Welcome back to Operations Unfiltered, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of influencer and talent management. I'm your host and your favorite marketing project manager, girlie Zuryna. In today's episode, we're gonna do a lessons learned.
Now if you are a project manager or you're just getting into the field of project management, lessons learned is the part of the project at the end where we pretty much spill the tea on what worked, what didn't work, and how we can avoid this in the future. So I'm gonna do that same thing, but talking about various things that have happened in pop culture, media, things of that nature. So what went well?
The first thing, win number one is the ultimate wag, and for those of you who don't know, WAG stands for wives and girlfriends, and it's typically associated with professional athletes. Well, the winner is Taylor Swift. She recently announced her 12th Studio album, but she did it in an unconventional way. But I guess if you think of it from a Taylor Swift perspective, it's not really unconventional because she is a marketing genius. But anyway, Taylor Swift is the girlfriend of.
Kansas City Chiefs, tight end Travis Kelce, and they are just a power couple. And if you were tuned into the NFL last season, then you know that pretty much anytime she pulled up to a game, there was a huge hoopla. What is she wearing? What is she doing in the box? It was just all eyes were on Taylor. And so for her to.
Make herself more personable by appearing on this podcast with Jason and Travis, and they have this really popular podcast, but it just gives fans a new, more intimate behind the scenes look at her process. And honestly, it's the same strategy that some big corporations use. It's sort of like the multi-channel marketing, but you meet your audience where they are and then you give them something they can't get anywhere else.
Like where would you be able to get this personal conversation between this couple? It's like we always see them through pictures and we hear them talking separately, but for her to be there on the show, I'm gonna be tuned in. I think this also solidifies her as like the ultimate wag and that it shows that her reach obviously goes well beyond the bleachers. But kudos to you, Taylor. That was a win. I'm excited.
Now all I I ask of Taylor is if possible, if you feel like a girl, I know you busy, you don't have to, but lean more into that wag. Like I would love to see some get ready with me content. I would love to see that. But again, Taylor is her own woman and she has her own career, which I love. And I think that's the reason why people gravitate towards them as a couple because they both are bosses in their own right. So kudos to Taylor. Now for WIN number two.
Speaking of powerhouse women in the industry, Beyonce is an Emmy winner. Let's say that again. Beyonce is an Emmy winner B got we're coming. She's halfway there. She has her Grammy, and now she has her Emmy, like she's on the way. The World tours, the the fashions, and now the Emmy. This honestly isn't about a trophy. It's about further extending her brand, like you didn't think Beyonce could get any bigger, and then she got an Emmy.
She is expanding her reach beyond music, proving that diversification keeps a brand not just relevant, but legendary. Plus her win reminds us that sometimes the best marketing strategy is truly excellence over the hype. Okay, so kudos to you, Beyonce. Win number three, breezy Bowl. Chris Brown. I've loved Chris Brown since I was 15 years old and I'm 30 and I just feel like he gets better with time. His 20 year commitment to his craftsmanship really should be studied and love him or hate him.
He's been in the game for two decades and the Breezy Bowl is reminding us why. If you've seen all the videos and the jokes of the fans saying that he performs hit after hit after hit the production value of the show, that just shows you a dedication to a craft that's rare. These, these days. And from a marketing lens, I view this as a type of brand consistency at its finest. He's delivering the same high caliber product and he's done that over years and his audience expects it.
He just keeps adding on things that support his Elu evolution to keep everyone excited and everyone tuned in, like, I'm ready for him to drop the new songs, the new music. So shout out to you, Chris Brown. You're always a winner in my eyes. But the Breezy Ball has truly solidified that. Okay, now we've talked about what's going well, but we need to talk about the areas of improvement. First things first. American Eagle and Sydnee Sweeney.
I know we are some weeks removed from this whole thing, and if you aren't familiar with the whole debacle, American Eagle released an ad where Sydnee Sweeney essentially said that she has good jeans, air quotes around jeans. She's a blonde hair and blue-eyed white woman. Who was essentially how it reads to some of the public is that she was saying that her G-E-N-E-S, her genes are superior than other people. For some this landed fine, but for others it felt tone deaf and exclusionary.
But here's the thing. In 2025, brand language matters. Every tagline, every caption, every off the cuff comment can either deepen loyalty or shut doors. This is a case study in how creative approval processes need real diversity and sometimes maybe a sensitivity checkpoint just before they go live. So that definitely could be improved. Number two, something that really is hitting home for me is Southwest Airlines.
They used to be my go-to and they built their reputation and their loyal fan base on being the airline that didn't nickel and dime you, but now they're charging for bags. They've lost the one thing that made them stand out. It's like your favorite restaurant suddenly charging for bread and butter. Like, what are we doing here? It's not about the money, it's truly about the principle. They were the last one, the last airline that I felt like wasn't trying to get me. And I know a lot of people.
Say Southwest is like the Greyhound bus in the sky, and I didn't view it as that. I view it as the last one that wasn't trying to get me. So with that, those two areas of improvement, how would I fix it? For American Eagle, I really feel like they should run a follow up campaign leaning into all kinds of bodies in their jeans and maybe do like a good jeans or for everyone type of twist, because that just really left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
I would also say invite content creators from diverse backgrounds to style and post their looks using their own authentic captions to ensure that you're making inclusivity the headline and not the footnote. You know, you get me. For Southwest Airlines, I would say don't just be one of the pack. Bring back some of that original charm. Maybe one free bag per customer, something like that as a loyalty perk. Then also leaning into nostalgia and your campaigns.
You need to make people remember why we liked Southwest in the first place, instead of complaining about why it sucks now. So that's my food for thought. If you have any ideas for how you would improve those areas that are not going so well in the media, let me know. Follow me at Operations Unfiltered or at Lady Z says, I would love to hear your thoughts and remember, make it a great day or not. The choice is yours. See you next time.