Old Tech Rebooted: How Brands Have Changed Over the Years

Specific names are synonymous with childhood, creating a comforting twang of familiarity when they’re seen today.

But although some brands have been around for many years, they’ve not allowed their products to be confined to the history books. By refreshing and re-imagining their brand, while still retaining their original appeal, they’re now attracting a whole new audience.

We take a closer look at some of the old brands who are enjoying new popularity – and others that are sinking without a trace.

The Winners:

Although there are several brands that have rebooted their image, there are two in particular which stand out as enjoying new popularity:

Pokemon

Created in 1995, Pokemon started out as a niche franchise in Japan, but the potential of the creation was quickly realised, and the little creatures started to spread worldwide. From cards, plushies and basic computer games, the popularity of Pokemon rocketed to become the highest-grossing franchise ever recorded.

But The Pokemon Company recognised that in order to stay relevant, they would have to continue to evolve and develop new products – and that meant going high tech. Pokemon has developed new games to play on the latest consoles, such as the Nintendo Switch and the innovative Pokemon Go, which is played while on the move.

Hasbro

Monopoly is an almost essential part of a family Christmas – picking your favourite playing piece and sending your loved ones into bankruptcy by building a hotel empire never ceases to be great fun. Hasbro bought the rights to Monopoly in 1991 and recognised that it would be possible to reboot and renew the brand.

Not only have they continued to release different editions of the board version, there’s even a live Monopoly casino game that you can play online. All of the original elements have been preserved, but there are even more possibilities when combined with high tech. Bring the properties to life as you play with glorious digital graphics!

The Losers:

But not everyone has fared as well as Pokemon and Hasbro; here are two previously popular brands that aren’t enjoying current success:

Sega

If you were a gamer in the 90s, the chances are that you had a Sega. Creators of the infamous blue-haired hedgehog, Sonic, they were the only gaming company to rival Nintendo, hitting $3.6 billion in sales by 1993. But despite the incredible success of Sonic and the Sega Mega Drive, things gradually started to fall apart. The appearance of the Playstation challenged its reputation of being cooler than the Nintendo. And this, together with a few commercial disasters, spelt the end of its popularity.

In the last year of production of consoles, Sega lost over $200 million, and that was enough to spell the end. Sega is still in existence today but no longer creates consoles. Instead, Sega is confined to making video games for other consoles, a poor second-best to the dominant position it once held.

Nokia

When mobile phones first became widespread, almost everyone had the Nokia 3310. It was the essential mobile phone to own, which allowed you to make calls and text plus play basic games such as Snake. Many people look back on their first Nokia with real fondness, but modern smartphones offer much greater functionality. Nokia have developed new products to try and keep up with the market but have never managed to recapture the same market share nor the public’s imagination in the same way.