What do you think of when you hear the name Taylor Swift? Most would likely say that she is a singer, a celebrity, or even a model and actress. However, there is one title that she most definitely deserves that doesn’t come straight to peoples minds. That title is a public relations professional. Taylor Swift uses tactical Public Relations and marketing skills to leverage her fans and generate excitement for new releases time and time again. This Sunday at the 2022 VMA’s was no exception.
The article I chose to blog about is talking about how this past Sunday Taylor Swift announced she will be releasing an entire new album called “Midnights” on October 21st. She announced this news when accepting her VMA for video of the year which she obtained from directing her first short film to her 10 minute long song entitled “All too well (Taylors Version).” The article does a deep dive into how fans reacted to this announcement which were all positive. I thought this article was relevant to discuss in this class because I think Swift’s strategy on releasing this news and how she is continuing to maintain buzz directly correlates with how publicity and promotions should be handled in a public relations space.
While Taylor Swift is a celebrity she has made herself into more than that. Taylor Swift is a brand and runs her day to day like a well oiled company. Not only is she a brand, but she is a brand with the most loyal and loving customers. Every single move she makes appears tactical and well thought out. A good way to exemplify how much of a phenomenon she is, is that she got a song that she released in 2012 to be rerecorded in 2022, made it 10 minutes long and had it go number 1 on the music charts when everyone had already heard it before. What I want to examine in this post is how she was able to make her news of a new album so sensational this past Sunday.
For starters, Taylor utilized the element of surprise extremely well. As the article states, many fans didn’t know Swift would even be attending the VMA’s let alone announcing a brand new album. She also utilized suspense and surprise by not telling the audience what the new album was called until midnight. Giving her fans all of this info in bite size pieces is very smart as it keeps people guessing and talking about what her next move will be. She continues to do this even after the album title announcement by not releasing other key information such as the track titles, song collaborations, and genre.
However surprises aren’t as fun if the audience doesn’t have any sort of guesses. Luckily for Swifties, Taylor always provides hidden clues so your guesses can go beyond your wildest dreams. Taylors “easter eggs’ ‘is another example of how she utilizes great marketing and Public Relations skills. Whether it’s in her outfit, embedded in her speech or Instagram captions, or even within a previous release, Taylor seems to always drop hints that suddenly all make sense when she announces news. Her fans have a great time deciphering her hints and trying to make their best guesses. In fact, social media is already flooded with theories for this new album. This strategy enables the initial shock and excitement to linger on for months.
Overall, Taylor does a great job at knowing her audience and building relationships with them, generating buzz through quality storytelling and suspense, and using her platform for good. These are all things that companies can be sure to take note of and watch for over the next few months before her new album release. I am super excited for Taylor’s new album and can’t wait to see what theories her fans come up with and how she carries out the rest of “Midnights” promotion.