NFTs, Bad Bunny, and your brand
Why they have a lot more in common than you think.
NFT has become a buzzword, and “dropping” one —making it public and accessible to be obtained for money or free— has become a sign that you, as an individual or as a brand, are dope, GOAT (Greatest of All Time), gucci (hip, going well), or lit (amazing). If you are not familiar with what exactly Non-Fungible Tokens are, this YouTube video from the cast of Saturday Night Live can help (a bit).
The Bored Ape NFT collection (10,000 different drawings) were originally sold for 0.08 ether each, around $190, at the time of their April 2021 launch. A year later, they’ve sold for @84 ether or roughly $344,000 each.
Still confused? You are not alone. While many people describe NFTs as digital works of art, they are much more: in fact, what really defines an NFT is that it is a digital contract, and can be tied to anything: a jpeg, a video clip, a song, a photograph of a famous person (like a pro baseball player), or a concert ticket. The contract, in turn, is tied to an asset (or token) that exists either in digital form (like the famous Bored Ape NFT art collection) or is tied to some tangible product or service in the real world (like a sports event ticket). An NFT can be a lifetime pass to Coachella (real world), or it can be a pair of digital sneakers that your avatar can wear in the digital metaverse. Why not? With the increasing popularity of gaming, more and more people feel that their avatars deserve to wear something more impressive than their generic costumes. After all, if you’re spending so much time in the virtual world, why do it in bad couture?
NFT fashion for gaming avatars.
Let’s say you want to impress a potential hook-up on Tinder. An NFT of a yacht or a fancy watch will do the trick. And, as it could cost you as much as the real-world goods themselves, the verifiable digital image proves you are, indeed, good for the money. Or maybe you are a baseball fan and want to collect NFTs of your favorite players. It’s like trading those oh-so-twentieth-century player cards, except better: NFTs don’t deteriorate, and their authenticity can be verified on the blockchain. Already, events like the Grammys and the Superbowl have issued their entrance tickets as NFTs. But why? What’s the advantage? If you think that a real-life stub (not even the whole ticket) of Michael Jordan’s NBA debut in 1984 was sold at auction for an eye-popping $264,000, then you can start to see the very profitable opportunities for collectors of sport-ticket NFTs, which unlike paper stubs don’t break or fade and cannot be forged or stolen.
The 56th Super Bowl NFT commemorative entrance ticket
Brands like Nike, MAC Cosmetics, Anheuser-Busch, and Acura have made the NFT dive with success. Universities, like Duke, have announced NFT collections for their sports teams. Celebrities (the nice and the notorious, Donald Trump included) have dropped their NFTs on the market. Many of these NFTs are expected to increase in value, and that’s without considering the value for the brand in terms of buzz. Of course, the name of the game is exclusivity. If too many people have the same image or ticket or digital bomber jacket, then the NFT price goes down. But if your property is scarce, then… bingo!
But, you might say, that is the global arena. What does that mean for brands in Puerto Rico? A lot, actually. Because NFTs can be made on the cheap, any brand with a limited local budget can mint a digital image and even give it away in order to attract followers. Then, if the NFT is lit, sick, or dope enough, it might go into a secondary market. This means the first owners will start selling it for a profit, and because NFTs can be traceable, a percentage of that profit can be programmed to revert to the original creator (the brand). So, a good NFT not only upgrades a brand’s image and increases its customer base, but it also can generate profit long-term.
NFTs are good for retail, too. They can sweeten the deal when a potential client is thinking about buying a real-life product. For example, let’s say you’re looking for a sports car. If the dealer throws in an NFT, with invites to special events and a digital image of the car that can be shown off in the metaverse, that might tip the scales in favor of a particular model. Or if, for example, you are an up-and-coming designer, you can incentivize sales of your killer fashion tote bags with an NFT included.
Acura gave away 500 NFTs to the first customers to buy a new 2023 Integra.
Third, NFTs are extremely social. They are perfect to promote your target audience’s participation. Let’s say you’re marketing a brand of tequila, rum, or vodka. You can ask your followers to upload descriptions of their ideal party scenes, then you can create NFTs inspired by the winning entries and generate on-point visuals for your brand while increasing your number of followers.
Then there are the upgradable NFTs, or those that can evolve over time. For example, a ticket for a concert can be issued as an NFT, which will grant access to the event on a specific day, then, once it expires, the NFT becomes a collector’s item and facilitates further engagement of the eventgoers. So, if you go to the Bad Bunny concert you can, through your upgradable NFT, get an autograph the next week, or be able to participate in a giveaway for a future event. The possibilities for artists and for your brand are myriad. And because of their flexibility and the fact that their authenticity is protected by the blockchain, NFTs are a great tool for attaining and managing customers in the future.
If you are interested in discussing new opportunities for your brand, please contact us.