NFT marketing, the beginning of the brand metaverse?

If a brand wants to explore the metaverse , the most realistic, easiest and most effective way is to start with new marketing of NFT digital collections.

Let me first briefly describe what digital collectibles/NFT are (if you know, you can skip this paragraph) .

Digital collectibles are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are uniquely identified using blockchain technology. Each digital collectible has a unique on-chain serial number, which establishes a unique mapping relationship with specific works, artworks, and commodities, and can serve as a unique proof of rights. Digital collectibles are fundamentally different from homogeneous tokens such as virtual goods and do not have any monetary attributes.

NFT makes it possible to determine the value ownership, property rights confirmation, and virtual identity authentication of various digital items in the metaverse . Therefore, NFT will be the basic hub of future metaverse economic activities. Some people even compare NFT to a ticket to open the metaverse world.

The new marketing of digital collections has only been around for a few months, and many interesting events have already occurred. Here are some of the most representative brand cases:

Coca-Cola Friendship Box

Four months ago, Coca-Cola and digital wearable device design platform Tafi jointly launched an NFT digital collection. This set of works called Coca-Cola Friendship Box contains four rare single-edition dynamic NFTs and a hidden surprise.

Picture: Coca-Cola Friendship Box Collection

Specifically include:

1. The Metallic Red Bubble Jacket , inspired by Coca-Cola's old delivery uniforms, can be worn in Decentraland. The latter is an open virtual world where almost everything is NFT, including land, clothing, and more.

2. Friendship Cards: Modeled after the Coca-Cola game cards of the 1940s.

3. Sound Visualizer: Share the Coca-Cola experience with iconic audio capture: the pop of the bottle, the sound of the drink pouring over ice, the fizz of the bubbles and that initial refreshing feeling in your mouth.

4. Retro refrigerator , redesigned after the old vending machine from 1956 and launched in the Metaverse.

5. Hidden Easter Egg: Revealed after winning the auction and opening the Coca-Cola Friendship Loot Box.

Partner Tafi said that what they are doing is " something more meaningful than fashion items " and that Tafi will develop other digital wearable devices for Coca-Cola's other brands and platforms in the future.

Gucci Virtual 25

In May, Gucci released their first digital virtual sneaker: the Gucci Virtual 25.

This pair of shoes cannot be resold and can only be worn in the online world. It may be the cheapest pair of shoes Gucci has ever sold, "only" 78 yuan. After buying it, you can "wear" it in the virtual world to take photos or record short videos, and then share them.

Cyber ​​Eau de Parfum

A few months ago, German beauty and lifestyle studio Look Labs launched the world's first digital perfume Cyber ​​Eau de Parfum , which was released both as a physical object and as a digital NFT. Its NFT artwork uses near-infrared spectroscopy to extract the scent of the perfume and expresses the scent in the form of spectral data in the NFT artwork.

In addition, in December last year, Gucci and the photo social platform Snapchat jointly launched an online virtual perfume experience game based on augmented reality technology (AR) to promote the brand's Bloom series of perfumes, the new Profumo di Fiori , in the US market.

In February of this year, Swiss flavor and fragrance giant Givaudan announced the acquisition of French company Myrissi, whose patented AI technology can convert aroma into color spectra and images relevant to consumers, thereby predicting the emotional responses of end consumers.

Tmall Double 11 First Metaverse Art Exhibition

The just-concluded 2021 Double Eleven was very calm, but the series of digital collections launched by many major brands are very worthy of attention.

For example, Tmall held the first Metaverse Art Exhibition on Double 11, launching a total of 8 digital collections, including:

The aliens beloved by geeks are like elders in the metaverse, able to control liquid metal to construct the aliens’ most distinctive emblems.

(Alien digital collection set, limited to 100 copies)

BURBERRY transformed into "Bobo Deer", and when interacting with the hyper-realistic digital human AYAYI, part of his body liquefied into metal.

The world's exclusive limited edition BURBERRY scarf (digital collection included, limited to 1,000 copies)

Wuliangye’s digital collection is composed of gold and silver particles, shining like a flowing galaxy.

Wuliangye digital collection, limited to 9 copies.

Kiehl's Mr. Bones rode a flying carpet made of liquid metal, while Moody transformed into a starry sky flower and bloomed in the ice field of the metaverse.

(Kiehl's digital collection, limited to 1,000 copies)

(Moody digital collection, limited to 1,000 copies)

As a representative of Chando skincare, it brings the pure nature of the real world into this digital universe. P&G has transformed itself into a backpack made of liquid metal with an angular design.

(Natural Collection, limited to 100 copies)

As a means of transportation, Xiaopeng Motors has become the wings of adventurers in the metaverse.

Xiaopeng digital collection (only available after test driving) is limited to 1,000 copies

In addition to Burberry , five other luxury brands: Longines , Emporio Armani , Coach, Balmain, and LaPerla all collectively released digital collections for the first time on Tmall Double Eleven this year. Among them, Longines designed an equestrian X knight image, which was released simultaneously with the physical Double Eleven limited edition, autumn and winter edition, and holiday limited edition.

Double 11 Metaverse Symphony Show

Before Double 11, a "Double 11 Metaverse Symphony Show" that integrated the real and virtual was held. Using holographic technology, the "metaverse" Beethoven was invited, and a symphony orchestra played the timeless classic "Ode to Joy" in the night of Shanghai.

The 10 main musical instruments involved in the performance are all digital virtual instruments, and in cooperation with 10 brands, all of them can be released as limited edition digital collections.

In addition to the attribute of "digital collection", these musical instruments have a more important attribute, which is to serve as a medium for carrying brand stories, communicating brand concepts, and thereby triggering user identification, because all musical instruments display different brand elements, products, and brand concepts through creative design.

This Metaverse Symphony Show is also the opening ceremony of the TOP100 Super Brands Digital Hall. In the future, there will be 100 brands and 100 digital collections presented in the digital hall.

Tencent 23rd Anniversary Digital Collection

This is a special digital collection that I saw from a friend at Tencent on my WeChat Moments:

This is a commemorative digital collection distributed by Tencent to many employees on its 23rd anniversary. Each one is truly unique and closely related to every employee.

This is an innovation that uses digital collections to build corporate culture and strengthen ties with employees.

Through these cases, if brands want to do new marketing for digital collections, what kind of path inspiration can they get?

1. If you want to create digital collections, start with brand IP

Because every digital collection is actually an image, prop or scene, which are the basic elements of IP. Moreover, the more cultural attributes a brand has, the easier it is to create NFT digital collections that complement each other. Otherwise, it is easy to get lost or seem far-fetched.

Take the Coca-Cola Friendship Box shown at the beginning as an example. Every NFT in it is closely related to the history and culture of Coca-Cola: the metallic red bubble jacket is inspired by Coca-Cola’s old delivery uniforms; the friendship card is modeled after the Coca-Cola game cards of the 1940s; the sound visualizer is the sound experience of Coca-Cola; and the retro refrigerator is redesigned based on the vintage vending machine of 1956.

Behind these are IP-based cultural imprint symbols that reflect the inheritance of cultural history, which is why they have collectible value.

It is not enough to have only traces of the past; new forms of content must also be developed online. This is not an empty brand concept that emphasizes conceptualization, but the creation of communication stories, symbols, and rituals that can trigger spiritual, emotional, and aesthetic resonance. Therefore, the marketing of digital collections requires IPization more than ever before.

2. The focus is on transformation, from physical experience to virtual experience

For example, digital perfumes, GUCCI's perfume games, and the Double 11 Metaverse Art Exhibition all transform physical experiences that originally required touch and use into virtual experiences. A brand’s digital collections in the virtual world must have a part that comes from real-life usage experience.

These transformations are not transformed into abstract language like slogans like traditional brand marketing , but into vivid images and content that people can perceive, own and experience.

In the marketing of digital collectibles, creating a perceptible experience of the virtual world is the top priority. Therefore, digital collectibles must have gameplay to facilitate people’s participation and experience.

This is the trick to designing digital collections: transforming the experience of physical objects into the experience of virtual content. When the offline physical experience is deconstructed and reshaped, and more "surreal" and "super-brain-opening" experience ideas are developed, the creative space and boundaries of brand marketing will be infinitely expanded.

Behind this is the growing power of virtual life. Just as before the concept of "metaverse" became popular, Generation Z, who grew up against the backdrop of the rise of the Internet, had already become accustomed to virtual life, making friends, shopping, and playing games with virtual identities and various virtual avatars, and were fully immersed in virtual life.

Therefore, these digital collections do not exist in isolation. There are scenes and content behind them. They reconstruct people's understanding of the future world under the fusion logic of virtual + reality, and thus step by step enter a more immersive, unrestricted and more three-dimensional online and offline interactive world. This is the growth of the metaverse.

3. Use time and rights to reconstruct the brand ecosystem

What is the biggest difference between NFT digital collection marketing and other digital marketing in the past?

I think it’s neither technology nor superficial creativity. There are two essential differences: one is time, and the other is rights and interests.

Let’s talk about time first. Perhaps no one has noticed a simple fact: past marketing activities, even those that seem innovative in digital marketing, are actually short-lived on the timeline and will dissipate . When consumers participate in a marketing campaign or see an advertisement, they only have a relationship with the brand for a certain period of time, and then it’s gone. They may have some memories left, but that’s all.

NFT digital collections will not disappear with the end of the marketing campaign because consumers own them. Of course, consumers can also transfer or give them away, but in the sense of the timeline, they can still be eternal and will not even disappear with the disappearance of life.

Therefore, time will be infinitely stretched, which will change our definition of marketing, and the expectation of brands to have long-term connections with people will become a reality rather than just empty talk.

Speaking of rights and interests, since people truly own the rights and interests of digital collections, consumers are no longer just consumers, but owners of rights and interests, and therefore gain more value. When people have the right to decide the subsequent disposal of digital collections, the identity of consumers will inevitably change.

The relationship between brands and consumers will also be reconstructed. Naturally, each brand can form an ever-expanding brand ecological world by continuously issuing NFT digital collections, and consumers can continuously obtain them. Rights sharing is no longer just empty talk.

It can be seen from the prototype of the metaverse that has already appeared: virtual world games, that in these virtual worlds, players are not just having fun and consuming as in the past. Since every item in it can be an NFT, every behavior may generate an NFT, and players can use these NFTs to transfer, resell and give away on other platforms, which makes players no longer just consumers, but producers.

What happens in these virtual worlds is a preview of what will happen between brands and consumers in the future through the continuous issuance of NFTs, allowing brands to establish deep, far-reaching and lasting connections with their users.

4. All brand marketing can be NFT in the future

The future imagination space for digital collections is huge, and the ecosystem that can be created is also boundless. What is happening now is just the beginning of the exploration. All brand marketing can be NFT in the future.

For brands and platforms, the sooner they seize the opportunity of digital collectibles and grab early dividends, the more advantages they will have in the future hyperspace battlefield.

Here’s a diagram we created to show the process of developing brand assets into the Metaverse:

IPization is the starting point of NFT. In the digital virtual world, IP can be completely transformed into NFT digital assets, connecting the value of the virtual and real worlds. Ultimately, the metaverse is the sum of the virtual and real worlds, in which brands accumulate digital assets and form their own sub-universes.

Back to the present, digital collectibles/NFTs can be used for both marketing and brand culture building.

On the one hand, digital collections are used to deepen connections with consumers and employees; on the other hand, brand value is transformed into digital assets to initially build the brand's metaverse.

Author: IP Fried Rice

Source: IP Fried Rice