Taylor Swift’s Showgirl: A Smart Business Move Like Oreo’s Marketing Strategy | Ukraine news

No one needs yet another review of The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift. However, this release is worth viewing as a story with business logic, not just as a musical work. Showgirl here serves as an example of how a brand can become a profit engine through a thoughtfully designed big-game concept in the market.

First of all: many critics consider Swift’s 12th studio album a flop, and I wasn’t going to argue about TLOAS. I can point to a few “pearls” – say, the track Wood – but such an analysis is better left to other music critics. My mission is to explain why the TLOAS figure, to me, looks like a sly business initiative masquerading as millennial insignificance. In short: this is a novelty Oreo.

The Oreo concept as an example of a marketing strategy can be useful for understanding how large brands expand their audience through unusual flavors and the integration between product and media. Unconventional releases quickly become global trends and act as catalysts for new sales.

ICYMI: five years ago, John E. Bromwich of The New York Times wrote that limited-flavor Oreos – with quirky flavors like Root Beer Float or PB&J or Key Lime Pie – are part of the brand’s own witty marketing strategy:

This strange, yet effective marketing theory: take an unusual flavor, which is far from for everyone, and launch it into the world as bait. “Piña Colada Oreo Thins” for a rational person sounds truly crazy. If you pass by such a oddity in a store, you may think: Oreo has gone crazy. Better grab a box with the original recipe while you still can.

“This is a crazy marketing theory” – and it works.

Over three years, sales of new Oreos rose by 12%, while sales of classic ones rose by almost 22%.

Showgirl is Taylor Swift’s Piña Colada Oreo. We are not claiming that Swift intentionally releases a lower-quality album, but such a concept can be extremely advantageous for the brand and its financial metrics.

Who benefits from this approach if, after the Showgirl release, listeners return to her past works? It is Taylor Alison Swift.

Earlier this year Swift fully bought back her music catalog, reclaiming the rights to her recordings from Shamrock Capital. This means that all revenue from previous releases – album sales, merch, films – will flow directly to her.

“Unlike most celebrities,” notes colleague Ramishah Maruf, “Swift has made lucrative business deals part of her image, placing herself at the helm of a long-running narrative in the music business, where hidden executives largely take home the majority of the money artists actually generate.”

With each release of a new album, Swift also increases streams of her past material: the “good old” tracks and even previous Oreo editions – Classic and Double Stuf – are once again drawing listeners.

As for Showgirl’s results, they are not a flop: the reception was mixed, but the release drew attention to Swift’s image and her long-term influence on the market.

In response to the mixed reception, Swift offered the same PR approach expected from big brands: active use of publicity, creating resonance, and a consistent image in the media space.

“The show-business rule goes like this: if it’s the first week of the release of my album, and you mention either my name or the title of my album, you are helping,” she told Zane Lowe, host of the podcast this week. “I know what I have done. I know that I love this, and I know that in the context of what Showgirl is, all of this is part of it.”

In summary, Showgirl demonstrates how music can become a tool for brand promotion and profit growth. The release should be viewed not only as an artistic achievement but also as part of Swift’s long-term strategy in the market and in the industry at large.