PR Story of the Week: There's something about Taylor

I remember hearing Taylor Swift's music a couple of years ago, but I wrote her off almost immediately as country tunes aren’t really my cuppa tea. She then crept back onto my radar when she started going out with Harry Styles (I’m not a 1D fan, honest…) and they ventured up north to the Lake District for a weekend away (good choice guys, good choice). 

Then, after the demise of Sty-lor, I didn’t really take much notice of her again until, say, last summer. Over the last six months, however, I’ve grown to really like Ms Swift, admire her even (I'm actually listening to her new album while writing this blog).

In a world where young girls are growing up with saucepots like Miley Cyrus and Rihanna as supposed role models, there’s something hugely refreshing about Taylor Swift… partly because she refrains from twerking, boasting of drug-taking and posting semi-naked selfies (whatever floats your boat, but is there REALLY any need to flash the entire Instagram-using population??) 

Despite her global domination of the pop charts and mind-boggling fame and fortune, she still seems completely and utterly down-to-earth. Yes, I can hear you cynics in the back muttering ‘Well isn’t that all down to her squeaky clean image that has been carefully crafted by her PR team?’ And yes, it might well be. It probably is, in fact. But even with all the help in the world, I very much doubt you can keep up a completely fake persona for long (you only have to watch Celebrity Big Brother for proof of that!) 

PR Week recently featured an article entitled ‘Is Taylor Swift the best person at PR, like, ever?’ And yes, I reckon she might well be. In the piece, author Gavin Devine wrote that those of us in the PR industry would do well to study the Taylor Swift masterclass. I agree, I think we certainly would on a professional level, but so would any other young woman (or man) who is in the public eye. For her popularity can be partly attributed to the fact that she appears to genuinely adore, appreciate and respect her fans. After all, they are the reason why she is where she is and Ms Swift seems to recognise that... unlike a certain popstar brat who was pictured a few years ago appearing to actually spit on a waiting crowd from the roof of his hotel. 

I chose this as my favourite PR story of the week because it highlights three key elements of PR success (engagement, media coverage and consistency) and it puts them into an interesting context, that is, a pop star’s reputation. Read the PR Week article here.

What do you think of Taylor Swift? Is she a good role model for young girls? Or is her image simply PR spin? Let me know your thoughts x