Bookmark this page. Yep, I’m calling it early. You’ll want to return to this.
It’s 2023.
It’s time to adopt the latest and greatest brand activation strategies to connect with your audience and create a lasting relationship. And don’t make it hard for yourself — take a page out of some of the smartest brands’ books to engage better and create lasting relationships with your audiences in 2023.
These are the top 5 ways leading brands from — Gucci to the NBA — are using web3 technology to grow their influence and revenue.
Leveraging the power of NFTs
You've heard the chatter around NFTs by now (thanks, Justin Bieber). But how exactly do they relate to brands’ marketing strategies?
Some of the world’s top brands like Starbucks, Nike and Gucci have leveraged NFTs to create unique, one-of-a-kind experiences for their audiences. From video games to gated membership programs, companies can use NFTs to make their customer experience more exclusive and long-lasting to drive demand.
1. Exclusive access
Brands and creators are using NFTs to give customers exclusive access to content, events or experiences they can't get anywhere else.
Exclusive access in action:
Kings of Leon released an NFT that gave the holder VIP backstage access, front-row seats to one show on each of their tours for life, meet-and-greet with the band, exclusive album artwork and limited edition vinyl.
2. Collectibles
Like trading cards… but digital!
NFTs allow companies to create unique, collectible digital items that fans can buy, trade, showcase or sell – creating community among fans as they compete to collect the rarest, most valuable items.
And the more demand there is for an item, the more valuable it becomes. It’s a win-win for the brand and the consumers!
Collectibles in action:
The NBA and Dapper Labs (the company behind CryptoKitties) teamed up to launch NBA Top Shot, a blockchain platform where fans can buy, sell, and trade officially licensed, limited edition, digital collectible highlights of their favorite players and moments.
Try explaining that to someone who just woke up from a decade-long coma.
3. Personalized experiences
NFTs can also be powerful ways to store data, like a customer's preferences or purchase history, that help companies create better, more personalized experiences for customers, such as tailored product recommendations or exclusive discounts. Not only that, but the NFT itself is full of metadata that lives around the NFT and the wallet that owns it — purchase history, purchase price, traits and attributes, other assets the wallet owns, etc. All of these give a marketer a never-ending supply of opportunities to personalize their customer experiences.
Personalized experiences in action:
Last year, Tiffany’s announced a campaign to launch 250 NFTs. By owning one of the NFTs, it allowed the collector to create a custom Tiffany & Co. pendant with their own CryptoPunk for ~$50,000. Tiffany’s was able to personalize and craft a bespoke customer experience for 250 high-end NFT collectors based on their prior ownership and NFT experience.
4. Gamification
Brands are using NFTs to gamify the customer experience by creating digital collectible items that can be used to unlock special features, rewards or access to exclusive content.
Gamification in action:
Starbucks launched Odyssey, which gives points to users as they complete more Journeys in their app. Cash in those points and, pretty soon, you could be joining a virtual espresso martini-making class or getting invited to exclusive Starbucks Reserve Roasteries events.
5. Ownership & authenticity
Especially when you’re putting a sizable hunk of cash down, verifying you’ve purchased an original, one-of-a-kind item before seeing the money change hands is essential. With NFTs, consumers can easily prove ownership of a digital asset or realness of a product, such as a limited edition piece of art, music or video. NFTs also increase the perceived value of the product and give customers confidence in their digital purchase.
Ownership and authenticity in action:
The RealReal luxury goods marketplace partnered with blockchain platform Arianee to create NFTs and digital certificates of authenticity. The NFTs prove the valuable luxury item is genuine and has been vetted by The RealReal. Customers can view the NFTs on the blockchain to verify the item's authenticity and provenance.
Welcome to web3.
There is no shortage of ways brands can harness breakthrough technology to grow their audience, influence, and revenue. If you aren’t thinking about how NFTs can help you strengthen your customer relationships, you’re already losing out.
