If you’re overwhelmed by the world of NFT you shouldn’t be, because it honestly takes a good 10 hours of solid YouTube research to understand what they are all about, plenty of YouTube channels out there to get your knowledge up to par on what they are, and especially for us, how to think from a brand perspective on that NFT collection for your client and how to properly launch it.
The most important aspect to understand about NFT’s from a brand point of view is the purpose of having an NFT for the brand: is it brand building, is it promotional, tactical, or a combination? What’s most important though is the consumer and what he/she is going to get out of it beyond just the “coolness” of having that brand’s NFT, the art, or the collectible value. What’s important is what the consumer is going to get out of it in the short and medium term, and if you can crack a long term value then you’ve really aced it. This is what is called the “Utility” value!
The utility you create for that NFT has obviously got to lay on the brand values and a deep understanding of your consumer and why he/she should FOMO (fear of missing out) on having that specific NFT and become part of the collection, the community. Once you’ve thought of that, the rest is basic advertising strategy to launch that collection.
The launch of an NFT collection is not very different from the launch of any campaign, it utilizes mostly the same channels (depending on budget), great creativity (campaign and of course the NFT art itself), multivisuals, great production, social engagement (x10 of what you are used to, this is the main challenge, to be honest), launch visuals, tactical visuals, and your media optimization mix. See, not so overwhelming after all!
The two main challenges for a successful NFT launch are the concept of that NFT collection, as well as the value you attach to it, and secondly the community you are going to create around it.
The utility is the true value you need to create that people are going to want to have, and the weaker your brand notoriety, values, positioning are the more you will need to pack in.
- For Pepsi, a super known brand, they launched a collection and sold it in less than an hour and hardly had any utility. They banked solely on great and cool art, and of course their rep thus creating a collectability aspect.
- Dunkin’ also launched an NFT collection, much the same as Pepsi. However, they had some golden NFT’s that granted owners free donuts for life.
- Karl Lagerfeld’s "x Endless" collection gave owners a URL ticket to a brand event in Paris in 2022, which will feature another launch where only Karl holders will be invited to take part.
- A less well-known restaurant in the UAE, launched a two-tiered NFT collection, granting discounts, desert perks and free delivery as utility.
You get the drift; creativity has no limits in creating true utility that is based on the brand values and positioning.
The second challenge is engagement and creating a community, and this is something us ad guys are not used to. We’re used to 4 to 5 quality posts a week, well-crafted with very well thought of messages. When creating an NFT collection, it really is about creating a community and for those of you who are on discord you know exactly what this entails. Discord is social media on steroids and your social channels like twitter (primarily) and IG need to be on fire, and this is going to go against what you are used to. Handling discord is prime and needs especially skilled people at it.
So, in a nutshell, don’t be overwhelmed by that NFT collection, use your basics, but 10x it! Or call the Ad Store UAE and we’ll sort it out for you!
