Communications leaders from Delta, Peanuts and Yahoo describe how anniversaries can be used to modernize heritage brands through authentic brand DNA, partnerships, employee participation, and experiential storytelling.
Use anniversaries as platforms to forward-looking work: mark history while funding future messaging and growth.
Activate nostalgia through brand DNA and partnerships rather than by recycling old assets or relying solely on spectacle.
Make experiences and employees part of the story—physical spaces, staff-designed elements and social content bring heritage to new audiences.
How to activate nostalgia without losing contemporary relevance Why brand DNA matters more than flashy production The museum and physical experience as brand storytelling. Sona Iliffe-Moon is Chief Communications Officer at Yahoo, where she leads global corporate, consumer, and internal communications. Gina Pesko Laughlin is Vice President, Global Brand Communications at Delta Air Lines, where she leads communications strategies that strengthen Delta's reputation, culture, and customer brand.
Melissa Menta is a veteran marketing and communications executive with deep experience building global entertainment and character brands. Adweek Staff @Adweek | editorial@adweek.com Brand Marketing From Heritage to Happy Hour:
She brings more than 20 years of experience across strategic, consumer, crisis, and corporate communications, having held leadership roles at Lyft, Facebook, Instagram, Nestlé, and Toyota, as well as PR agencies Weber Shandwick and Hill & Knowlton. Before entering PR, Sona worked as a foreign affairs officer at the U.S. A 20-year Delta veteran, she has held leadership roles spanning corporate, employee, executive, crisis, and operations communications, including helping guide the airline through its merger with Northwest and bankruptcy reorganization.
Discover how brands can tap cultural celebrations and authentic visuals to deepen trust and connection.
In a landscape where brands are constantly chasing trends, offering something new, or adding a twist to (or “elevating”) just about anything, nostalgia has a way of recalling what’s familiar and comforting. It’s what people default to—or even gravitate towards—when everyone’s out there trying to prove they’re “new.” Ma
As the confectionery maker invests in brands to build on recent growth, its flagship label teamed with a chart-topping pop group to support a new product.
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