Many businesses develop a back to basics theme to encourage former customers back as well as to bring in new customers. Before the Internet and the use of television commercials to sale goods or services, stores and shops relied on several different types of marketing approaches that included window display, fliers, advertisement mailers and the like. A back to basics theme doesn't have to be devoid of technology, however.

Monthly/Seasonal Themes

Develop a new monthly or seasonal theme that will entice customers with sales items that are available only during the period for which the theme exists. For example, you could have a window display filled with swimwear for the summer, or thick coats and gloves for the winter. To promote this seasonal sale, you could create a promotion that includes old fashioned advertisements done in a '50s style, from sales papers to signs in your store.

Spokesperson or Mascot

A form of “mascot” for your business gives customers a sense of nostalgia when they see your advertisements or when they visit your business. Some companies have a spokesperson, often a grandmotherly or grandfatherly type. This can bring a sense of familiarly and thus trustworthiness to the products or services being sold.

Making Use of Technology

While you have chosen a “back to basics” theme for your business, this does not mean that your efforts can't include the use of modern technologies from creating your own advertisement designs to including your approaches on your businesses website. For developing advertisements, make use of Photoshop or GIMP to create your designs. In addition, those newer aspects of technology you have in your store, such as large LCD displays, can be used to display traditional-looking ads.