When the highest-grossing concert tour of all time announced a string of European dates, Irish fans went into a frenzy to secure their tickets. With three sold-out shows at the Aviva Stadium and 150,000 ecstatic fans counting down the seconds, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is set to hit Dublin this weekend.
The Eras Tour brings with it an excitement to see the biggest pop star in the world give a marathon performance, but also to celebrate songs that represent “the highs and lows of young womanhood” to so many.
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It’s no secret that Swift is a savvy businesswoman. Forbes recently reported that she’s the first musician to become a billionaire solely from songwriting and performing – no side hustle needed! But did you know she’s also a PR and marketing genius? From creating personal relationships and exclusive experiences with fans to reinventing her genre and aesthetic to suit each ‘era’, she has an almost unrivalled ability to generate a buzz around her music.
Taylormania around the world
Taylor is also the queen of leaving clues or ‘Easter eggs’ for fans to create hype around each announcement or release. A great example of this is a recent pop-up installation in collaboration with Spotify ahead of the release of her latest album ‘The Tortured Poet Department’. At The Grove in Los Angeles, fans could visit an album-themed open-air library, which revealed new lyrics over the course of the week leading up to the album release.
As the Eras Tour reaches new venues and new heights around the world, cities are taking a page out of Swift’s own book to capitalise on the economic boost the tour delivers, utilising destination marketing and PR stunts to welcome Taylormania. U.S. cities were the first to start the trend, from Tampa making Taylor its honorary mayor to Glendale changing its name to ‘Swift City’ for the day that was in it!
Closer to home, examples of Swift-themed PR and marketing can be seen at her recent UK shows. Edinburgh gave Taylor a warm welcome, with a band playing her famous hit ‘Love Story’ on bagpipes outside Murrayfield stadium. As Swifties then descended on London last weekend, Mayor Sadiq Khan unveiled a mural dubbed the ‘Swiftie steps’ outside Wembley, where Taylor played three epic sell-out shows to almost 90,000 fans each night.
Dublin’s welcome for Taylor Swift
Dublin City Council (DCC) has not (yet!) unveiled any PR stunts or marketing activity to welcome Taylor to our nation’s capital, but according to Evoke.ie it has alluded to ‘activations’ that “will complement the music genre associated with Taylor Swift”. (Evoke cites licencing issues as a potential hesitation in DCC hosting fan events.)
DCC’s reluctance to creatively capitalise on the economic boost the Eras Tour will bring to Dublin – estimated at a whopping €150 million – has been called out as a missed PR opportunity by several public figures, including Dublin’s Lord Mayor and Dublin City Councillor Mannix Flynn.
However, that has not stopped Irish Swifties and businesses from organising their own events to welcome the highly anticipated Eras Tour this weekend. The Irish Examiner lists Swiftie events run by local businesses all over the city, with everything from a friendship bracelet-making workshop to Swiftie spin classes, pre-concert brunches, concert after-parties and more – fans will be spoilt for choice!
Equally, EPIC (the Irish Emigration Museum) is not missing out on the chance to be part of the media buzz, cleverly tracing Taylor Swift’s heritage back to Derry and detailing the ‘Love Story’ of Susan Davis, a 21-year-old dressmaker, and Francis Gwynn, a 21-year-old weaver, who met on a ship emigrating from Derry to Philadelphia in 1836. The ingenious piece of research received a lot of media attention and the museum is also running a special guided tour for Swift’s dedicated fans visiting Dublin this weekend.
In 1836, they met aboard the ship AMY and fell in love. Read the story of love and emigration in Taylor Swift’s Irish ancestry with EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum.https://t.co/ETR1ynzZ94 pic.twitter.com/ubnAH8oU7M
— EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum (@EPICMuseumCHQ) June 18, 2024
The Taylor Swift ripple effect goes beyond Dublin too. As a self-confessed fan of movie ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’, Taylor has been invited for free pints by Luke Mee, who rebuilt the pub featured in the movie. And while it’s debatable whether America’s Sweetheart will take him up on the offer, there wouldn’t be a more Irish PR stunt than seeing Taylor Swift enjoying a pint of plain in a traditional Irish pub.
As Dublin prepares to welcome Taylor and her fans, the city’s response showcases the unmistakeable power of music and marketing to create unforgettable experiences and economic opportunities. Are you one of the lucky ones who managed to secure tickets? Let us know how excited you are in the comments of our social media!
About the author
Claire Smyth is a Client Executive with Cullen Communications, specialising in media relations, social media, influencer marketing, lifestyle, and mobility.