What You Can Learn From Taylor Swift’s Media Black Out
Country-pop chanteuse Taylor Swift just blacked out all of her social media. That’s right, a woman with 102 MILLION instagram followers no longer has a single post on her profile, nor even a profile image. Her website is all black. Her Facebook page is devoid of images. Her tweets are all gone… up until 2010 (did her marketing team get tired of deleting them?). It’s a bold move, to say the least. While her twangy bubblegum tunes are not exactly our preferred headphone fodder, this move certainly makes us respect her marketing team.
What, you may be wondering, does a celebrity’s social media have to do with you (particularly, this celebrity)? Why would we write about it on a real estate marketing blog? Well, for one, we’re all about bold moves. For someone with such an enormous following to just “blackout” is nothing short of daring. Obviously, it’s only interesting because she has such a huge following. If your cousin suddenly changed her profile picture to a question mark and deleted all of her armchair activism posts, I guarantee that none of her 46 Facebook friends would notice, let alone spell an impending album drop.
However — there’s something to be learned from Tswift’s coup de blackout, and not just for those with millions of followers. Have you ever noticed that nearly every time a popstar releases a new album, they also debut a new brand identity? Think Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty”-era versus Back to Basics. Or Madonna with the release of every single one of her albums. Miley Cyrus good-girl retainer-era vs. twerking on Robin Thicke. Taylor Swift’s (read: her marketing team’s) decision to erase evidence of a previous version of her on a mass-scale before, presumably, the drop of a new album (and thus a new brand) is significant. By wiping the slate completely clean, Taylor Swift’s new brand will have the ultimate platform. It sets the stage for an overhaul of epic proportions.
Are you planning a rebrand? Have you recently rebranded? While a Swift-style blackout may not be your thing (or the best choice), consider how your old social media and internet presence may be detracting from your new brand, or what a brand-new brand identity means for the relics of the old. Consistency and coherence is key in branding. You should also be thinking about how to launch your new brand. Which platforms will you keep quiet while promoting it on others? How can you make it stand out? We’re pretty good at branding, if we do say so ourselves, and we’d love to help your brand become distinctive.
Never thought we’d say this but thanks, Taylor.
