It seems like everything Taylor Swift touches turns to gold, especially if it’s a product from a small company.
Cassey Ho, founder of activewear brand Popflex, learned this lesson recently when Swift was seen wearing the brand’s purple spin skirt in a short YouTube video. Swift also appears to have included a reference to the skirt in her song “imgonnagetyouback.” The track on Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, includes the lyric, “Short lilac skirt, the one that fits me like skin.”
Swifties quickly noticed this implicit endorsement of the Popflex product, and immediately sold out supplies of the brand. A Taylor Swift fan, she knew she needed to take action to capitalize on the massive amount of interest in her brand.
The most significant change she made was accepting pre-orders for the purple skort. The store does not typically accept pre-orders, but it also works closely with suppliers to make sure the skirts will be produced and shipped as quickly as possible. She also added “Cassey’s Edition” to the product name and mentioned the words “imgonnagetyouback” in the product description.
Aside from these small changes and posting on social media, Ho and the Popflex team don’t put much effort into promoting the products. They realize that the implicit endorsement from Swift and the attention the brand already has from its fan base is stronger than most actions they can take. They therefore chose to focus efforts on fulfilling orders and maintaining high product quality to meet current demand.
However, with increased interest also comes a greater number of imitators. Popflex has already had to deal with several brands recreating the design. Fortunately, Popflex has an active community of existing fans who help discover and report these clones and spread the word about where the initial design came from.
he He said company“The community is doing their part to help spread the word, and it’s amazing. There’s kind of a deeper soul that Taylor wears a skirt.
Taylor Swift herself may not endorse your products or wear them in a video. However, small businesses can periodically achieve success due to widespread publications or smaller-scale endorsements. So, having systems and communities ready to go quickly can help you capitalize on these quick bursts of interest – regardless of their source or size.
