Sustainable Domain Management
Plant a tree by registering your next domain with Lexsynergy.
11 Nov 2024
Read nowPublished: 4 Dec 2024
When it comes to managing her brand online, Taylor Swift (“TS”) is in a league of her own and protecting her Reputation is serious business. Each era of her career brings not only chart-topping albums but a renewed commitment to safeguarding her brand online. With the pain of Taylor's original songs falling into someone else's hands still fresh in memory, her team has taken no chances with her digital assets. This Fearless brand protection strategy is designed to keep her identity and Intellectual Property secure, ensuring that the TS brand stays in her control.
Long Story Short
TS has not always had such a strong forcefield around her brand. When she was just 15 years old, she signed her first record deal. The catch? She owned the publishing rights to her music but her record label, Big Machine, owned the masters to the albums and recordings.
This led to issues, in 2019, when the record label was bought by Scooter Braun, who gained ownership of Swift’s masters and sold them without her knowledge. TS would not have received the profits from the streams or sales of these songs (you could say there would have been some Bad Blood there).
Luckily as Swift was the songwriter, she could legally re-record the music and hence “Taylor’s Version” was born. Red (Taylors Version) earned more than 10 times as much as the original and managed to get 2.86 billion streams. Karma at its best.
Having learned from this experience, she now takes no chances. Her strategy goes overboard to ensure her intellectual property and her brand stays firmly in her hands.
A Blank Space? Not on Her Watch
TS strategy goes beyond the basics, covering every imaginable corner of her brand. In addition to registering essential domains like taylorswift.com and taylorswiftconcerttickets.com her team has secured an entire domain portfolio containing popular album names and song lyrics to memorable fan phrases. (Even her cats’ names, Meredith, Olivia, and Benjamin Swift, have been registered!)
But even more eyebrow-raising domains including "itaughttaylorswifthowtogivehead.com" have been registered to guard her brand’s integrity. This proactive approach shows the lengths her team is willing to go to ensure her brand image stays pure and protected. While most brands will not and do not need to go to Swiftian extremes, TS’s approach offers valuable insights into how one of the most popular musicians of the era protects their identity online. You cannot register every variation so a measured approach should be adopted. While her approach showcases a robust defence, businesses should adopt a measured strategy, rather than attempting to register every variation.
What Brands Can Learn (and Leave) from Taylor Swift’s Protection Strategy
TS’s meticulous attention to digital security is not just reserved for pop stars. Every business, big or small, should be actively safeguarding their brand’s online presence. However, without proper strategy, businesses risk having their brand hijacked by cybersquatters or impersonators. From misleading fan sites to fraudulent online stores, the risks are real. Swift mitigates these risks by registering not just her primary trade marks as domains but also common misspellings, variations and even in TLDs such as .shop or .porn ensuring her brand remains in her ownership on all fronts. Despite the amount of effort her team have put in, the reality is that variations across thousands of TLDs are endless. A strategic and more focused approach ensures optimal protection. For instance, applying for a branded TLD like .swift when the next gTLD application phase opens would be a great long-term solution.
Sure, she has got a fortress of domains around her brand, but for most businesses, there is an easier and more cost-effective way to stay protected. Enter domain blocking. Rather than buying up every possible domain, domain blocks let you stop others from registering a domain name identical to your trade mark in over 600 extensions, without the hassle of owning each one yourself. It is like setting up a digital “no trespassing” sign, giving your trade mark protection across hundreds of domain extensions without the need to manage a mountain of domains.
Think of it as a smart shortcut: domain blocks cover the bases, save on costs, and let you focus your time on what really matter—growing your brand, not guarding every corner of the internet.
Learn more about domain blocking or get in contact to learn which block is best suited for your brand.
Playing the Long Game: A Strategy That Evolves
As her career evolves, TS’s approach to brand protection is evolving too, not only registering domains to align with her latest albums, tours, and memorable fan moments but also letting go of domains that are no longer relevant. This strategy ensures that her portfolio remains streamlined while still protecting her brand from digital opportunists. For instance, before the release of 1989, she pre-emptively secured domains like 1989tour.com but now no longer has the need for it.
If there is one thing her strategy shows us, it is this: brand protection is not just a set-and-forget effort. It is a long-term investment that grows with your brand. By partnering with us, you can ensure that your domain portfolio scales in tandem with your business goals, without the hassle of managing every detail yourself.
Next Steps
We know that no two businesses are the same. Taylor Swift’s strategy might work for her (albeit overkill), but your brand deserves a tai(y)lored strategy. We analyse your business to create a bespoke, affordable strategy that fits your needs—without any unnecessary extras.
Want to keep your brand in tune with the best domain and brand protection strategies? Engage with us to secure the right plan for your brand—no guitar, microphone, or family of cats required.
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