Trending badgeTrendingPosted 1 hour agoSubscribe to Taylor Swift NewsletterCaret DownIs Taylor Swift So Good At Marketing That It's Become Her Entire Personality?The more she reveals about herself during her album promotions, the less we know about her.by by Tanishtha KotianBuzzFeed Staff, by Kanksha RainaBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLinkHot Topic🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Taylor Swift Taylor Swift's latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, dropped last week, and it has once again smashed records (regardless of whether it was well-received or not. Hint: not so much). The album marked Swift's biggest first-week US album sales, with 2.7 million copies sold in just 24 hours, AND $37 million in ticket sales were earned for the "Release Party of a Showgirl" in global screenings. Frazer Harrison / Getty Images Swift's 12th studio album and the records it has smashed is not just a reminder of the power she holds, but also that she is a marketing genius.
She announced the album on her then boyfriend Travis Kelce's podcast, and a few days later, they announced their engagement. Not soon after the album was announced, The Life of a Showgirl smashed records of the most pre-saves in Spotify's history with over 5 million saves. View this video on YouTube youtube.com BuzzFeed TrendingHot TopicThink you're Blondie's biggest fan? Put your ~reputation~ to the test.
See our Taylor Swift Discussions Whether or not you identify as a Swiftie, you're probably aware of the sheer effort Swift puts into promoting her work. With each album, one sees a transformation in her persona, which often molds to the theme of the album, giving fans something new to look forward to.
However, this does make me wonder: do we even know the 'real' Taylor Swift'? Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Giphy / Via giphy.com Let's take a closer look at some of the most prominent marketing moments from her past albums: Red, 1989, Reputation, and Folklore, which not only shaped her career but also cemented a certain image of her in the minds of her fans. Taylor Swift / Via taylorswift.com Starting with her 2012 album, Red, Swift went all out to promote this one-positioning it as the ultimate breakup album, with songs dedicated to heartbreak, love, and such. Though it was still promoted as her last country album, Swift was dedicated to switching up her persona from that of a softer, delicate young country gal to an edgier, more knowing woman who learned from her heartbreaks. But an interesting thing about Red is that it was also her departure from her didn't see it coming persona. Taylor had often been called out for her 'surprised face'- a seemingly ingenuine response to her hundreds of award nominations and wins-and was rather expected to accept that she was, indeed, a big name in the pop world. Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Giphy This is particularly telling because Swift's marketing strategy screams nothing less than that: her collaborations with Target, Walmart, Diet Coke, and Keds' special edition 'Red' sneakers costing $49.99; a Papa Johns deal where customers could get an album along with a large pizza (with her face on the box) for $22; a 22-track deluxe edition of the album, interviews with 72 radio stations post release, and not to mention special vinyl cases, which were also hefty in price. Need I say more? Emily Yoshida of Vulture noted about Swift's narrative, adding, "...in fact, you can hear the shift happening on the album itself. You hear Swift's preoccupation with other people's perception of her start to take hold..." Taylor Swift's 'surprise face' would end with the release of this album.
Regardless of whether she was sweet or edgy, Swift maintained her persona of the girl who is always broken up with, or the victim, which would prove to be the most profitable move of her entire career.
And it worked. When the album released, fans hurried to download the digital version on iTunes, boosting it to #1 of iTunes' Top Album chart within 36 minutes. Within the first week of release, the album sold 1.21 million copies, making it the biggest first-week figure in more than a decade. Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Taylor Swift / Giphy However, Swift's image of that of a heartbroken young woman, dependent solely on her romantic relationships, soon got out of hand. Having developed a reputation for writing cryptic songs about her exes, she was labeled boy-crazy. The New York Post called her a 'player' and a 'man-eater' in a scathing article, complete with how other stars talked about her. Like this... Throwback: Wild tabloid covers in the 2010s by u/Potato3487 in popculturechat Tabloids never held back and mercilessly threw hate towards the singer. Needless to say, the double standards were apparent-bashing Swift for singing about her exes, while reserving no such criticism for male singers. The next thing to do, of course, was to switch personas again-which we saw in her 1989 era. David Krieger/Bauer-Griffin / GC Images Swift's next move was to ta