Taylor Swift Brand Partnerships

Country Sweetheart, Pop Princess, and Marketing Mogul

She's dated tons of well known celebrities and written songs about pretty much all of them. She's set herself and the brands she's partnered with up for success. It's Taylor Swift! Back with the re-release of her album Red (Taylor's Version), she is continuing her reign over fans, brands, and the media's hearts everywhere.

On June 18, 2021, the universe of Swifties (Taylor Swift fans) went crazy as she revealed she would be dropping a re-recorded issue of her album Red. With the new re-release of her album this month, Taylor Swift has done another of the things she does best, partnered with big brands. In this blog, Hollywood Branded shares brands that have partnered with Taylor Swift during the re-release of her album Red.

Taylor Swift: A Music Icon

With 20+ years of experience in the music industry, Taylor Swift has become a household name. She's made the quick transitions from country to pop then rock to indie alternative and folk just to do it all over again!

Photo: Taylor Swift/Big Machine/Republic Records/Beth Garrabrant

A force to be reckoned with, Taylor Swift continues to outdo herself as she re-releases her past albums. The motivating factor for this?

As a result of not owning her master recordings and them being sold to Scooter Braun in 2019 by her previous record label, Big Machine, Taylor is out for vengeance. She has decided to reclaim her work, and honestly, it seems that even the universe is here to guide Taylor on her journey as an artist and businesswoman.

Photo: Scott Borchetta, Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun, Rick Diamond/Getty Images, Larry Busacca/Getty Images. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, People.com

In fact, the first re-release of her album Fearless has actually sold over 25 times her original album sales in physical copies and almost 1.5 times the amount of her original digital song sales! If you didn't think Taylor could be those sales numbers with her release of Red (Taylor's Version), think again.

Photo: Taylor Swift/Republic Records

According to MRC, she's sold over 500,000 equivalent album units of Red (Taylor's Version) in the U.S. within the first five days since its release.

Photo: Taylor Swift/Beth Garrabrant

With those numbers and widespread buzz around her release of Red (Taylor's Version), Taylor Swift is everywhere. To her credit, Taylor's brand partnerships have her loyal Swifties going from place to place to support her and celebrate Red (Taylor's Version).

Taylor and Target 

The news of Taylor's most recent album sales must be a great celebration to Target who has had a long-time partnership with Taylor. Target's partnership with Taylor has allowed them to sell Target exclusive CD and Vinyl versions of her released albums.

Photos: Target, Taylor Swift/Big Machine/Republic Records/Beth Garrabrant, Discogs, TSwiftLA, WorthPoint, Amazon, Jay Tilston, 

The benefits of purchasing a Target exclusive CD and/or Vinyl include any of the following: additional songs by the artist(s), special edition posters, alternate cover art, select behind-the-scenes content, and limited edition color of Vinyl records.

Photos: Target, Walmart, Urban Outfitters, Amazon, Billie Eilish/Darkroom/Interscope, Olivia Rodrigo/Geffen, Justin Bieber/RBMG/Def Jam, HITS Daily Double

For Target's exclusive vinyl version of Red (Taylor's Version), they naturally went with red as the color for the 4 vinyl LP records that come with the purchase.

Photo: Target, Taylor Swift/Beth Garrabrant

Target's vinyl of this specific album is the only one to be sold in the color red as opposed to the vinyl records sold from Taylor's own website and other stores, such as Urban Outfitters and Walmart, which come in black. 

From these various places to purchase Red (Taylor's Version) on vinyl, MRC reported that within the first five days of its release, 105,000 vinyls were sold. Granted it is known that many superfans will buy multiple copies of an artist's work if they have their album released with varying unique features. 

Target's strategy through their partnership with Taylor is something important more brands should take note of. Although in terms of reach, numbers may not be 100% accurate, one thing's for sure. Each sale contains dollars and when a brand is selling a product it doesn't necessarily matter how many people it actually went to. What really matters to brands with products is how much profit is made at the end.

So a key takeaway to remember is an additional trait or supplement can go a long way when it comes to fans and their dedication to supporting their favorite artist(s), no matter how big or small they are. A small change goes a long way when there are fans involved and brands can easily turn their product partnership with music artists into a collector's item with that one change.

Everything is RED (And Starbucks Agrees) 

Ahhh fall and winter...seasons about family, chilly weather, and of course, Starbucks red cups!

Photo: Starbucks 

In celebration of Taylor's release of Red (Taylor's Version), Starbucks finally confirmed, after various hints, their partnership with Taylor. 

On November 12, 2021, Swifties were able to order "Taylor's Latte" or "Taylor's Version" to try Taylor Swift's favorite Starbucks drink, a grande caramel nonfat latte. This was a fun idea that definitely got Starbucks a nice flow of customers that week.

One thing to point out for brands considering doing a similar concept is to ensure all employees know of this change or addition as it could leave a sour taste in fans' mouths about their experience with the brand. Luckily Starbucks is a well-established company so these small miscommunications didn't seem to have much of an impact on the brand. 

On another note, in addition to sipping Taylor's go-to Starbucks drink, fans of Taylor, their friends, and family could purchase and send a Starbucks Taylor Swift edition e-gift card. 

A smart move on Starbucks' part as any Swiftie would consider purchasing the gift card just to have another collector's item.

For the friends and family of Swifties, if they heard about the e-gift card and "Taylor's Latte"/"Taylor's Version", this new addition provided a thoughtful yet simple way for them to give their beloved Swiftie a drink and in a way, some Taylor merch.

Taylor's Debut of "All Too Well" Short Film

Whether on AMC or Taylor's part, the premiere and general showings of her short film "All Too Well" was an ingenious idea. 

Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP - Getty Images

During her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, a day before the short film's worldwide debut, Taylor announced that it would be premiering at New York's AMC Lincoln Square 13. 

From the time of its premiere at AMC 13 theater in New York, "All Too Well" was screened for a week. 

On November 12, 2021, the lucky 400 fans who were chosen to attend the premiere were gifted an "All Too Well" tissue packet as they watched the film with Ms. Swift, Dylan O'Brien, and Sadie Sink. 

If AMC had any large part in this activation, it was extremely wise of them as they were surely impacted by this year's COVID pandemic. By hosting the only showings of the fifteen-minute short film, this AMC surely raked in dollars as Swifties purchased tickets to see "All Too Well" on the big screen, and showings were sold out.

As a result of Taylor's first live performance of "All Too Well" (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) at the premiere, AMC also garnered tons of press that should keep it top of mind for a while as a great movie theater.

A unique and exciting way to premiere a short film (and dare I say music video), brands could really learn from Taylor Swift on how to become relevant. Furthermore, brands can look to Taylor for some inspiration on how to utilize partnerships with music artists to their advantage and market to fans in new ways.

What's Next

Currently, Taylor is only able to re-record her first five albums, out of the six, as of November 20, 2020. Of those five, she's already re-released Fearless and Red which leaves Taylor Swift, Speak Now, and 1989 (which fans speculate to be her next re-release) as options for her next one. The final one will most likely be Reputation as it was released in 2017 and was her most recent release under Big Machine. 

Keeping this in mind, brands should make an effort to work with Ms. Swift as she's proven herself to be a pretty family-friendly and successful partner. Knowing that eventually all her six albums originally recorded under Big Machine will be re-released as the law and time allow, brands should start thinking about how they can leverage these re-releases to their advantage. 

Brand Partnerships, Celebrity Endorsements, and More!

Want to learn more about how to connect with consumers? Check out these blogs below to help you get started on your journey of integrating your brand into pop culture!

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• Top 10 Celebrity Endorsements
• Year In Rewind: The Best Celebrity/Brand Collabs 2020-2021
• How To #10: 12 Steps To Celebrity Event Sponsorships
• Why Sponsorship Marketing Is Vital To Powerful Brand Marketing

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