You don’t have to be a marketing expert to know that Taylor Swift is a bulletproof brand that consistently improves, regardless of the challenges she faces or the challenges she sets for herself.
While many marketers and brand managers excel at designing creative initiatives and strategies, what sets Swift apart is her vision, long-term perspective, and, perhaps most importantly, her ability to transform challenges and crises into a powerful engine for purposeful and inspiring collective growth, with positive impacts extending to her followers.
Her brand image and positioning are so crystal clear among her fans that any association with Swift can lead to a golden ‘kiss of visibility’ and endorsement. The latest brand to enjoy Tay-Tay’s kiss of visibility is the Australian designer brand Dion Lee, which Swift was seen wearing at the Super Bowl.
Here, are four major lessons the business world can learn from Swift’s story and journey.
As obvious as it may sound, we have seen many brands take the concept of “delivering on brand promise” for granted, assuming they can win over consumers’ hearts and wallets through shortcuts. Rather than investing in and delivering on their brand promise, they focus on other, often supplementary, marketing strategies such as launching engaging campaigns, brands may believe they can substitute competence with warmth.
Swift’s brand promise has always centred on quality products. Her thoughtful lyrics and meticulous attention to detail in her albums and music videos have consistently demonstrated her dedication to this promise. In line with the principles of product extension, she has offered different music genres such as country and pop, appealing to various target audiences under an umbrella branded-house branding strategy.
With seamless transitions between genres, Swift has allowed her fans to migrate with her from one style to another across different albums. Her commitment to high-quality products and innovative social product developments has been greatly appreciated by fans, resulting in a long-lasting and enduring competitive advantage.
Swift has shown us how to go beyond mere fan engagement and use it as a tool to deliver a goosebumps-inducing experience. While the majority of brands view engagement as a social media post that garners many comments and reactions from followers, Swift has demonstrated that the ultimate goal should be to deliver a fan experience that can naturally lead to content virality and high engagement as a byproduct.
Teasers, mystery tactics, Easter eggs, hidden messages and clues, secret sessions, personalised fan engagement tactics, tailored concert experiences, and clever album rollouts are just a few of the strategies Taylor Swift has employed to create an ecosystem of experiences across different touchpoints while actively engaging the audience.
The combination of meaningful engagement and immersive experiences has fostered a sense of belonging and shared passion among Swifties, with perceived benefits including feelings of helpfulness and mutual support.
In addition to delivering on its core brand promise and providing exciting experiences, Swift has also become a driver for fan empowerment. Self-discovery, personal vulnerability, creative self-expression, and advocacy for rights and equality are among the topics Taylor touches to empower her fans.
Unlike Swift, who consistently sources her empowering and purposeful messages by sharing personal experiences, many brands often seek empowerment stories outside their organisations. But by outsourcing empowerment narratives, brands risk being perceived as inauthentic, fake, and phony. Taylor serves as a prime example for brands looking to drive change by openly sharing personal struggles and embracing vulnerability.
Taylor has advocated for self-esteem because she has personally grappled with body image issues. Moreover, she has not only shared stories about challenges and struggles but has also provided solutions to her fans to help them overcome their obstacles. She can instruct marketers on leading by example and practicing what they advocate for.
Brands have demonstrated their skill and experience in launching, on paper, intriguing and engaging campaigns. There are countless examples of brands leveraging their success stories through various PR strategies. However, there are few examples of brands that have shown the ability to bounce back when things don’t go as planned. In other words, most brands seem to suffer from a positivity bias, and when it comes to crisis management, they exhibit a response paralysis.
If marketers want to learn just one lesson from Swift, it should be her ability to become resilient, adaptable, and resourceful, turning challenges, controversies, and crises into opportunities for collective growth, not only for her profile but also for fans who look up to her. She has shown herself to be a master of offering creative responses to potentially brand-damaging public challenges and controversies.
Her sexual assault lawsuit, feud with Kanye West, and Spotify streaming dispute are among the public challenges she has faced, which in some cases have resulted in initial backlash against the singer. However, her uniquely creative responses turned these challenges into sources of inspiration.
For example, Swift transformed a dispute with Kanye West over his song lyrics (which Taylor claimed were not approved by her) into a source of inspiration for her album “Reputation,” sharing her personal story and communicating her message through her music. In another instance, in 2014, after Taylor pulled her music from Spotify, she risked being perceived as a greedy singer. However, by demonstrating the power of clear and transparent communication during times of crisis, she was able to position her stance as an act of valuing music and protecting artists’ rights, authentically controlling the narrative, and protecting her image.
If Taylor Swift were a commercial brand, she would resemble a portfolio combining the strengths of brands like Apple, Nike, Disney, Lego, Red Bull, and Starbucks. As it stands, these, and many other, brands may want to take a page out of her marketing playbook.
The post Taylor Swift offers a masterclass in marketing. Here’s what retailers can learn appeared first on Inside Retail Australia.
