By Liv Thomson.

A Promotion Gone Wild

Taylor Swift is re-releasing her album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on October 27, 2023, much to the delight of dedicated fans in Scotland and around the world.

The ongoing marketing campaign for 1989 (Taylor’s Version) reached new heights recently, with an online Google game that fans could play in order to unlock the album’s new song titles. This game was made available to everyone around the world, and saw a large uptake by fans in Scotland.

The Importance of Brand Partnerships

Georgie Darling, a business strategy coach, highlights the importance of picking strong brand partnerships, like Google, in order to make these effective connections with an online audience. She stresses that a strong partnership is a good way to “broaden your audience”, while also maintaining that some partnerships “are more effective than others.”

Georgie also makes the case that other celebrities and influencers are increasingly engaging their fanbases through an online medium. Using Beyoncé as an example, Georgie claims that she has enjoyed “very similar success and results to what Taylor Swift has seen with her recent marketing campaign.”

“…make [fans] feel as though they are being listened to, rather than being sold to…”

Alannah Micallef

Marketing and social media admin, Alannah Micallef, cites past campaign launched by GoPro and RedBull as the “perfect” example of two brands using their combined influence to reach wider audiences.

Regarding Taylor Swift, Alannah notes that she already has a “huge playfield” and “dedicated loyal fanbase.” Thus, this gives her an “advantage” when it comes to marketing 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and any other form of content she releases. When asked if she thought other celebrities and influencers could potentially emulate Taylor Swift’s success, Alannah proposes that this could perhaps be achieved “over time”, but that the Bad Blood singer ultimately has the “biggest influential impact” of today.

Scotland Loves Taylor Swift

Fans in Scotland scrambled to secure tickets to Swift’s 3-night tour at Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh next year. This will be the first time Swift has performed in Scotland since 2015. Swift first revealed her own Scottish roots during 1989’s first live show at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, back in 2015. She told the crowd “I am one of you”, explaining that her “whole family” originates from Scotland.

Undoubtedly, Taylor Swift is beloved by Scots. Alex, a long-time Swiftie from Hamilton, recently took part in the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) vault challenge:

“It was a lot of fun…it was good to know you were helping unlock them all.”

Alex, from Hamilton

What’s Next?

With only a few weeks to go until 1989 (Taylor’s Version) drops, who knows what the next phase of this phenomenal media marketing campaign will be? One thing is for certain: Scottish swifties will be there.

Feature image courtesy of Paolo V. on Wikimedia Commons. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here