If you are reading this, I am sure you are feeling the ripples of Web 3.0 if not dipping into it already. But what about average Joe? I’m sure he is heard of it and probably wonders why should he be paying for something he can right click and save on his computer. NFTs have amassed quite a bit of popularity, but for regular Stormy, it still seems to be a fad or she is nescient about it. The pace of invention in the world of Web 3.0 should be measured in light-years and with each passing day it is solidifying it’s existence. This hierarchy is seen amongst brands as well where some have embraced this shift whilst others are spectating.
In the world of Web 2, consumers are spoilt for choice and bombarded with ads and notifications. Anything can be duplicated if you have enough capital (Snapchat vs Instagram) which is certainly not limited at this point. This, combined with recent changes in data laws, growth hacking and performance marketing, makes the road ahead quite arduous. Web 3 is the evolution from creator economy to ownership economy, where people are not just participants, but owners and shapers of economies and brands. Therefore, Brands need to start building a community with a voice that shapes their future vision, thus moulding to the mutating world.The concepts are so new that one can only win by First principle thinking and Experimentation. The differentiator will be the brand, the relationship with the customers and the community.
The combination of compose-ability, co-ownership and co-creation around a digital asset where its users are its owners and also its community can unlock the digital flywheel in a very interesting way — Adam Brotman (Previously CDO @ Starbucks)
Loyalty and rewards are not new. Brands have been leveraging that for sometime. Customers prove to have collected some stars or streaks to get rewarded with a free cup of coffee. But an identity based on ownership which can be verified can allow a user/customer to have an infinite amount of utility in the form of access, community, loyalty, rewards, entitlement to future NFTs, etc. This means as a marketer, you can leverage the cross over appeal between the digital collectibles and the physical world with your own set of brand engagement rules and game mechanics. It opens up multitudinous alluring avenues for brands to interact with their customers, especially digitally. Brands in reciprocity will deeply benefit from the self marketing nature of tokens because when customers own something they will evangelise it.
From fashion, to gaming, food and music, each of these industries have started to experiment with NFTs to market their Brand and products. Here are some examples that brands can use as inspiration and fuel their creativity:
- Creating characters that users can buy and use in games or the VR world: Burberry released a quirky limited-edition character called Sharky B along with a range of accessories for the online game Blankos Block Party. The TBMonogram vinyl toy is definitely a status flex, a $40 billion a year industry.
- Giving out a combination of an NFT and a physical reward: Clinique is the first brand under the Estée Lauder Umbrella to have launched a program where their loyal customers who generate organic content for a social media campaign will be rewarded with an NFT called Meta Optimist along with physical products that are exquisite and often sold out.
- Giving out privileged perks for showcasing brand loyalty and building a community: Maroon 5 promised an exclusive listening party where the fans who bought their artwork will also be treated with an unreleased bonus track from the band members. They took it to the next level by partnering with Yellow Heart to launch of the first ever Fan Community Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). All of the money collected from these three drops will be pooled together to fund initiatives the community collectively chooses. This spurs the feelings of ownership, empowerment and a sense of community.
- Upsell services: Disney is also dropping Golden Moments NFTs for it’s Disney + Day first annual celebration in partnership with VeVe which will be golden statues representing the most famous moments from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and more. Any collector who purchases an NFT from the Golden Moments collection will get a free, three-month Disney+ subscription. The drop will be followed by an ultra-rare digital collectible and fans purchasing those are entitled to a 12- month subscription. This is an interesting user acquisition strategy for other verticals of the business.
- Help users signal status: Digital certificates don’t have to be boring, NFTs can replace them. This is applicable to completing a course, attending an event, or advancing a level in a particular skill. Imagine having a creative profile picture that replaces the blue tick mark on social media platforms or a priority pass for airlines.
A lot of the value is perception driven, for some customers they might attach it to their identity and others may want to auction, sell or trade them in the secondary markets. As a brand, it’s crucial to understand what value means to your customers and use NFTs to provide them with so. The B2C brands can really help democratise this concept by providing perks like jumping the queue, free products, free tickets to a game or concert, 10 minutes with their favourite star. There are so many ways to get creative with it.
As regular Stormy climbs the ladder of digital savviness, she still finds blockchain transactions intimidating. Therefore, for mass adoption, the crypto component has to be on the backend and it has to be fiat driven, at least initially. Platforms like NBA Top Shot are headed in that direction.
To summarise, NFT is a piece of code that unlocks a series of functions defined by the issuer. It can be exercised in innovative ways for Brand story telling.
