How many Taylor Swift fans in the house? I may not be a bigger fan of Taylor Swift than Coldplay but I am a fan of her creative process which is captured in her documentary on Netflix called "Miss Americana".
The competition in Hollywood or Billboard is quite tough and possibly tougher than succeeding as a commercial enterprise. Many one-hit wonders have come and gone but Taylor Swift has lasted in the industry for over a decade and a half and won 11 Grammy awards. She is the longest-reigning act in Billboard Artist 100 (50 weeks at number one). She isn't just a singer, she is also a songwriter.
Celebrities are like brands.
Their endorsements impact businesses and that's why brands allocate large portion of their marketing budgets on endorsements. So, why not take learnings from such successful celebrities who are brands themselves.
5 takeaways from Taylor Swift's journey!
source: https://twitter.com/Spotify/status/1459627501865472001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
1. Listen to your audience
If you watch Taylor Swift's Stadium Tour of Reputation (available in Netflix) you can witness how clued she is with what her audience says about her tour, what are they wearing to concerts and why.
2. Experiment to evolve
Taylor Swift started as a country music singer but kept experimenting with her music in pop, indie music, and rock. What evolved was her signature or positioning.
3. Create a brand positioning
While the rest of the industry tries to fit into a genre, Taylor Swift created a positioning for herself where she shared her own personal experience and feelings through music. She was soon named a music chameleon.
4. Bring in consistency
Much like our content calendars for social or marketing in general, Swift categorizes her songwriting into three types: "quill lyrics", referring to songs rooted in antiquated poeticism; "fountain pen lyrics", based on modern and vivid storylines; and "glitter gel pen lyrics", which are lively and frivolous. This brings consistency in what the audience can expect from your brand.
5. Focus on consumer experience design
It's not enough to plan, consumer experience needs to be designed well for any brand delivery. Taylor meticulously designs or imagines how her songs would be shot into videos and how her concerts would be experienced.
TAKE YOUR BRAND JOURNEY FURTHER
The 5 takeaways above are bare minimum requirements when you are building a brand. To evolve further we need to operate like a community host.
Brands are about TRIBES and COMMUNITY
Before jumping to get our community together answer these questions:
What do the community members look like?
Why should they join our community or feel like they are part of the tribe?
How will we add value to our community?
What are the takeaways from our community for our tribe?
The most important thing to learn (which is over and above this list), is the ability to empathize with our audience. Once we are able to empathize we need to stay in that character so that our audience connects with us.
In 2022, in her latest album Midnight, there's a song called 'Bigger than the Whole Sky' which has immediately caught the fancies of all the older millenials who have now evolved and matured and understand the emotion of loss.
Fans took to social media to talk about their resonance with the song.
Have a Vision to Grow Community
Taylor's vision of writing a song for every moment of a person's life seems to be coming to life. Taylor Swift's first music album was released when she was 16, and she wrote about her outlook on life as a teenager, dealing with romantic relationships, friendships, and insecurity.
In her early days she took a 'good girl' persona which was how she was raised and felt true to her as a country musician. Leave the politics and strong points of view away. As Taylor crossed her 30s she started valuing things like women's rights and started voicing her opinions on even political matters. Did she take a chance of losing loyalty, yes! But that made her more "authentic" than before as a person and a brand.
Her fan club even has a name, they call themselves 'Swifties' and they apparently idealise neoliberal globalisation. This means Taylor's writings have an underlying character and tone which unites people of the same tribe to come together.
The good girl with no strong point of view to standing for a certain economic POV is quite a journey. As celebrities or brands this journey ensures that the brand remains relevant with changing times and doesn't stagnate.
Taylor Swift essentially checks off all the important tenets of being a brand:
Listening
Experimenting
Positioning
Consistency
Relevance
Brands are about living through years and decades while being able to connect with consumers as humans. It's not easy hence not all businesses become brands
References:
https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/taylor-swift-and-story-swifties-fandom
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