On Aug. 12, Taylor Swift announced her 12th original studio album, The Life of a Showgirl and a sparkly orange era on her website.
This news spread like a ray of golden sunshine, cutting through some bleak headlines for women. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lost its female leader because President Donald Trump did not like the published jobs numbers. And as TIME reported, this labor market data also revealed that women are leaving the labor market in droves
The next day on New Heights, Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast, Taylor complimented Travis’ sweatshirt. “Thanks, sweetie, it’s the color of your eyes,” responded Travis, sending Swifties into a tailspin.
Finally, Swift revealed more details. Her album will be released on Oct. 3 and she shared its artwork and tracklist. The announcement is not just a reflection of modern American gender dynamics, but a masterclass in modern advertising.
Read More: Everything We Know So Far About Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl‘
In less than 24 hours, everything turned orange. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was in on it. The Empire State Building, New York Times Square, and the Kansas City Union Station lit up in orange lights Tuesday evening. M&Ms, Playdoh, and Sesame Street came out to play, flouting orange and the number 12 in honor of Taylor Swift’s twelfth album. The Olive Garden flashed a garlic bread turned showgirl in honor of the era’s new album title. Petco brought out Meredith, Taylor’s cat, in an orange haze. Even Aquaphor hand lotion showed up in sparkle. The list of brands getting in on the mania went on and on.
Orange became the new social marketing technique. Business classes in universities across the nation will ponder Taylor’s successful grip on our psyche. With the economy-moving Eras Tour behind us, companies had caught on to Swift’s success even if they could not understand how she had done it. They were grasping for the attention of Taylor’s fans, riding the coattails of her brand.
But what is Taylor’s brand? “I am in the business of human emotion,” said Swift while discussing her decision to buy back her music catalog from the private equity firm Shamrock Capital with Jason and Travis. “I would so much rather lead heart-first in something like this.” Not music, not entertainment, not writing, but human emotion.
And though Swift maintains she has not made such business decisions because of the projected returns or dividends, her emotion-focused approach has still been key to her success. Throughout her career, Swift has remained true to herself and invested in getting to know and understand her audience. She builds her product around human emotions—hers and ours.
The day before the announcement, I had been working with a librarian discussing how to build research muscle among a new class of incoming freshmen who would be taking my new class, The Academic Lore of Taylor Swift. The librarian began telling me she came to the fandom late, that the romance between Taylor and Travis really drew her in because it gave her so much joy to watch.
Read More: The History of Music Copyright—Before (Taylor’s Version)
More than a million listeners tuned in to the New Heights podcasts the night of Swift’s announcement. The emotional tug of a new announcement or any crumb of new information into the life of the artist had a magnetic pull far and wide. Human emotion sells.
In critical, historical moments like the one we are in now, where immigrants are being unfairly targeted by the federal government, inequality is ever increasing, and moms cannot catch a break in the labor market, it sells even more. As advertisers continue paying attention to who’s controlling the market today, they’ll look to megastar influencers like Taylor Swift and latch themselves to her sparkly orange belt.
She will, in turn, look to her fans who are more than happy to dig deep into their pockets for a chance to experience the human emotions she’s selling, whether via CD, vinyl, cassette, and any other form. Maybe all of her fans won’t buy the orange Playdoh, but they will buy the music that she ever-so-delicately, perfectly, and precisely laid out to a sound track—and they will devour it. She’ll make them happy in what might be seen as otherwise depressing times.
This is what I call “Swiftynomics.” It is women’s ability to dominate consumption and marketing patterns by harnessing their human experiences for economic benefit. It is women investing in one another, and it thrives today, even in these challenging times.
A business built on human emotions is a smart, strategic business plan. An economy which thrives off of the emotions, and realities, of deeply authentic women is an economy we should all want to build together, in this era and the next.
If that is what Taylor is selling, then sign me up.