What We Learned When We Analyzed 1,000 Brands and Consumer Sentiment Around Brand Heritage and History
Each episode of the new Netflix show I’ve been watching, “House of Guinness,” begins with the line, “THIS FICTION IS INSPIRED BY TRUE STORIES.” I have mixed feelings about these fictional dramatizations of real companies and people, a melodrama about one of our great global brands featuring a Succession-like family power struggle (and beer!). But this is just another sign that there’s a growing market for content that blends real brands, compelling storytelling and history.
The second edition of History Factory’s Heritage Gap Report, developed in partnership with Certus Insights, confirmed something we suspected but hadn’t fully been quantified until now: Consumers are increasingly driving the conversation around brand history and heritage. This year, we refined our methodology to capture that dynamic more fully. The project included an analysis of social media conversations about history and heritage across 1,000 brands in various industries, a survey of the attitudes and brand perceptions of 1,000 U.S. adults, and an expert panel review by History Factory’s subject matter specialists.
What we found was affirming and revealing. More than half of consumers (55%) want to see more content on social media about brand heritage. But when you break it down by age group, that appetite is especially pronounced among younger adults. Nearly two-thirds of consumers under 45 say they enjoy content from brands about their histories, compared to just 41% of those over 65. And almost half of those younger consumers believe brands should post about their history more often.
Young adults engage most with heritage when it feels personal and current—through retro products; influencer tie-ins; and fan or artifact storytelling on visual platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
The data tells us that people want authentic content grounded in tangible, relatable specifics—like an image of an artifact or a person telling a story. In our survey, the top-scoring categories for types of content people wanted to see all shared visual, emotional or tangible elements. Comparatively, vague and empty references like highlighting a brand’s age or announcing a milestone anniversary performed far worse.
And this generational interest in heritage isn’t limited to what consumers see on social media or even on screen. It extends to what they want to hold in their hands and own. As reported this week in The Wall Street Journal, members of Gen Z and younger millennials are actively reclaiming analog experiences such as flip phones, point-and-shoot digital cameras, cassettes and CDs—often as a counterbalance to digital saturation. According to a 2023 survey, the article references that The Harris Poll conducted in collaboration with the Human Flourishing Lab, 60% of Gen Z respondents said they wished they “could go back to a time before everyone was ‘plugged in.’” That’s consistent with our findings that a majority of consumers under 45 say they’re most engaged by heritage storytelling when it includes tangible artifacts, retro products, or physical tie-ins.
So where does that leave us? The data is clear: Heritage isn’t a relic. It’s a resource. But tapping into it requires more than just leaning into how long you’ve been around. Consumers—especially younger ones—are telling us exactly what they want: real stories, tangible connections, emotional relevance and historical context that informs and provides credibility in a bottomless vortex of content. The opportunity for brands is enormous, but so is the responsibility. If you’re going to tell your story, tell it with intention.