Taylor Swift doesn’t just release music — she masterfully orchestrates an internet blitz and dominates the media cycle.
As part of a week-long series of Taylor Swift album events happening on Substack ahead of The Life of a Showgirl, I joined as seen on’s Ochuko Akpovbovbo this morning to discuss Taylor Swift’s Internet Takeover: Digital Marketing Genius or Generational Divide? Ochuko explains it perfectly: “At whatever point you come into that funnel, or whatever point you want to engage with her, there is ample to engage with — whether that is other communities, her past work, future speculation and real-life stuff.
“There is meat on the bones that is Taylor Swift.”
The 14-time Grammy winner has meticulously built an entire universe around herself that’s rich with, as Ochuko notes, “lore and conspiracy.” Swift, 35, has trained audiences from the very beginning to search for hidden messages in her albums, triggering internet-wide scavenger hunts with every drop. And she knows how to turn in-person experiences into online phenomena as well. On the Eras Tour she leveraged surprise acoustic versions of her songs to make each concert a bespoke experience — and drive engagement around each show on TikTok and Instagram.
Millennial to the core, Swift uses technology fluently to reach her fans. And she has an unprecedented ability to stay relevant with younger audiences. Over the years she’s adapted to new platforms like TikTok while also deploying IRL activations to cater to Gen Z’s yearning for community (see: her expected takeover of AMC theatres around the country this weekend). Swift doesn’t just leverage social media for promotion, she also encourages her fans to post online, turning them into mini-marketers for her latest release. Swift has built an empire unto herself — one that doesn’t feel overly calculated and has “the appearance of effortlessness,” as Ochuko puts it, that no other star can replicate.
Ochuko and I dive into all that and more over the course of our 45-minute chat. Our journey into the Swiftverse is also the kickoff of my own new series of monthly Substack Lives, which will be exclusive for Like & Subscribe readers — subscribe to be sure you get updates!
And tune in for more Taylor talk tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET, when Prestige Junkie’s Katey Rich and Ankler Media deputy editor Christopher Rosen will join the great Hunter Harris to explore what Swift’s new album means for her cinematic ambitions.
