrow, I wish we had some glasses.”

“Let me ask around… 

Great news! (Trusted source) says the café has 500 pairs, going on sale at 4 pm.” 

“There are only 2,000 people on this island. There’s no way many others have this information. We’re in!”

Insert SpongeBob meme here because a few moments later I arrived to find something that can only be described as a rival to the Wimbledon queue. No programmatic, not even a shop window poster. Just demand, fulfilled entirely by well-timed supply and word of mouth. And no, I didn’t get a pair. Turns out WOM really is that good.

Brands don’t build communities.

We talk endlessly about brands “building communities” particularly on social. I think that’s rubbish. Communities build brands, and if they’re smart, brands can occasionally borrow some credit.

There’s a saying in Alderney: 

“If there’s something you want, forget it; if there’s something you need, just ask.”

Yes, I’m aware that sounds like something a Hogwarts ghost told me on my quest to find the Room of Requirement. But I think it’s actually quite wonderful and genuinely good summation of what “community” actually means. 

I know we need a word for the brand thing we try to manufacture, but in most cases, “community” simply doesn’t earn the label. You don’t decide to build one, you earn the right to pull up a chair. Communities are human and reciprocal. Just as good news spreads fast, so does the bad, so if you’re exempt from criticism in your own community, then news flash, it isn’t one.

Time AND place

Community isn’t the only place attention beats budget. Sometimes it’s just someone doing the basics properly, somewhere you didn’t expect it.

While Alderney’s charm is seemingly endless, one should be sure to pack their sense of humour for the journey – delays are frequent, and I became VERY familiar with the inside of Guernsey Airport. As anyone in advertising knows, delays mean one thing – gazing around and examining the marketing in the vicinity. I was pleasantly surprised. 

Situational marketing can be brilliant when it’s done well, and excruciating when it isn’t. It’s not going to win any awards but I have to admit I cracked a smile reading this at the announcement that our flight had been delayed due to fog…

The next encounter was nothing short of genius. 

Clever use of unexpected real estate is usually a decent start, but the back of a boarding pass?! Who knew.

I only clocked it properly when someone tapped me on the shoulder, looking concerned and panting slightly. “Excuse me, you dropped this.” They handed me what looked like a bank card. I was halfway through explaining it wasn’t mine when I registered the paper feel in my hand. It was the bottom tab of my own boarding pass.

Take a bow, Butterfield.

The whole point of this article is…

…that I’m not the only one going on holiday to the past.

Nostalgia is a full-blown trend right now. Why? It’s a shortcut to creating a sense of authenticity (which, as every customer insight report will tell you, is all Gen Z live and breathe).

It is a clever mechanism. It means you don’t have to evoke a feeling; you just have to remember it. I’ve felt this before – enter Polaroid and VW Golf ads – but in this very real holiday to the past, authenticity wasn’t manufactured; the world just existed, unapologetically as it was. That’s authenticity in its purest form, and it made me nostalgic for a version of the world I’d never actually lived in. If I could bag that feeling and have it for breakfast, I would. 

So… cereal brands? Here’s the torch…