“UH-OH” Is ICQ Looking to Make a Comeback with Android?

Remember the days of ICQ? It was the late 1990’s, we would sit at our computers writing reports and chatting with the friends we had left behind at school less than an hour ago. Well, it looks like ICQ might have a place in our hearts again. Now owned by Russian web giant, Mail.ru Group, the company is set to launch its latest app for the Android platform.

The refreshed app, which already exists for iOS and the new Windows Phone, will combine old school IM with the more modern desire to have all-in-one applications. Users of the app can already integrate with existing IM technology including Facebook, AIM and GTalk, but now they will be able to share photos and location, combined with better offline functions like reading and composing IMs without a connection - this new app has the potential to be a massive hit with GenY and hipsters everywhere.

GenY lives in the social space more than any other but they also seem to long for a simpler time, or in the case of the Hipsters a more ironic time, so aside from the cross platform functionality and offline capabilities ICQ has one big thing going for it; the “UH-OH”. That iconic sound that so many of the GenY crowd associate with their first digital memories.
 
From a marketing standpoint, we know that playing on a person’s nostalgia is a powerful method of  connecting with your target market.

Pepsi’s Throwback campaign took advantage of this in 2011 when they launched a can and recipe that was a throwback to the Pepsi we had all known up until 1981 when the recipe changed from real sugar to high fructose corn syrup. Following the success of the U.S. execution, Pepsi Throwback was brought to Canada. Pepsi threw a massive party at Toronto's Revival on College, attendees were invited to put on their retro attire, drink some Pepsi and throw back to a simpler time. The campaign received mass media coverage from the National Post and #PepsiThrowback was trending globally by the end of the party. Even today, almost a year later, fans of the product are begging for its return.

Frito Lay did something similar for Doritos by bringing back their 1980’s Doritos Taco flavour. To accompany the old-is-new-again bag the brand launched a “Time Machine” Facebook app that brought users back to their favourite pop culture moments of yesterday. Thousands of fans engaged with the new app.

The key message is simple, although consumers are product-focused and price-oriented, as people, we’re very sentimental. Play to our past and it might earn you consideration in our future. Will it work for ICQ? I’ll text you about it later.


-Nafty