Move Over, Midas — Brands Seek the Taylor-and-Travis Touch

America’s new “it couple” seems to be single-handedly creating an economic boom for every company they shop at, and whether the two are in it for the long haul or destined to become the next Taylor breakup album, brands are thrilled to reap the benefits while they last.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are dropping thousands on gifts for each other, and consumers are looking to the pair as tastemakers, following in their footsteps.

The $695 jeans that Swift wore to cheer Kelce on in the Super Bowl, for instance, sold out by the next day, per Fox Business, and shopping app Lyst reportedly saw searches for the jeans up 331%.

When Taylor Swift fans spotted the celebrity wearing a bracelet that read “TNT,” they tracked it down to Wove, a jeweler in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, according to CBS News, and that jeweler then saw sales rise by 470% site traffic by more than 2,200%.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better moment. For her to be wearing the bracelet that game, like it was just perfect,” Abbie Shedleski, a CAD designer at the jeweler, told the outlet.

Plus, there was that time in September when officially licensed Kelce jerseys saw a sales spike of close to 400%, the Associated Press reported, after Swift attended a game.

In fact, according to Front Office Sports, the pop star has generated $331.5 million in brand value for the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL. The same outlet reported that a Chiefs jacket worn by the musical artist to a game in October, from an apparel brand by sports reporter Erin Andrews, resulted in an searches for the jacket rising by 3,000%.

These boosts come as it becomes harder and harder for brands to attract consumers’ attention, with many companies seeing that their paid media budgets are not going as far as they once did, and with consumer belt-tightening amid ongoing financial difficulties making it all the harder for any given nonessential purchase to make the grade.

In fact, PYMNTS Intelligence’s recent study “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report: The Pessimism About Pay Rises Offsets the Effect of Falling Inflation,” which drew from a census-balanced survey of more than 4,300 U.S. consumers, found that 83% are at least somewhat concerned about current and near-future economic conditions.

Plus, another PYMNTS Intelligence report found that 69% of consumers have reduced nonessential spending on retail products because of high inflation.

Still, consumers carve out room in their budgets for select splurges. PYMNTS Intelligence’s “New Reality Check – The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report: The Nonessential Spend Deep Dive Edition” found that 70% of consumers buy “nice-to-have” retail items at least sometimes.

Plus, consumers’ expectations going forward may be improving. This month’s installment of the PYMNTS Intelligence “Consumer Inflation Sentiment” series, “Consumers Cautiously Spend More Amid Lower Inflation,” which drew from a survey of nearly 5,000 United States consumers, found that the percentage of consumers anticipating ongoing inflation in retail prices in the next 12 months decreased from 64% in January 2023 to 57% in January 2024.

It remains to be seen how this Travis and Taylor boost will progress as the couple moves forward, whether they stay together and become old news or split and burst America’s bubble.