More than 83 million people have seen Swift’s own films on TikTok in which she draws a ball from a bingo machine and announces the song titles one by one. Eight million people liked her Instagram post announcing the album. Thousands of her devotees have posted their interpretations of the symbolism in her wardrobe, her accessories, and her choice of words.
The excitement around the release of her 12th album demonstrates that Swift is more than simply a talented musician; she is also a marketing mastermind. As a result of her brilliant marketing, she is now among the best-selling musicians of all time.
Swift uses a constantly shifting burlesque performance of selectively divulging details while retaining an aura of mystery and excitement, setting her apart from many musicians who follow a tried-and-true playbook (social post, press junket, tour).
The marketing principles she employs are applicable outside of the music and film industries. Companies and CEOs would do well to study her promotional plan, which might help them achieve similar levels of success as Ryan Reynolds’ advertising campaign following Deadpool.
Swift Is Continuously Trying New Things
Swift first came to prominence about twenty years ago as a country music star hailing from her hometown of Nashville. She had a strong affinity for the stereotypical cowgirl look, which included floppy hats, cowboy boots, and voluminous hair.
She’s gone through multiple persona transformations since then. In 1989, she was at the height of her fame, performing at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and hanging around with a crew of supermodels (most notably Karlie Kloss). She went for a more hard-edged look for her 2017 album Reputation, which featured songs like “I Did Something Bad,” and she released it in all black.
There was a more independent, cottage-rock feel to 2020’s Folklore and Evermore. Swift sported a baggy flannel and a braid in her hair. She worked with musicians like Haim and Bon Iver who are not as widely known but have received high praise from critics.
Songs like “Lavender Haze,” video shoots with low lighting, and a partnership with singer Lana del Rey all contribute to the Midnight era’s overall hazy, magical atmosphere.
These astute alterations to her public persona keep her supporters engaged, and effective partnerships can increase both her audience size and her critical acclaim.
Taylor Swift opened up about the stress of having to constantly reinvent oneself in her upcoming Netflix documentary Miss Americana.
Swift stated, “The female musicians I know of have to remake themselves, like, 20 times more than the male artists, or else you’re out of a career.”
In The Guardian, management expert André Spicer praised Swift for mastering this skill, calling it “crucial” in the modern digital world.
According to Spicer’s article, “being interesting is a significant asset in our digital economy.” During our free time, we obsess over creating the “ideal palate” of intriguing friends, activities, and objects to broadcast to our followers.
She Uses a Cunning Strategy that Would Be at Home in Marvel
Swift includes “easter eggs,” which are subtle, self-referential references that her devoted listeners love to decipher and discuss.
Marvel, the creator of the immensely popular superhero genre, employs a similar strategy in its films, as seen in Thor when Dr. Selvig alludes to S.H.I.E.L.D. from The Avengers. Many followers will look up these allusions on Google in an attempt to find out what they mean.
Since “consumers adore the sensation of success when they figure out a riddle,” as Ian Ausdal of WIUX puts it, “easter eggs perform marketing marvels” for artists and franchises.
They look for hints in the artists’ back catalogs, which boosts the popularity of the artists’ back catalogs by presenting them in a fresh light to the general public and so increasing the number of streams and purchases of previous albums.
Ausdal states that this is why an artist’s following expands in this way. “As fans collaborate to decipher hints, interest in the artist expands to those who were previously unfamiliar with them.”
Swift utilized tree emojis and wore her hair in a French braid leading up to the release of Evermore because they reflected the aesthetic of the album. Fans quickly deduced that her upcoming album would be a reissue of Red simply because she had begun tweeting red heart emojis.
By consistently employing this strategy, Swift has primed her fan base to read further into her every social media post and red-carpet appearance.
Innovative Retailing and Strategic Alliances
We’re not just talking about T-shirts and keychains when it comes to Swift’s goods.
She only recently disclosed the clock shape formed by the four Midnights vinyl releases. Fans were excited by this announcement, and it’s likely that demand for all four album editions will increase as a result.
She has previously released a wide variety of merch, from kitchen towels to opal earrings, to promote her albums and music. Her products receive a lot of positive feedback from customers and fast sell out due to their high quality and unique design.
According to marketing and career expert Christopher Ming, she even pays close attention to the details of her strategic business ties.
Ming says that it seems natural to collaborate with companies like Apple Music, Elizabeth Arden, and Diet Coke. However, creating ads that feature NCAA Football, the USPS, and Papa John’s requires a certain level of marketing creativity. They all did it anyway.
Swift and her crew, especially publicist Tree Paine, have probably already achieved significant success with Midnights. Swift’s marketing prowess, despite the fact that she’s been in the music business for nearly two decades, should ensure her continued success for the foreseeable future.
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