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Rumor is that Taylor Swift, famous for writing songs about her personal relationships and experiences, has written a song about Kanye West and she plans to sing it at the MTV Music Awards tonight.
You probably remember last year, when Kanye stormed the stage after Taylor win the Best Female Video award. Kanye grabbed the microphone from a stunned Swift and said that the award should have gone to Beyonce. In the ensuring days and weeks, West felt an extreme backlash and disappeared from the spotlight.
Taylor Swift, meanwhile, has continued her meteoric rise and recently released the first single from her new album. That song, “Mine”, is already a major hit on the pop and country charts.
Swift has endeared herself to fans through honest songs that are close to her heart. She’s openly joked that it is hard to find people to date her because of her reputation for writing songs about her heartbreaks.
Brands that connect on a personal level always win.
When I ordered my last iPod through the Apple website, I had a quote from John Lennon engraved on the back. It was a quote I chose, and the engraving was free. There is no iPod quite like that one anywhere on earth. Today my iPhone has a selection of apps that are personal to me. My friends and coworkers have a different selection of apps, all personal to them.
Many sports manufacturers allow you to personalize your gear, creating equipment in your team colors or your personal favorite colors. There will be no equipment exactly like yours anywhere.
Through social media sites you can now create an internet experience that is personal to you. You can wake up to an on-line newspaper that is customized to your personal tastes, interests, and sources.
Smart brands today are like Taylor Swift. They engage their fans on a personal level. They communicate in connective language, not transactional words. By revealing themselves to the world on a human level, they give us the chance to bond with them. After all, people don’t bond with products or companies. We bond with other people.
If you expect your brand to connect with people, you need to find a way to make it human.
