LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 15: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO USE ON COVERS OF PUBLICATIONS) Taylor Swift … [+] performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Wembley Stadium on August 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )
Is there anyone more loyal than a Swiftie? Unlikely. Taylor Swift fans are among the most devoted in the world. They’ll spend thousands of dollars to see her in concert. They’ll defend her against critics, ex-boyfriends and former managers. They’ll even get politically active: when Swift recently endorsed Kamala Harris on Instagram, it generated over 400,000 clicks through to vote.gov.
Swift’s influence may be unprecedented, but before she came on to the scene, there was a company that had millions of unwaveringly dedicated and emotionally invested superfans – GameStop.
A disruptor for its time, GameStop became the first video game store in the world when it opened its doors in the early eighties. Retailing has evolved dramatically over the past four decades, but one thing has remained constant – GameStop customers are fiercely loyal.
Gary Kusin, co-founder of both GameStop and Laura Mercier Cosmetics, recently came on my Retail Disrupted podcast to explain: “Teenagers used to stand in line on a cold night at midnight with their mother or father so they could be the first of all their friends to buy a game. GameStop is part of the fabric of their lives. They mark time in their lives by what titles had come out. Now they’re in their forties and they’re still avid gamers.”
This kind of emotional loyalty is the stuff of dreams for retailers. Imagine building not just a community, but an army of superfans who support the brand over decades throughout multiple life stages. And like those Swifties, they will come out all guns blazing if anyone tries to mess with it.
A few years ago, when hedge fund managers tried to short the GameStop stock, it gave rise to a totally new phenomenon – the meme stock. According to Investopedia, this refers to shares of a company that have gained “viral popularity due to heightened social sentiment.” In other words, those superfans were coming to GameStop’s rescue.
“When they heard that a hedge fund was trying to kill their company, they got together and globally drove that stock price,” Kusin tells me. “To have that long of a relationship with a brand, you’re asking for hand-to-hand combat if you want to come out of Wall Street and try to kill a brand.”
So what does all of this tell us in the context of today’s retail climate? It’s a reminder that, as Kusin says, your brand is a promise and one that you must live up to in every single customer interaction. Understand what your brand stands for, who you’re targeting and how you differentiate from your rivals. Don’t be tempted to appeal to everyone. Instead, go after your most loyal customers who are going to be with you through thick and thin. Build your entire strategy around them. Learn from them. Evolve with them.
