If you’ve been on the internet in the past few days, you’ve most likely heard about a topic that hasn’t been buzzing recently: non-fungible tokens (or tokens), better known by the acronym NFT. ..
Some recent examples that show the increasing scale of the phenomenon and the spread of well-known individuals or institutions are:
- Lindsay Lohan and YouTuber Logan Paul both created some sort of NFT-based digital collectible;
- Post Malone has teamed up with a startup called Fooz to launch a celebrity bearpong league using NFTs.
- The first work of art in NFT format has been put up for sale by auction house Christie’s, which has a well-established reputation.
A few more wacky projects have also surfaced:
- A customizable whiteboard!
In this case, NFT is a whiteboard, widely used in businesses, but the interactive and innovative side of this NFT lies in its fully customizable and modular aspect.
This opens up a new horizon in the world of NFTs, where personalization and customization of what is offered for sale allows for innovative and almost limitless possibilities.
And the applications abound in both marketing and personnel.
- Similarly, tennis woman Alexandra Olyanikova has put her hand up for sale in the form of an NFT and is offering to “personalize” it with a tattoo of her choice for a fee.
Similar to the previous example, it also provides the potential for new advertising media for advertisers, and thus makes it possible to renew the business model in the advertising industry.
But in short, what is NFT? How do they work?
And how to explain their sudden spread in our lives?
Beyond the hype and investment frenzy that grips these new mediums, is there anything about NFTs that could be useful for long-term brand marketing?
Let’s first look at what the NFT actually represents.
A non-fungible token (or NFT) is a special type of cryptographic token that represents a unique digital asset. It is based on blockchain technology and works similarly to bitcoin (in a way that is like all other cryptocurrencies), with networked computers competing against each other to solve complex mathematical operations to encrypt a set of data. Huh. ,
To help you represent this, you can think of it this way: if bitcoin tokens are equal. bank note Verified by Blockchain, So NFTs Are Comparable works of art Verified by blockchain.
No one cares to know in the “material” life What He has a twenty euro banknote, because all twenty euro banknotes have the same value and are therefore interchangeable. On the other hand, we care more about what work of art we have, because different works of art have a value that can vary greatly, if not immense, in both financial and artistic value.
For brand marketers, the rise of NFTs offers exciting new possibilities in digital products, digital media distribution and access management.
Let’s see how in more detail:
Create scarcity and value for digital goods
Digital goods have been around for a long time and are particularly popular in the world of video games. Yet these digital goods are not viewed as worth much by collectors, and for one very simple reason.
Till now they were easily copied.
In a digital world of abundance, where copies are easily created and distributed, NFTs make it possible to create digital reduction,
To date, most NFTs relate to digital art in video games as well as collectibles such as virtual goods, but they can extend to other digital assets.
Real estate, event ticketing and even brand licensing are all potential use cases currently being studied.
In this sense, it is important that brands start thinking about digital ownership and how to leverage NFTs to produce limited editions of products and thus generate buzz.
Unlock new monetization models for digital media
Another potentially revolutionary aspect of NFTs is that they can revolutionize the way digital media is distributed and monetized.
Currently, most digital content is monetized through the platform.
These platforms act as intermediaries between content creators and consumers, and they remunerate themselves as distributors. Although the creators still own the copyright in their work, they leave some ownership and control of that work to the platform owners.
The discovery of this new model of digital media ownership and monetization distribution opens up an interesting path for the future of digital marketing. Today, the value of a digital commodity is measured not only by the number of copies sold, but also by the number of meme that he inspired. Part of the value of digital assets actually comes from the fact that they are easily remixable.
For example, the value of a particular TikTok video is measured not only by the number of views it has collected, but also by the number of copied versions it inspired, each slightly different from the original, Because the people there have brought their personal touch.
more this version meme appear, gives more popularity and importance to the original version.
This long-tail, collaborative creation is good for user-generated content, but it scares off brands that aren’t naturally more concerned about their brand assets being released.
Then what the NFT brings is the ability to make branded digital assets both remixable and non-fungible. This may sound counterintuitive, but NFTs are used to verify that brands are the rightful owners of their digital assets and, therefore, destroy other copies of those assets to broadcast them as fan-created content. Are being given.
Thus they allow brands to maintain complete control of their digital assets without limiting their distribution or fear that a maliciously modified version, for example by using deep counterfeiting technologies, may unfairly hold brands responsible. will be held. Ownership comes with responsibility, and NFTs allow brands to be responsible only for the original content they distribute without sacrificing the viral potential of that content.
“Tokenize” access to services and experiences
Beyond encryption of digital assets and media, another emerging use case for NFTs is authenticating access to digital experiences.
Earlier this week, Microsoft released a game that celebrates women in science and rewards players with NFTs that unlock secret games in Minecraft.
For brands, this example demonstrates that NFTs open up a new way of looking at access management. In general, digital tickets are easily transferable and interchangeable, as they all perform the same unique function of authenticating access to exclusive experiences and events, online and offline.
What NFTs add to this equation is that they make each stamp beyond its functional value, just like a ticket stub with a celebrity autograph would.
Therefore, access itself becomes a symbolic value and a commodity, which can be bought and sold to a third party without the need for an intermediary.
future of nft
As NFT continues to gain public interest, we expect more brands to embark on the adventure and start experimenting with editing digital collectibles on an ownership basis. Intellectual property to generate additional income and engage with your fan base.
Or by creating special experiences with symbolic accessibility that can be sought after collector’s items, thus reinforcing the framework of said experiences.
New business models are likely to be tested for digital media creators to bypass the platform and deliver their content directly to their audience.
Of course, NFTs will not be enough to bring digital collectibles to the general public; There are still many questions on how to transfer them to digital platforms, as well as how to measure and offset the huge carbon footprint they generate, and finally how to properly expose them to virtual environments as well as the real world. are to be answered.
But the potential is there, and it is immense.