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From the NYT:

Vintage Brand and Corporate Names to Be Auctioned

By STUART ELLIOTT

A cache of venerable brand and corporate names, not used for years — and, in some instances, decades — is to be auctioned next month in New York.

The auction is being planned by Michael Reich, whose company, Brands USA Holdings, has been accumulating the rights to the names. Mr. Reich, who is chief executive at Brands USA, estimates that 150 to 170 names will be available at the auction, scheduled for Dec. 8.

The auction is another example of the growing interest in nostalgic brands as economic conditions lead many consumers to look back on what they perceived to be better, less stressful times. According to a new study from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, nostalgic choices have power because they help consumers fulfill a need to belong.

Among the nostalgic names scheduled for the auction block, Mr. Reich listed Allsweet margarine, American Brands, Bowery Savings Bank, General Cinema, Handi-Wrap plastic wrap, Infoseek, Lucky Whip dessert topping, Meister Brau beer, Phar-Mor discount drug stores, Shearson brokerage services and Snow Crop frozen orange juice.

Mr. Reich said he was attracted to the names, which he accumulated over five or six years, because of a previous career in the cosmetics business.

“If you’re in that industry, it’s brands that turn the wheel,” he said.

The names to be auctioned are in categories that include food and beverage, fashion and apparel, corporate brands and toiletries and cosmetics. There are some media brands, too, Mr. Reich said, among them Changing Times magazine, Collier’s magazine and Saturday Review magazine.

More information about the auction, which Mr. Reich said would be held at the Waldorf-Astoria as well as online, can be found at trademarkauctioninfo.com.

The study about nostalgia was conducted by Kate Loveland, a marketing graduate student at the Carey School, who worked with Naomi Mandel, an associate professor there, and Dirk Smeesters, an associate professor at Erasmus University in the Netherland.

“Nostalgia has a very social component,” Ms. Loveland said, adding that she noticed that through the students in the laboratory taking part in the research.

“You saw them become more animated and talk to each other,” she added. “That’s not normal in the lab.”

The sense of belonging that nostalgia stirs suggests that brands seeking to take advantage of nostalgia in their marketing ought to “emphasize social interaction in the advertising,” Ms. Loveland said, and use social media like Twitter as part of their plans.

The genesis of the study, Ms. Loveland said, was that “a lot of my friends starting having children” and she noticed that many of the toys the children played with were toys she recognized like Cabbage Patch Kids.

“These products provide a way” for parents “to further connect with their children,” she added.

In one experiment, some students were asked to play an animated ball-toss game. Those who were excluded from the game later felt a greater need to belong. Then all the students were asked to choose between nostalgic and contemporary brands of cars, soup, cookies and other products.

For instance, in the category of cars, the nostalgic brands were the Volkswagen Beetle and the Mini Cooper and the contemporary brands were the Smart and the Toyota Prius.

The students who had been excluded from the game chose more nostalgic products than those who had played the game, the study found.