At The Iconic,chief marketing officer Jo Robinson and her team closely watched the US and Central American legs of the tour for clues about which eras were proving most popular with fans and,consequently,which styles would be most worth producing through the company’s private labels,which include Dazie and Atmos&Here.
“We needed to emulate[Swift’s] costumes as much as possible … some styles would only work in gold for theFearless era;silver wasn’t largely featured,so we went lighter on that,” she says.
Whereas purchases during events such as Black Friday are often driven by shoppers’ needs,Robinson says the “emotion and passion” driving fan behaviour aroundThe Eras Tour is creating a marketing opportunity unlike any she’s seen. “Practicality is not the number-one consideration[driving purchases],” she says.
“This will be one of the most exciting nights in our customers’ lives[so] we have been really curated in our approach. Every colour,sequin,design,cut – even how iridescent the sequins were compared to the ones she wears on stage – was critiqued and surveyed to ensure we were hitting the mark.”
Multi-brand retailers are not the only ones that jumped on the Swift bandwagon. A spokeswoman for clothing chain Glassons said sequined styles from its “front row” capsule,released in January,sold out within five minutes. And it seems everyone from craft chain Spotlight to shoe brand Midas is offering styles to feed the demand.
Spotlight’s head of marketing Padma Palani says the company couldn’t miss the opportunities created by the demand for do-it-yourself concert outfits. The most popular project kits have included rhinestone hats,fringed jackets and,of course,anything to do withfriendship bracelets.