The marketing era of Taylor Swift
You’re either a Swiftie or you’re not. The fact is that Swift is the pop icon of the moment, and she’s having her loyal fanbase travel through Europe this summer for the famous Eras Tour. And that’s not just due to her musical talent. Because Taylor Swift understands like no other that (almost) everything is marketing.
Taylor Swift’s fanbase is a tight-knit community of Swifties who celebrate almost every move she makes. This is something Swift herself fosters and maintains by knowing her target audience inside out and keeping them engaged and intrigued in clever ways. To achieve this, she (and her team) draw on several tricks of the marketing trade.
Easter eggs
Secret messages in music videos, lyrics, or social media posts. Messages that hint at Swift’s private life or planned releases. Swifties turn into true Sherlocks, missing nothing Taylor Swift does, wanting to prove they are real fans.
Just last year, Taylor Swift collaborated with Google to unlock previously unreleased tracks. Anyone who Googled Taylor Swift saw a vault that only opened after 33 million puzzles were solved worldwide. The job was done in barely 24 hours, despite technical issues caused by the massive online turnout.
Audience engagement
Even though Taylor Swift’s world is far from ours, she tries to stay as close as possible to her fans and engage in dialogue with them. For example, she reportedly likes and shares fan content and responds to trends within her target audience. She even organized several Secret Sessions where she invited fans to her home to meet and listen to the new album together. The result: fans feel extra valued and involved.
“Taylor Swift and her team seem to know the tricks of the marketing trade like no other”
Storytelling
From music to what she posts on social media, Swift doesn’t shy away from showing the good, the bad and the ugly. In doing so, she ensures her story always adds up and gives fans a glimpse into her life. “Look, I’m just human too.” The fact that she tells a personal story that resonates gives her extra authenticity.
Brand architecture
Taylor Swift doesn’t seem to like being pigeonholed – even though we know people naturally think in boxes. How does Swift solve that? With what we call a well-thought-out brand architecture, where she treats albums as endorsed brands with their own genre, look & feel, and so on. All albums stand alone as their own Eras, which Swift is now visiting in the Eras Tour.
Whether you as a Swiftie are in the folklore era or reputation era, being a fan of Taylor Swift – the parent company – is included by default.
Making a difference for your target group together?
Where do we as marketers want to make a difference for our target group, just like Taylor Swift does for her fans? By getting to know them inside out. By knowing what’s on their minds, what they’re struggling with, and how we can support them in that.
Marketing is and remains a human job in which empathy and emotion are indispensable. Connecting is key, whether that’s through a heartbreak song, an inspiring brand video, or a playful awareness campaign. We’ll leave only the first one to Swift – for now. For everything else, feel free to get in touch with us!
