PlayAbly Podcast Episode 15: Gamification, Taylor Swift, and the Eras of E-Commerce: How to Build a Brand Fans Love

What do Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and ecommerce gamification have in common? Turns out, everything. In this episode of the Playably Podcast, we dive into how Taylor Swift has mastered gamification to build unmatched fan loyalty, from surprise songs to Easter eggs and fan-driven experiences.

We explore:
🎤 The gamified strategies behind the Eras Tour’s massive success.
🎮 How fan-created games and interactions keep the Swiftie community engaged.
🛍️ Lessons DTC brands can learn to build brand loyalty, leverage first-party data, and create memorable customer experiences.

Whether you’re a Swiftie, a marketer, or a brand looking to turn customers into superfans, this episode is packed with insights to level up your game.

P.S. Happy birthday, Taylor—call us, we’ve got gamified ideas for your next big launch! 🎉

#TaylorSwift #Gamification #Ecommerce #BrandLoyalty #PlayablyPodcast

Welcome to the PlayAbly Podcast! This episode is brought to you by PlayAbly Ads, where we turn your marketing into an interactive, game-based experience that engages customers and boosts conversions. And here’s something special—mention this podcast when you book a free demo on our website, and you’ll get your first month free! Visit playably.ai to learn more and schedule your demo.

Thanks for tuning in to the PlayAbly Podcast! Ready to engage your customers like never before? PlayAbly turns your website into an interactive experience that drives results. Don’t forget, mention the podcast during your free demo, and get your first month free! Book now at playably.ai

Get Your First Month of PlayAbly free when you mention this Podcast during your free PlayAbly Demo - learn how gamification can improve your ecommerce shop at www.playably.ai

Transcript

PlayAbly Podcast Episode 15: Gamification, Taylor Swift, and the Eras of E-Commerce: How to Build a Brand Fans Love

[00:00:00] 

Kajal: And we're back with another episode of the Playably podcast. Today I have Angelo joining me. Angelo is a co founder and head of VD for Playably. And we're here to talk about our favorite subject. Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift. 

Angelo: And our second favorite subject, gamification. 

Kajal: And gamification and how the two fit together.

This was episode one of this awesome podcast and there's just so much that has happened with the Heiress Tour wrapping this past Sunday and, Taylor's birthday being today! Happy birthday, Taylor! 

Angelo: If you're listening, we love you and would love to build you a gamified experience.

Kajal: Yes, we did work at Unity when your other game came out and I remember Jared Kushner being there and that game doing terribly. 

Angelo: I still played the game, Taylor, if you're listening, do you remember the name of the game? I don't. Just remember it was during her reputation era. 

Kajal: That was when we were gamifying to get the reputation [00:01:00] ticket. 

Angelo: Yes, I have seen that Look What You Made Me Do video many times from the Unity office. Those are fond memories. 

Kajal: Fond memories. Okay, so we're back and talking about Ares Tour, everything that's going on. this conversation was actually sparked by something that, Angela, you saw online.

Angelo: my algorithm knows me very well, especially YouTube. One of the things that came up, was a segment on good morning America where they talked about the success of the tour. one of the hosts brought up how gamification was a huge part of the tour.

That was the first time I felt seen by good morning America, because I had been preaching on my LinkedIn content, about Taylor Swift. And how she's using gamification. The point they brought up was that, like many other swifties I stayed up until 3 AM Sunday, because I just had to see what the surprise songs were.

And Taylor did not disappoint. The way that she incorporates these surprise songs and these ways to keep people hooked, I was lucky enough to go to the Aries tour twice last year. I didn't get to go this year, [00:02:00] but I have watched the live stream. At least 80 percent of the time.

I'm kind of sad now that I guess I won't be using TikTok anymore. 

Kajal: I know there is the Reddit activity that would happen every time it was streaming, everyone talking about it on the streams, people having a community talking about it, where it was very sad to be like, Oh, I'm never going to talk to these people in this way again.

Angelo: it was really sad, but, in that segment, they highlighted the surprise songs to keep people engaged. Games are the best way to keep people engaged especially in mobile games, with new content, they're eventually going to spend.

I've seen the tour, Multiple times I have the Disney Plus version on in the background whenever I'm doing work. Or when people are new to Taylor and I need to introduce them the fact that she was able to keep, I think she did like 149 shows and it was running for two years. So people know the setlist and I remember, during 1989, cause I also watched that concert sometimes, she'll talk about how people know the setlist. So the way that she would surprise people [00:03:00] was the guests that she would bring out.

Angelo: Surprise guests. When she took it to the next level, everybody knows the setlist, but nobody knows what outfit she's going to wear. or what announcements she might drop?

The fact that most people already know, the and what's going to happen, but still keep people in suspense and interested, retaining someone's interest for that long. When there's so much other content, and distractions, is just amazing.

Kajal: Oh yeah, the Mastermind game that people would play, it was free, fan built, you'd pick outfits, for what you think Taylor's gonna wear that night. If it's a new outfit or a repeated one, then you had to call out the colors specifically.

They all had names too, which was really fun because some of them were Taylor associated names and then you got to pick the secret songs too. And you got points. the top person for every show got a prize I don't know what the prize was, but I think it's amazing that they were able to monetize with how many people I think it was a million people registered on this app 

Was free to play and people were playing it every day on the streams They had their mastermind up and people would talk about [00:04:00] it. I just heard about it and I was like, what is mastermind then I quickly found out I think it's just amazing with how much fan driven gamification there is for taylor that she's not even doing on her own 

Angelo: The fans are doing it I've introduced my friends into the wonderful world of Taylor Swift.

I've been with her since Fearless. Did you start with Debut? 

Kajal: I thought that she had came from American idol. I held that belief for several years until I was talking about it at a party. I had to look it up and I felt stupid because I was very wrong, 

Angelo: I remember I was a senior in college and who's this Taylor Swift? it was love story. I've been here since then, for the people that are new, it's a fandom where each album and Era has its own story and arc with a lot of callbacks. the closest comparison is to the mcu each album is a great story on It's own, but when It's you take them all together you can piece them together with mastermind that's something the fans had created because she has such a rich, catalog and the Easter eggs she's been laying I think people are making up Easter eggs.

I made up an Easter egg where, I play LinkedIn [00:05:00] games. My favorite game is tango. It's kind of like Minesweeper meets Sudoku. usually they use suns and moons as the two, primary objects. one day they swapped it to a blue butterfly and a guitar. I remember slacking.

I'm like, this has to be Taylor, right? 

Kajal: I thought it was. 

Angelo: That's the immediate thing I thought about. LinkedIn and Taylor. And she's like, I have all the kids now. I need to get all the professionals. But I thought I thought it was just me. But then I saw a Reddit thread where people are like, is Taylor doing some sort of announcement or collaboration with LinkedIn?

the fact that she's so, influential, even hints of it could be enough to get people excited. 

Kajal: Taylor is omnipresent for the last two years, I think just in everything. 

She's able to stay top of mind without even putting in the extra effort. just seeing it snowball and take off They had the friendship bracelets, which we talked about last time that was completely fan driven the chants during the [00:06:00] songs that people memorized before you had to figure out where they were And then yeah, even The fan outfit sharing.

it was the first time that I felt the need to buy an outfit for a concert. I would go to raves in shorts a t shirt and a sweatshirt. Pretty much like what I'm wearing now. And I had, I had to, I went to Sugar Sugar, my favorite shop in Hawaii and bought a dress.

I bought my 1989 dress. 

Angelo: I remember coordinating with friends, like what era are you going to dress up as so we can coordinate? And then my first date guy, didn't know he was supposed to dress up. And I was like, no, you have to dress up. The experience. I thought it was also really cool. For the very last event, the city just kind of went crazy.

it really went a long way in making the tour. I still look back and think that was the highlight of my 2023, going to see eras twice, the first time in New York and the first time in LA, being able to turn into an experience call it like a core memory.

It's like a core [00:07:00] memory. the fact that. Vancouver, also invested in that with all their different activations just made it super memorable. I did see something on Instagram about how people were sad that, she didn't wear different outfits the last three nights 

Kajal: because she was filming.

Angelo: what she might announce today on her birthday, there's part two. 

Kajal: I need it. I saw it live because I was lucky enough to go to London and see it on the Ed Sheeran show. but yeah, I still want to see TPD. over and over again, and not seeing a granny on a live stream would be great.

back to taylor, back to the gamification. I feel the ticket buying in and of itself is pretty gamified and a challenge to get tickets There's that scarcity. the price is shooting up and you just felt compelled to buy tickets I remember there were lots of conversations.

Hey, the prices just seem to be going up. Should I buy them now? Will they drop before the show? There's so much speculation and talk about it. 

Angelo: Yeah, did we talk on the last [00:08:00] podcast about I was we were together when , The tickets for 

Kajal: trying to get tickets. I was we were going to black pink that day 

Angelo: Pink, yes another collaboration that I am dying for at least roseanne taylor.

I was telling a friend because I met this other swifty. He went to four shows I was like, how did you do that? he just got really lucky with the tickets I told him about how Even though I was a verified fan, I wasn't able to get tickets. I remember being with you and being sad.

So I was a little sad, but then I went to BlackPink and that made me happy. thought, there has to be a way that like Taylor would make it up. And then a couple of weeks later, Ticketmaster reached out and said, Oh, you were a fan that didn't get a ticket. So we want to give you a chance to buy tickets.

I always believed in you, Taylor, even during the reputation era, the new fans don't know, but like, you know, we were, we were there for her. 

Kajal: Earning the points. 

Angelo: Yeah, 

Kajal: I wish that they would bring that back. 

Angelo: It was a 

Kajal: lot of work, but I feel like the tickets went to less scammers than that. It did.

Angelo: And that's how we got those awesome seats when we saw reputation just thinking about Taylor, I was at [00:09:00] this econ, event, earlier this morning, and the thing that came up was that a lot of brands will spend a lot of money.

It was just Black Friday. They spend a lot of money to acquire all these users. Our customers for the first time. but a lot of these people just bought because of the deal. So maybe they're familiar with the brand, but then it was a big discount that got them to finally convert. and we see in the data that these customers, the discount shoppers, it's very hard to keep them retained.

one way that you can keep them retained is by educating them and telling them more about your brand and doing the storytelling piece, which I think a lot of brands struggle with, if you think about why. We're so invested in Taylor. It's like, number one, she's a great storyteller, and we feel that in her music.

But because she's such a good storyteller and we buy into it, it's kind of like an experience, right? Like going to the areas towards experience, each area is an experience. one of the things that brands are trying to do or have had a hard time doing is basically how can you build a connection with the customer beyond that first purchase so that they'll keep engaging and keep buying with you.

Kajal: And I think it's not [00:10:00] even just telling the brand story, but also building that, affinity of I'm in, I'm playing this thing or I'm doing this thing and I'm having a good time. I remember how great the 1989 tour was. And then I was like, okay, I will spend 500 for reputation floor front seat tickets.

And then it was, okay, that was amazing. The albums during COVID were amazing. I will drop anything for Loverfest. Which you had tickets to, I did not. and then, it was like, Aries Tour was like, the, you know, Loverfest got taken away, and it was okay, I'll do anything to get these tickets. I was in the security line, flying back from New York after Blackpink, where I finally got, my queue in line called, so my stuff went through the security thing.

I was standing at security, I'm pretty sure they were gonna call, like, ma'am, you have to go through. I'm like, no, I can't give you my phone yet, because I was trying Get the tickets and they finally did it just makes you a little crazy even with the holiday drops if we're talking about taylor she has her merch and swag, Every year she's known for her holiday drops She does [00:11:00] ornaments.

She does a snow globe for the new album. Sometimes she'll sell stuff. from previous years, which goes super fast and things are sold out in seconds she doesn't announce the drops It's always at a random time you get an email if you're on the list and then you buy as fast as you can.

for Black Friday, she had incredible deals on Eras tour stuff 70 to 80 percent off she sold a ton because people who couldn't afford it previously were like Oh now I can and people who wanted to remember the Eras tour I didn't I didn't want to stand out line out there or I missed out on something.

I think even the blue crew neck was on Sale, which was exclusive to the tour. So I feel Taylor knows how to sell. 

Angelo: is a savvy businesswoman.

Kajal: the loyalty really is what I mean. even though Target didn't sell out of the album and the book that dropped on Black Friday, people were [00:12:00] still at Target at 6 a. m. just to make sure that they were able to get one because there was a thought of scarcity. there was scarcity with everything else.

I don't think people have, camped out for Black Friday in so long because all the deals are now the same online. They want, less people in the stores. You can just get it shipped to your house some even have Black Friday deals way before Black Friday, but people, I think they were like just troves and there was news coverage of people camping outside of the targets for the Taylor Swift stuff.

Angelo: the last time I remember waking up early for Black Friday was, when Pokemon red or blue came out in the U. S. we were at Best Buy and they didn't have blue, they asked if I wanted red? I didn't really want red, but

I'd rather have one, than none at all. that was the last time I camped out. now, with Black Friday, everyone's getting hammered with. Offers the discounts are a lot bigger this year because customers are used to it.

So, the fact that I was able to get Laurel shoppers [00:13:00] to do something that, just isn't part of the norm anymore. That's because they're very brand loyal. 

Kajal: Yes. Very brand loyal. she's creating this interactive experience.

It's all encompassing. And I think that's really what brands can take away you'll never be Taylor Swift, but you can Surprise and delight dropping things for fans, rewarding VIP customers or offering things to new people.

There's things that get people excited about your brand. Being really thoughtful with your marketing, like the easter eggs that Taylor does keeping them engaged knowing who they are. with all of her sales She knows what her fans want 

I think there's a time where all of the merch had her face on it and then it stopped selling as much. So she switched to more artsy designs. and she started selling again. paying attention to what's being sold, the data that you have and personalized rewards, for people, interactive campaigns, and the best way to do that is gamification with Blately.

Angelo: Exactly. [00:14:00] we work with a lot of brands, that are not overtly conversion focused, but are really focused on getting that first sale, usually through Facebook or Google. the average brand has only a 20 to 30 percent repeat customer rate.

If you're going to grow year over year, only 20 percent of people are staying, maybe 40 percent if you have a really sticky brand, to grow year over year, you have to acquire 80 percent new customers. 

Kajal: with Amazon, a lot of people selling and then they'll just continue to buy on Amazon if they don't care about your brand.

They just like the product. eventually there will be a cheaper version of your product on Amazon, probably from Amazon. 

Angelo: Exactly. there's no brand loyalty. the package is going to get higher as more brands compete. as everyone's fighting for the same dollars on Facebook and Google, it's going to be more expensive to acquire customers. you spend all this money, you put all this effort into your creative to acquire the customer. I think it's time that people start to think about. what that post purchase process looks like? How can we create engaging and fun experiences so [00:15:00] that people want to learn about your brand? that's when you get brand loyal customers, and that's how you're able to sustainably grow your business.

Kajal: Yeah. And I think we've seen it at every e commerce conference this year at the talks. Gamification is the way to get first party data. keep people engaged and build brand loyalty.

Angelo: I'm excited to be leading the charge. 

Kajal: So reach out to Angelo. He'll get you set up on our Taylor Swift package, and builds you into an iconic brand. Mention the podcast and you get your first month free. We'll catch you next time.