Forget the image of Taylor Swift as a simple pop star: according to the exhaustive analysis of Kevin Evers in his book There’s nothing like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swiftwe are faced with one of the best business strategists of our time. Just published in the United States, the Harvard Business Review Press editor has developed a deep study where he broken down, stage by stage, the decisions that have turned Swift into an unprecedented cultural phenomenon, applying the same analysis frameworks that would be used with business titans such as Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos.
“If a man does something, it is” strategic “; If a woman does the same, she is “calculated,” Swift states, in an appointment that Evers uses as an epigraph of his work. The distinction is key to understanding the approach of the book, which crumbles how each seemingly instinctive movement of the artist contains a brilliant understanding of market dynamics, crisis management and strategic innovation. From his first decision to reject a contract with RCA Records because he was not guaranteed creative freedom, to the bold play of re -recording his first six albums to recover control of his work, the analysis reveals a first -level business mind.
Particularly revealing is the concept of “blue ocean” that Evers applies to the beginnings of Swift. When identifying a unattended niche – adolescents interested in country music with authentic lyrics – Swift and Scott Borchetta (founder of Big Machine Records) bet on an unconfuted market space. “We were anything but a great machine (…) I thought,” Why not make a bold statement? “” Says Borchetta about the name of his seal, which began as a small startup in a moment of crisis for the music industry.
The book argues that Swift’s ability to evolve is not the result of chance, but an intuitive application of the concept of “productive paranoia” coined by Andy Grove: “Success begins complacency. Complacency engenders failure. Only paranoids survive ».
The book argues that Swift’s ability to evolve is not the result of chance, but an intuitive application of the concept of “productive paranoia” coined by Andy Grove: “Success begins complacency. Complacency engenders failure. Only paranoids survive ». This mentality has led her to constantly anticipate market changes, as evidenced by her strategic transition to pop or her adaptation to streaming during pandemic with folklore and evermore, when many artists were paralyzed.
Anyway, perhaps the most fascinating thing about Evers’s analysis is the concept of “antiphragility” that applies to Swift, taken from Nassim Taleb. The singer has not only survived the crises – since the interruption of Kanye West in the VMA 2009 to the discredit campaign orchestrated by Kim Kardashian – but has emerged stronger from each one, turning the attacks into creative fuel. “Every time someone speaks shit, it simply makes me work even harder and makes me much stronger,” he said in Wembley.
The unprecedented success of The Eras Tourthe highest grossing tour in history appears as the culmination of this strategy meticulously executed for almost two decades. However, Evers warns about the risks of omnipresence and the possible fatigue of the public, although it trusts Swift’s reinvention capacity. The recurring image of the “house in flames” during the tour suggests that the artist is already preparing her next transformation, demonstrating that her greatest genius resides precisely in her ability to anticipate and lead the change, not just adapt to him.
Antonio J. is a writer and co -founder and editorial director of www.rrefugio.com, Agency Specialized in Content, Ecommerce, Digital Strategy and Branding.
