The Genius of Taylor Swift and Uber
Andrew McConnell
Co-Founder & CEO Alively | WSJ Bestselling Author | TEDx Speaker | Advocate for Healthspan: Making It Easier For Everyone to Live Their Best Life Their Entire Lives
How is Uber like Taylor Swift? The similarities may not seem obvious, but trust me, they are there. And I am not just talking about my incredibly obvious and vocal fandom of both of them. It is what precipitated that fandom, and keeps it growing that, that make these two so alike.
Nice to meet, where you been? I could show you incredible things
Both have shown us incredible things. Perhaps written off initially as just another pretty musician out of Nashville, or of-the-moment app out of San Francisco, Miss Swift and Uber have proven themselves to be so much more. Their staying power relies on how truly incredible each is. They are the perfect products. The feel good catchiness with lyrics we can all relate to. The superior and immediate service, whether it is a ride home on Saturday night, or a lunch delivered in minutes to our office. Both don't just play in their respective spaces. They dominate them. And they dominate because they are just so much better than the competition.
I'm even better than you imagined I would be
Which brings us to the second point in which they are similar: constant improvement. From day one both have been incredible, but that was never enough for these two. They want to be perfect, and they both know perfection only comes with continuous improvement. Whether it is through reinvention and genre hopping, or nearly daily product improvements and expansion, good is not part of Ms. Swift's or Uber's vocabulary. Neither wants you to just like them, they want you to love them, and to tell all your friends how much you love them and why. They don't just want this love; they earn it, and earn it constantly.
I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now
Which brings us to our third point: they know their customers, and this is how they are able to consistently deliver the perfect "product." Whether it is via big data tracking and analytics through the phone in your pocket, or the incredibly close and personal relationships cultured with her fanbase, both invest in intimately, and truly knowing their customers/fans, and what they want, even when the customers/fans don't know it themselves. It is their genius. It makes them immediately relatable. They are everyone's private driver. They are everyone's beauty queen just a little out of reach, or the girl living next door. They know you, and you love that they do.
Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate...I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, I shake it off, I shake it off
And of course this brings us to our final point of similarity: success breeds haters, and both have more than their fair share. Whether it is "bad blood" with other (jealous) pop stars, or riots in the streets of Paris from the taxi drivers whose outdated service is being threatened, neither gets a free or easy path to success.
But that too is why we love them. They are not deterred by these haters. They know their fans, and know that their fans' love and support far outweigh the haters' petty complaints.
They suffer, and we know they do. And it is exactly because they both give everything to be our anything that they are so incredible at what they do.
*NOTE: Thank you Rod Witmond, VP of Marketing at rented., for inspiring this piece
Andrew McConnell is the CEO of rented.
Founder, TokenSpace
1 年Such a cool comparison. Kudos to your creativity and very well curated ??
Half impresario, half eminence grisé; I build & grow companies, and help others do the same.
1 年Thank you for these reflective thoughts, Andrew McConnell; funny, was actually thinking this morning (while listening to Taylor Swift) that it's really nice of her to go on tour for her fans, because that shit must be real, real hard.
Group Executive Governance at UnitingCare
9 年Very neatly put! People do focus on the genius of the initial disruptive idea, and can sometimes forget that a lot of hard work and good business principles follow with improving, staying a head of the game and proving the detractors irrelevant.
Helping Christian Leaders Discover God's Plan ┃ Building Christ-Centered Connections in the Marketplace ┃?? Ask me about receiving a Prophetic Word
9 年Knowing who we are meant to serve helps us narrow down what we can do and so we can not only get better but also continue to improve and help meet their needs.