AUT communications studies lecturer Angela Rose Asuncion is an OG Taylor Swift fan. She chats with NZ Marketing about Swift’s masterclass in capturing and holding attention for her latest album, Life of a Showgirl, released on October 3.
After almost two months, the day Taylor Swift fans have been waiting for is finally here – Swift’s latest album, Life of a Showgirl is out.
Auckland University of Technology communications studies lecturer Angela Rose Asuncion is excited – having been a Swiftie since the early days.
She will be attending a listening party in Auckland along with a friend that she met at another Taylor Swift event. And she’ll see the accompanying film this weekend.
“I am such a music person and new releases excite me. If this is one I can dance around the kitchen too, then I’m all for it,” says Asuncion.
“I am intrigued as well as to what the songs are going to be about. I haven’t really set any expectations but just intrigued to see what she’s got in store.”
Swathes of social content
On August 12, 2025, the singer-songwriter revealed her 12th studio album’s title, cover art and the release date of October 3.
Immediately, the announcement inspired a swathe of social media posts from brands like Olive Garden, Netflix and Google using the album’s orange and mint green visuals.
While many poached the colours, Asuncion says some of the best social content she saw was by brands who tied the album name into their posts. NZ Police, for example, wrote “Ahhh, Life of a Showgirl is out now ✨🧡🤩 ” with a link supposedly taking you to an album announcement. Instead, it takes you to the NZ Police YouTube channel.
“Oops did I say showgirl… I meant police officer,” they responded in the comments. They further capitalised with more references to their favourite “eras” and the album they have on repeat: Slow Down.
A masterclass in audience connection
Asuncion has recently finished her master’s thesis on social media and its impact on artists, like Swift, and the promotion of their music.
Swift has been around for nearly 20 years and in the past few years has effectively rebranded an existing product with her ‘Taylor’s Versions’ re-recordings.
“It’s her strategic storytelling, tapping into the relationship her fans have built or she’s built with her fans. There’s that layer of emotional loyalty and the idea of parasocial relationships,” says Asuncion.
That has been one of her themes since the beginning: Asuncion remembers buying Swift’s CDs as a 12-year-old and the lyrics sheet would include hidden messages written in code.
Her strategy is the same, but social media platforms havetakenit to the next level, creating a new style of word of mouth as well as spaces where fans can congregate to dissect her latest cryptic post.
Swift, as Asuncion puts it, is a masterclass in connecting with her audience.
Podcast takes album annoucement to ‘New Heights’
While Swift typically likes to leave clues and Easter eggs in social media content in the lead up to an announcement, this time she dropped the new album news during an appearance on her now-fiance Travis Kelce’s podcast, New Heights.
“I found it really interesting – announcing it on a podcast where the audience isn’t her traditional audience and it’s also non-traditional media in terms of music releases,” says Asuncion.
The style of the announcement also felt personally relevant to her and a lot of her friends, who are all keen podcast listeners, she adds.
But if it weren’t for the podcast clips shared on social media, it’s the kind of moment that could have been a blink-and-you-miss-it type.
“If it wasn’t shared on Instagram, I probably wouldn’t have been as perceptive or known about it as soon as I did. Having that visual element is good for drawing people in to the full podcast and reaches a lot more audiences that way,” says Asuncion.
Choosing to announce the news with Kelce made it feel more intimate, like you were sitting down at the table with them and part of the conversation, she adds.
Keep the momentum going
Asuncion says Swift then kept the momentum going with lots of micro moments, helping her to hold people’s attention for two months in a world where cultural moments a lot more fleeting.
On August 26, Swift and Kelce’s engagement took the world by storm – an Instagram post that now has 37 million likes. In mid-September, she announced the Life of a Showgirl film which would hit theatres around the world from October 3 to 5. There’s also tangible products in the form of exclusive vinyl versions of the album.
“The micro moments have kept it going still. Ever time I jump on [social media], there is at least two or three videos about the Life of a Showgirl,” says Asuncion.
“When the podcast was first released, I was seeing a lot of nitpicking in the background – they’re like, ‘oh there’s a Pinnocchio, she’s lying or hiding something’. As more stuff about the album came out, people were looking into those: ‘What does this mean?'”
There was much debate over the word “cancelled” on the track list, which was spelled the British way with two ‘Ls’. (One L is the standard US spelling.) More recently people have been tying in elements from the Eras tour, saying this is her “wrap party” to that section of her career.
“The cross-platform activity… she’s taking up, not a lot of space, but little corners of these different online and offline areas. And it is kind of true when people say, ‘Oh I can’t get away from her.’ I think she is doing that quite strategically to stay relevant,” says Asuncion.
