This weekend, Vancouver was host to the last stop of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Era’s Tour, and it took over our city like nothing I’ve ever seen.
For context: the tour sold over $2 Billion in tickets alone, which doubled the previous record of $1 Billion set by Coldplay last year.
And yet, that number is a drop in the bucket compared to the total impact the tour created. Hotels were booked solid for every one of her 149 shows, restaurants were packed, and local businesses reported their busiest weeks ever.
Here in Vancouver, Daniel Chai at DailyHive tallied the economic impact at $157 million spanning accommodation, retail, food, beverage, and transportation. That money was largely spent by the 70% of concert-goers who travelled to our city to see the show, and that’s only the direct results.
Tourism experts know that there is a long tail that happens after someone visits a destination. After the travelling Swifties return home, they are more likely to purchase products from local suppliers, many will return for another visit, and some will even choose to move or make investments in Vancouver.
I have to admit — even as a non-Swiftie — it was impossible not to get caught up in the energy of largest concert event of all time.
What can we learn from the Era’s Tour?
After nearly 2 years, the tour has come to an end, but we can certainly learn from its success.
A lot has been written about the genius of the Taylor Swift brand, but I think that focusing on how she has built her community and trying to apply those lessons to a business is a mistake.
She is the star of the show, and when we look to replicate even little bits of her success, we’re pretending that there is a possibility that people will ever want to see our brand “on stage,” or that they will gather to cheer as we entertain them.
Our opportunity as brands is to recognize that our role is to be in service to those communities of passionate fans. Our brands are not the star, instead our job is to add value to the experience.
Walking around the city these past few weeks, it felt like nearly every local business was leaning into the opportunity. In a way, it felt like a real-world version of what we see online when brands endear themselves to an active community.
A few examples:
- Restaurants handed out friendship bracelets
- Guides offered tours of the Eras Tour signs that popped up around the city
- Bars served Eras-inspired cocktails and had Swiftie photo booths
- Attractions hosted Taylor-themed events
- One jewellery retailer even created custom Taylor Swift bracelets
They had fun with it, and the community loved them back.
In the online world, we see thousands of similar examples of passionate communities who gather around something they love. Whether that’s golf, online gaming, birdwatching, or makeup tutorials, those communities develop rituals, inside jokes, and symbols that they use to signal and communicate with each other.
Every day we all have an opportunity to seek out micro-versions of the Eras Tour in whatever niche we operate in, and show that group some love.
Today, more than ever, people gather online to connect about millions of different topics, and when brands take the time to really understand what brings them together, and how they can join in the fun (rather than making it all about themselves), they will be rewarded for it.
