Scene: It’s 2004 and two marketers are sitting across from each other at a cafe.
Marketer A: “Did you hear about that new website, Blackbook?”
Marketer B: “You mean Facebook. Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Myspace wannabe; I give it a year.”
It’s 2009, and the same two marketers are sitting at the same cafe.
Marketer A: “Hey, you heard of that new app, Instantgram?”
Marketer B: “You mean Instagram. I give them three months.”
Marketer A: “Boss was pretty upset that we missed the Facebook wave while it was hot. You don’t think this will be the next big thing?”
Marketer B: “No way. Dumbest concept ever.”
It’s 2019 and they’re back at the same cafe.
Marketer A: “Hey, have you heard of that new video app, Tip-Tap?”
Marketer B: “You mean Tik-Tok. Yeah, my kid told me about it. It’ll tank before Christmas.”
Marketer A: “You don’t think we should get on there?”
Marketer B: “No way! It’s for kids.”
Fast forward to 2021 and the same marketers are having a similar conversation, except this time it’s about NFTs. Marketer A turns to marketer B and says, “All the big brands are hopping on this train. You don’t think that we should, too?”
“NFT art is for people who have too much money and nothing to spend it on. What good would making NFTs be for brands?”
“Um, I don’t think we should listen to your advice anymore. Remember Facebook?”
The early days of the internet saw a lot of these conversations. People wondered how long it would take for the dot com era to bust, then eventually had to find ways to stay relevant in a digital world.
The same thing applies to the Metaverse. Right now, we are in an era of transformative growth and brands would do well NOT to sit NFTs out. They’re the new marketing frontier.
“Explain NFTs like I’m five”
Look at your fingertips. See those prints that are so unique that no two fingerprints are the same? NFTs are kind of like that.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital assets that are created using blockchain technology. One of the more appealing things about them is that they are literally one of a kind, hence the word non-fungible.
Unlike cryptocurrency which is fungible, NFTs cannot be replicated or used as coin.
NFTs come in many shapes and sizes. From GIFs and digital paintings to video and kid’s scribbles. From music to entire VR retail spaces. The list goes on.
While people used to roll their eyes at the ones who bought them in the early days, the market is expected to grow to $147 billion by 2026. That’s almost more than the fine art market.
How Brands are Using NFTs.
Forget your ingrained marketing ideas that involve touch-points and heaps of analytics, and instead think of the lasting impression you can make with one out-of-the-box move.
NFTs open a window into the modern consumer’s mind. In the age of social media, virtual reality, and the coming rise of Web3, it’s really hard to make a memorable impact on your target audience. Consumers want to interact with forward-thinking brands and these guys are breaking the mold:
- Taco Bell launched a series of 25 NFT GIFs to support their charity, the Live Mas Scholarship through the Taco Bell Foundation. The 25 NFTs sold out in half an hour.
- Campbell’s Soup commissioned artist Sophia Chang to create 100 Campbell’s Soup NFTs to celebrate the evolution of their brand over the years. All proceeds from the campaign benefit Feeding America.
- Coca-Cola, another iconic brand, launched an NFT that bid for over half a million dollars on the OpenSea marketplace. The proceeds went to Special Olympics International.
While Taco Bell, Campbell’s Soup, and Coca-Cola aren’t the only brands to drop NFT collections for charity, they are great examples of the buzz that could be generated for your brand by a little out-of-the-box thinking.
How your brand can use NFTs
If there’s anything that can be gleaned from the efforts of the above brands, it’s that consumers respond well to brands that break the mold. The simple fact is that NFTs encourage interactions with your audience while keeping them on their toes wondering what you will launch next.
For example, if you are a retail company, you can sell your unique design drawings of popular collections as NFTs. Add in a charity for the proceeds to go to and you’ll be the talk of your industry for months afterward.
If you’re a meal delivery service, you can sell your weirdest recipes (yes, really) as NFTs.
If you’re in healthcare, you could create a “waiting room of the future” NFT and sell that for charity.
The possibilities are endless, and every industry could benefit from this. All you have to do is come up with a unique idea, commission an artist, and launch it.
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Jump on the train before it leaves the station.
Like every other ‘next big thing’, there comes a point where it becomes too saturated, too busy, and it stops having the same impact that it used to.
Almost anything can be turned into an NFT, so what are you waiting for? Hop on the train and explore a new frontier.
Just leave Marketer B at the station. You don’t need that negativity.
