What NFTs Could Mean for Marketers
Recently, it seems like NFTs are popping everywhere, from our timelines and feeds to our “for you” pages. They’ve even started taking over advertising news. But what are NFTs? And should marketers care? Here’s our take:
What is an NFT?
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. It’s a digital item that, once purchased, gives the buyer the digital rights of ownership. Once you own an NFT, no one else can own that digital item. It’s “tokenized” and has a serial number associated with it, just like many physical products have a SKU number.
NFTs are usually sold as a 3D animation or some sort of digital art you can download to your computer. The same way Bitcoins are blockchain-verified dollar bills; NFTs are blockchain-verified digital assets.
You’ve seen NFTs before if you’re familiar with games like Fortnite or Call of Duty WarZone. Digital assets such as characters, costumes and weapons that you can “purchase” and then utilize within the game are, in essence, the same concept. Fortnite is a free game that makes $2 billion annually through sales of digital assets, propelled by a very strong community of fans. What can brands learn here?
NFTs and Brands
When it comes to marketing, we see NFTs as a disruptive opportunity to reach a younger audience and amplify fandom around your brand. What’s even more exciting is that there are limitless creative angles and opportunities. Brands can create and sell virtually any type of digital item that is backed by the security of the blockchain.
A few brands have already started testing the waters:
Makeup moguel and beauty influencer, Jeffree Star, just released an NFT collection of digital art in collaboration with artist, Marcelo Cantu.
Nike patented the term “CryptoKicks” in December.
Doggface208 (the man behind the viral Ocean Spray TikTok video) is selling his official viral longboarding video for $500,000 as an NFT.
Pringles created a new CryptoCrisp flavor that has already garnered bids up to $600.
Let’s take a deeper look into one of the most sophisticated and most talked about examples, the NBA.
NBA Top Shot
Millions of basketball fans around the world share a deep passion for basketball trading cards. The NBA took this nostalgia for basketball cards and brought it into 2021 through NFTs. Instead of owning a physical card, you can now own a digital NBA highlight. That’s right! You can own a piece of NBA history! What does this mean?
Just like you would purchase a pack of sports cards, you can purchase a digital pack of NBA highlights. Packs are priced based on rarity. Let’s use NBA superstar, Stephen Curry, as an example. A common NBA Top Shot highlight might be Steph making a layup in a regular season game, and there might be 30,000 of these in existence. A rare highlight might be Steph hitting a 3-pointer in the playoffs, which holds more significance, and there may be only 1,000 NFTs in existence. Finally, there may be an iconic 3-pointer made by Steph in the NBA Finals which makes it a legendary highlight with only 50 in existence. When you buy a digital NBA highlights pack, you have the chance to “unwrap” one of these rare and coveted tokens. Through scarcity, brand value and exclusivity, the NBA has created a viral NFT concoction.
NFTs are very much a hot item right now, and we can see why. There is so much opportunity and room for creativity within the world of NFTs and brands that take hold of it now still have a first-mover advantage. The space is growing fast and we see a lot of potential. What does a NFT look like for your brand?
Keep reading about how brands have jumped on the NFT trend.
