The short answer? No.
History of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour
In November 2022, tickets for Taylor Swift’s The Eras tour first went on sale. Three and a half million people registered for the sale. And on the day the tickets went on sale, the server-crushing traffic caused the Ticketmaster site to crash repeatedly, frustrating fans and drawing the ire of regulators and Taylor herself.
Ticket-buying bots, fake resellers and price gouging followed. Ultimately souring the experience and shutting out millions of Swifties.
As a result, Taylor announced a new round of shows a few weeks ago. This created a new lottery process to level the playing field for fans.
Taylor Swift announces new shows – and a lottery process
In August 2023, Taylor announced fifteen new North American shows. To smooth out the ticket-buying process, Ticketmaster rolled out a Verified Fan Process. Basically, fans created a Ticketmaster account, registered as a Verified Fan and selected a preferred city.
A whole lot of people I knew registered for the program, either for themselves or a friend. A random selection of fans were permitted to buy six tickets. The rest of us went on a waitlist.
Every single person I know who registered, and I know dozens of people who did, ended up on the waitlist.
I am on the waitlist, will I get Taylor Swift tickets?
You do not need a data analytics agency to tell you the answer is almost definitely no. Even if those selected to buy are not true Taylor Swift fans or do not need six tickets, there is no reason, aside from just being a kind person, to not buy all of them. Everyone knows six people who want to go and at the very least could resell the tickets at a tidy profit.
What does Taylor Swift teach us about marketing?
This entire situation is a master class in marketing. Every marketer dreams of working on something this successful. What can every marketer learn from Taylor Swift?
You need a great product
Taylor makes great music. She connects with her audience and comes across as sincere, powerful and vulnerable at the same time. Therefore, her fans see her and see themselves. You can’t do anything this big without a great product.
Mass attracts mass
Even if you are not a huge Taylor Swift fan, you would go to a show because everybody else is going to a show. Just like previous generations would not have missed out on seeing Elvis, The Beatles or Led Zeppelin, eventually those who have seen Taylor Swift will tell their grandkids about it.
Great brands create an experience
The best brands – Apple, Nike, Blackstone, Mustang, Starbucks – are not about shoes, coffee or cars. They are about a full brand experience. Taylor Swift is more than her music. She is the battle to get the tickets. The anticipation of going, dressing up, the dinner and drinks ahead of time. the millions of selfies. The concert is the catalyst, but people are signing up for the experience.