Taylor Swift and ‘Seemingly Ranch’ Marketing Tactics

This was the second weekend in a row Taylor Swift showed up to a Chiefs game.

But people are still talking about Taylor Swift’s appearance in a Kansas City Chiefs box two weeks ago to cheer on Travis Kelce. All because of her choice of condiment to accompany a solitary chicken tender.

During the game, a Taylor Swift fan account tweeted a photo of the chicken and condiments with the caption:

Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch!

“Seemingly ranch” caught on, and brands and social media accounts rushed to take part in the buzz.

Acting on Trends (Taylor’s Version)

It’s not surprising that a viral tweet prompted responses from countless brands on social media. What is worth noting is the broad spectrum of organizations that chimed in and how those engagements transcended the traditional feeds.

Sure, plenty of companies had quick and clever social media posts. See Lay’s, Infinity and Wal-Mart.

Lots of outlets inaccurately reported that the Empire State Building lit up with red and white to mark the historic occasion. That’s technically not true – the building did post a tweet with a red and white photo, but it was an archival photo.

Still, it shows how far brands have come in ramping up social media efforts to respond to a trending topic.

Heinz even took it one step further, announcing a limited run of 100 bottles of Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch. That’s 100 bottles because of Kelce’s number (87) and Swift’s jersey (13). Heinz followers can now enter to win a bottle (provided they engage with a post).

Heinz fails to mention it’s had a ketchup-and-ranch condiment since 2019. That means the promo requires new labels, but not a whole new recipe or production run.

Two takeaways for today’s brands: First, pop culture transcends industries on social media. Any and all brands had an opportunity to say something on seemingly ranch.

Second, timing is everything. A few years ago, that meant a quick approval process for a topical tweet. Today, brands need to do more to join the conversation.