Taylor Swift and ahem...Branding
Concert A Branding and Loyalty Masterclass
Taylor Swift’s Concert Tour Is A Branding Masterclass
I went to the Taylor Swift Eras Concert in Philly with my daughters and their friends this past May. Months earlier, my younger daughter stayed up late and signed up to see if she would be lucky enough to get a code to be able to buy a ticket… Yes, to get a code to be able to buy a ticket.
(can you imagine readers needing a code to buy your book?)
She got the code and was able to buy tickets for my other daughter and a few of their friends. My daughters invited me to come, too.
We arrived in Philly at a bar by the stadium at around 4:30. The place was packed and the DJ was playing, you guessed it, Taylor Swift songs. A rumor had gone around months before that concert goers were encouraged to wear a Taylor Swift costume of their choice from Taylor Swift concerts of the past. The concert-goers did it. Fans were in an array of sparkly dresses, jean shorts, white t-shirts, cowboy hats, read lips, and long wavy hair.
The stadium, Franklin Field, capacity 70,000, was packed. At exactly 7:45pm a large stopwatch appeared on ginormous screen at the top of the field and started counting down. Two Lady Gaga songs played one after the other. My daughter knew exactly which Gaga songs were going to be played because the concerts details and play lists were carefully planned, organized and released to the public in advance.
Finally, at the stroke of 00:00 on the countdown stopwatch, the music started. Dancers with huge fans came out one after the other to the center of the stage. Out through the fans, from under a pedestal stage that moved toward the sky came the beautiful Taylor Swift.
The woman had thee nights in Philly and at each concert she performed for three and a half hours. She endured 10 costume changes (by my count, don’t quote me), video, special effects, a stage that reached into the crowd and could go up and down and sideways, with stairs, at will. Each audience member was given a light up bracelet that magically changed color to match the song sets all through the three hour plus concert.
Her fans, omg her fans, STOOD through the ENTIRE three hours. You were not watching the concert unless you were standing. The screaming… I still can’t hear correctly in one ear… was constant and deafening, especially from the young lady next to me on my left.
I now understand the old black and white video of girls screaming and crying while the Beatles performed on Ed Sullivan. They were screaming and crying for Taylor Swift.
I got to thinking as I looked out over this sea of people - all different by the way, but mostly women, ‘why are they so devoted to Taylor? What do they love about her? how does Ms Swift illicit such unwavering and passionate loyalty?
Unwavering and Passionate Loyalty
And that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? Once you identify your audience how to you continue to connect with your audience? Clearly Taylor Swift’s audience is who she wrote for when she started out with her first album at 16, specifically, young women like her, but today, like her, they are in the thirties and still follow her plus she has the young girls who followed who are also fans. Mothers and Daughters just like me and my daughters.
Connect with YOUR audience like Taylor Swift
Using Taylor Swift as an example, here a few ways to connect with your audience and to win their loyalty in all your book writing and promotion:
Attention to Detail - the whole concert experience was organized, fun, and participative. From publishing the details of the concert for anyone to download, to floating the idea to dress like Taylor, to the fun bracelet that everyone wore, to the guest singers she invited to sing with her, to the two surprise songs she plays at each concert, to her beautiful costumes, Taylor Swift is constantly thinking of her audience’s total concert experience.
Treated Like A Loved Guest - The concert itself was impeccably presented. The stage came right into the crowd and Taylor was all over it to reach every part of the crowd. Whatever your style of her music - the country, the rocker, the bee bop - she performed it all. She even pulled out her acoustic guitar and played the piano. She can go from larger that life to intimate in a minute.
Stay In Tune - Taylor Swift is beautiful and larger than life on stage and yet she can give a look and wink and the crowd feels that she is still just like them. She connects with her down-to-earth-ness and her humor. She embraces the critic.
Authenticity - The most important quality of ANY performer. I kept asking myself as I looked at the insane crowd, “How Does She Do It?” How does she keep these girls and women coming back to her her year after year, album after album?
It HAS to be authenticity. Ms Swift feels and writes songs about REAL feelings and these girls have reacted from the time they were 16 to the age they are now.
If listeners didn't believe Taylor Swift, she couldn’t sell it. Her audience BELIEVES her because Swift means everything she wrote. What she wrote is truth, a truth that 70,000 women (mostly) shared or have felt. For example, women want to feel empowered. Her “If I Was A Man" song is Ms Swift’s response. They want to tell that guy who hurt them - “We are Never, Ever, Ever Getting Back Together.” At times, they feel insecure, like they are all wrong sometimes. Taylor has felt that way, too. Her response - “The Anti-hero.”
Finally, Taylor Swift is Brave… She puts herself out there. Even if you don’t know much about her music you know that she gets vilified at times. Yet she continues to write, produce, and perform.
A great lesson for all of us book marketers. Plus, she is laughing all the way to the bank. This latest concert estimates a gross take of 600 million dollars.
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Love this article. Swifties are a force of nature and yet they've been carefully cultivated. It is a case study for sure!
I had never experienced anything like it.