Taylor Swift has consistently proven why she is not only exceptional with her music but also with her brand. With the launch of the latest Midnights albums, she portrayed how she understands her business ‘all too well.’
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As one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, Swift knows when and how to reveal, while maintaining an aura of mystery about the album. Thus, she goes beyond the usual rules that many artists follow—social posts, press junket, tour—ensuring her fans are truly entertained.
In 2017, Forbes reported that Taylor was worth $280 million. Two years later, her net worth increased to $185 million. This year, despite the pandemic, she has reached $570 million according to Forbes.
Jeetendr Sehdev, a branding expert and bestselling author of The Kim Kardashian Principle: Why Shameless Sells (and How to Do it Right), tells Fortune, “Taylor Swift is one of the most polarizing mainstream pop artists out there. People love her or hate her. When you get that extreme on the Richter scale, you don’t just have fans you create fanatics. Those fanatics have a level of dedication that is beyond anything you’ve ever seen. It’s something else.”
Consistently adapting
Although Swift began as a country singer with her aesthetic of cowboy boots, with time, she began to experiment with not just her appearance, but her entire brand. With 1989, she became glamorous, but with Reputation, she opted for an edgy look.
With Folklore and Evermore (2020), she had indie, homely themes, with pastel colours and cardigans. And now, with Midnights, she is going for an enchanting vibe. The album cover shows her with glittery makeup, in a dimly-lit room.
It wasn’t just the theme of the albums, but also her collaborations with artists and luxury brands that pivoted her to international fame. In her documentary too, Miss Americana, she notes, “The female artists I know of have to remake themselves, like, 20 times more than the male artists, or else you’re out of a job.”
Giving more to the audience
Tony Robbins, an author and coach, points how Swift skillfully uses social media to integrate digital communication with her overall narrative. As Los Angeles Times profile states, she doesn’t limit herself to social trends, instead, her brand is built on making direct and authentic connections with fans, including replying to them, liking their pictures, and reposting their own selfies holding her album cover.
While Swift may be the one to do this in America, Korean singers have been doing this as a part of their routine for a long time. Some of their press events include meeting their fans face-to-face, where the fan has the opportunity to get their autograph and picture together. This tactic helps Swift to maintain transparency with her audience, which forges an ever-lasting connection. Secondly, when fans have great experiences with their idols, they tend to market them subconsciously on every platform! So, word of mouth is an excellent way of going ahead.
Creating surprises
Perhaps, this is where she excelled the most. When her multi-platinum 1989 album was a few weeks away from its launch, Swift organised personal invitations to a “special Taylor Swift opportunity,” as her way to reward her supporters. A handful of her fans were also invited to “Secret Sessions” pre-release listening events at her home in Beverly Hills, Nashville, New York and Rhode Island.
But this wasn’t just a PR party, Swift was present at each event where she interacted with her fans rather casually, and indulging in her inspirations and influences. Soon after, her album’s debut sales were over a million following its release.
Another move was to record a video of her wrapping presents for her supporters, followed by the reactions who received them, with many crying or being speechless. Once the footage was made public, it was rebranded as ‘Swiftmas’ and instantly went viral. Her effort has always been generous, which aids her brand in myriad ways. She is not only cementing her bonds with her existing audience but reaching out to newer listers and potential clients.
“She has been able to take one person and spread herself out into millions of itty-bitty pieces of Taylor Swift and touch as many people as possible. When you do that, you generate a kind of advocacy and excitement that no level of advertising could,” said Matt Britton, CEO of youth maturing agency MRY to the New York Times.
Being vocal about your cause
One of the critical reasons Swift has been successful is her ability to use her platform for the greater good. She understands her hold on the entertainment world, and many times uses that influence to for supporting budding artists.
An example is when she removed her album from Spotify as they were playing a paltry sum to the artists. According to a report by Time, artists on the streaming platform earned, on average, less than one cent per play, or $0.006 and $0.0084.
In her statement, she wrote, “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for. It’s my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album’s price point is. I hope they don’t underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.”
Following this, she also disapproved of Apple Music when their launch policy withheld payment to artists in exchange for the value of promotion. She wrote, “I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3-month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”
Soon after, Tim Cook, who was the leader then, agreed with Swift and changed their policy. Swift was not just receiving compliments from her fans but also adoration from her juniors.
Coding her messages
A tactful way to keep her audience engaged throughout her career is teasing them with varied easter eggs, both on social media and in her music videos. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon about this tactic, she says, “It’s sort of a tradition that we started a very long time ago. I think the first time that I started dropping sort of cryptic clues in my music was when I was 14 or 15, putting together my first album. I wanted to do something that incentivized fans to read the lyrics because my lyrics are what I’m most proud of out of everything that I do…”
In another interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2019, she likes what her fans come up with too. “I’ve trained them to be that way. I love that they like the cryptic hint-dropping. Because as long as they like it, I’ll keep doing it. It’s fun. It feels mischievous and playful.”
Ian Ausdal at WIUX states that this tactic is “marketing wonders for artists” because “consumers love the feeling of accomplishment when they figure out a puzzle.” “To find answers, they search for clues in artists’ past works, which increases streams and sales for older releases, marketing them to the public in a new light. This leads to the growth of an artist’s fanbase. As fans work together to sort out clues, excitement about the artist spreads to people who were originally unfamiliar.”
Doing it the K-pop way
If you ardently follow K-pop, you will know how varied bands thrive on merchandise. For instance, each has their own colour: Black Pink uses Pink, BTS has purple, and so on. So, they launch cups, light sticks, shirts and so on in those shades. In addition, they also offer miniature idol key chains, t-shirts, figurines, handy fans, jewellery, pens, and so on.
Similarly, Swift is no stranger to this tactic. In addition to usual merch, Swift and her team unveiled four distinct vinyl editions of Midnights: Jade Green, Blood Moon, Mahogany, and Lavender Edition. However, when you put them together, it becomes a clock! A small tactic like this will only further drive the sale of her album.
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It’s only after such strategic thinking and one-on-one interactions that Swift reached where she is today. Consistent hard work is one fragment, but creating your own guidebook is another fragment that pushed her brand this far. Despite the polarized views about her work, one can credit Swift and her team for their consistent triumphs, which sets her apart from many artists.
