What was once old is new again.

I watched a fantastic commercial for gold, where the actor named off random sayings like “golden goose”, “golden ticket” to make the connection that gold will forever be valuable and that investors should buy it. This compelling ad made me draw the parallel to the word ‘old’, which is often used as a negative term because old can suggest “worn out” or “outdated” to people. These days, old is now new. From product design to how big business and small business market their products or services.

Let me dive into some examples.

1) Without dating myself, I can tell you that I distinctly remember wearing headphones and holding a walkman to listen to my music in my youth. It was a nuisance to have to connect the wire from the headphone to the device and strategically do an actual dance to avoid getting tangled in the wires. However, the sound was perfection! I would also never run the risk of losing them since they were so firmly planted on my head. Here I am in 2025, a business consultant in Toronto who loves listening to music and podcasts, but hates the sound quality and potentially losing my ear buds, and I am now considering buying old school headphones as my next amplifying device.

2) A year ago I was presented with the option to purchase a new phone, and somebody suggested an android flip phone. While I wasn’t entirely sold, I did consider the 2k nostalgic option. This old design is slowly coming back, and parents are leaning more and more into the idea of old flip phones for their kids as starter phones to avoid exposing their children to current addictive technology with newer phones. Isn’t it ironic? - Old reference by Alanis Morrissette.

3) My favourite old is new analogy, is most definitely commercials! Over a decade ago, we were recording our favourite shows and avoided commercials by fast forwarding them, and then came Netflix. A network that opened people up to an almost glutinous world of endless commercial free TV shows and movies, including old classics like ‘Friends’. See the extra irony there. Not even a decade later, Netflix is offering cheaper services if consumers sit through an entire ad. Now that is a throwback.

What is your Canadian small business doing to tap into ‘old’ to make it fresh and new again?

Ofra Nissani is a Marketing & Business Coach based in Toronto, servicing Oakville, The Beaches, Burlington, Leslieville, Mississauga, and The Junction, who supports small businesses and serves as a business consultant to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. Reach out directly for a free discovery call by clicking here.