EPISODE 119 OF THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS PODCAST: RECLAIMING MY NAME… TAYLOR SWIFT STYLE

Sonya:

One of the most influential women in music – and one of my personal idols – is Miss Taylor Swift.

Regular listeners to the podcast will remember Episode 106, where I laid out the 13 reasons why I think she’s a marketing genius. If you haven’t listened to that one, scroll back a little bit to have a listen.

Today, I’m sharing with you how Taylor Swift’s decision to re-record her masters inspired me to make a pretty big business decision of my own.

I hope this episode inspires you to make a big, bold move in YOUR business. Let’s dig in.

Songwriters have always been obsessed with the concept of their own name.

Rihanna had massive success with her song, “What’s my Name”

Destiny’s Child all but demanded you “Say my name” in their chart topping single titled – you guessed it – Say my Name.

And Eminem? He burst onto the charts back in 1999 with his debut single, “My name is”.

When it comes to the world of business, your name can convey more information than you may realise.

It tells the world what you do, where you’re located, even where you’re positioning yourself in the market – so the decision to CHANGE an established business name is not one that should be entered into lightly.

But what does this have to do with Taylor Swift? And what did HER decision have to do with the future of the Kiss Marketing brand?

Quite a lot, actually. Stay with me while I explain.

For those not familiar with the Taylor Swift / Scooter Braun drama, I’ll leave you to go down your own Google rabbit hole with that one. All you really need to know is that they do NOT like each other. At all.

But well before those two had beef, a 15-year-old Taylor Swift signed her first record deal with Big Machine Records.

Being new to the industry, she didn’t know how things worked, and she didn’t have the clout to demand ownership of the masters to her first six albums.

If you’re familiar with her music, you’ll KNOW that her songs are inspired by her own life and the heartbreak she’s endured.

SO, imagine how she must have felt, over a decade later, when her arch nemesis (Scooter Braun) purchased that record label she was signed to, and consequently, now held the ownership to those songs ABOUT HER LIFE.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure I would have gone into a massive pity spiral and would have probably questioned if I would stay in the industry at all.

But there’s ONE thing you should know about Taylor Swift: she has a strong sense of justice, and she is the QUEEN of turning a seemingly hopeless situation around.

Her Reputation album is PROOF of this – if you know, you know - but that’s another rabbit hole we just don’t have time to go down, today.

Re-recording her albums has given Taylor the opportunity to release these songs AGAIN, this time with the added benefit of over 18 years of touring, recording and songwriting experience under her belt.

You can HEAR how her vocals and composition have matured, and in her latest album, she even rewrote the lyrics to one of her songs to remove a problematic line that skewed a little misogynistic.

Miss Swift has grown up, as we all do. But not everyone gets the chance to do things over in their career – or business.

While the order of her re-releases was kept tightly under wraps, from day one Swifties insisted that her debut album, titled Taylor Swift, would be the last album she re-recorded; a symbolic reclamation of her work – AND her name.

And this is where MY big business decision comes into play.

Over the last month or so, my team and I have been building out the strategy and processes that will see us through the next 6 to 12 months, and let me tell you, it’s been exciting, motivating, and EXHAUSTING, all at once.

But there was one aspect of my business that just felt a little… off.

When I started my business, I did so under the name Kiss Marketing.

As my business grew, it became clear that we were operating two different businesses:

One side was the education and training side, which included this podcast, workshops, and one-on-one training sessions.

The other side was the agency side of my business, the done-for-you social media management, website builds, and digital advertising.

These two sides of the business had different energies – one masculine, one feminine, and it didn’t make sense to have one style of branding and messaging for two completely different business operations.

So I split it up. Kiss remained the brand centred around MY teachings, and Linchpin became the agency. We even rebranded both sides of the business to completely separate them. And it worked, for a while.

But just like people grow up and go through eras, so too do businesses.

I owe Kiss Marketing a LOT. And I’ll be forever grateful to the clients, contractors, workshop attendees and podcast guests who helped me build the brand into what it has become.

But it’s time to step into a new era: one where, just like Taylor Swift, I’m unapologetically backing MYSELF.

A few of my eagle-eyed followers have already picked up on the change, but I’m officially announcing it here: from this point onward, Kiss Marketing is no more. The education and training side will be operating under my name – Sonya McIntyre Reid.

Linchpin Digital will continue to provide the same services we currently do for our clients, but when it comes to delivering workshops and trainings, and a VERY exciting online course that’s coming soon, that’s all me.

So if you were wondering where Kiss Marketing went, or what the difference between my personal brand and my agency is, now you know.

I may not have any albums to re-record, or an arch nemesis trying to steal my work, but to be able to stand strong and deliver valuable content, under my own name, feels as natural as breathing.

And if you’re contemplating a big business move in this new financial year?

Asking yourself “What would Taylor Swift do?” might just give you the courage to flip the script, in the BEST possible way.