By Sharon Cheng
If there’s one thing we learned from this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, it’s that Doodles showed us how to successfully grow an NFT brand by extending its community from URL to IRL.
From March 12th to 14th, community-driven NFT project Doodles ran a series of immersive events at SXSW in Austin, Texas — a festival that celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture — that got everyone buzzing with enthusiasm.
With entry queues wrapping continuously around the block, SXSW pass holders, Doodles NFT holders, and the general public traveled from around the world to participate in this three-day extravaganza, where land, air, and space unite to bring you an immersive experience like no other.
But no one was ready for what Doodles had planned for them.
Source: https://twitter.com/doodles/status/1502460415145656327/photo/1
Source: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2022/events/OE42212
The Doodles’ SXSW multisensory experience included a mind-bending interactive warehouse installation by LA-Based creative technology studio VTProDesign, where Doodles NFT holders can swipe their phone around their room to make their Doodle appear on the walls and printed onto their coffee foam.
Source: https://twitter.com/SilentVoodoo12/status/1502760734601760774/photo/1
Within the warehouse, attendees immersed themselves in the pastel BEHR-painted world of Doodles’ NFTs through a virtual painting wall where they could collect the first Doodles x BEHR POAP NFT. Each NFT featured limited edition artworks printed on physical BEHR paint cans, designed by none other than Doodles’ artist Burnt Toast himself.
The Doodles NFT universe further transformed itself into a token-gated Doodles gift shop powered by eCommerce giant Shopify. Attendees could purchase physical collectibles as a part of Doodles’ first-ever merch drop via Shopify’s point-of-sale and have them instantly delivered to their homes. With a life-size Doodles spaceship, bubbly merch machine, and swag slide, every corner is a curated photo op that showcases how the future of retail experiences should be done.
Source: https://twitter.com/thisbitty/status/1503522615666745345
And of course, being a Doodles NFT holder had its perks. Nothing too special though, just an exclusive invitation to a Doodle Founders Fireside Chat followed by a party headlined by international DJ Diplo the day after.
Source: https://twitter.com/it_me_kat/status/1503823518181568516
As I said, it’s no. big. deal.
During the Fireside Chat facilitated by co-founder and CEO of NFT Now, Matt Medved, Doodles co-founder Evan Keast, gave insight into his long-term vision for Doodles:
As an NFT project that claims to put community first (see their community-owned treasury and proposal system: Doodlebank), the success of Doodles’ SXSW event proved that they genuinely walk the talk by seeking ways to enhance brand awareness and provide immense value to its NFT holders. By joining forces with innovative and established partners outside of the web3 space, Doodles is actively extending its brand presence into the physical world and bridging the gap between URL and IRL communities.
And the positive engagement on Doodles from fans and NFT enthusiasts on Twitter demonstrates that in-person activations are effective ways to enhance brand awareness.
Source: https://twitter.com/pranksy/status/1507303924784578560
Final Thoughts
The brand’s community-first approach suggests that the definition of community encompasses those in real life and web3 spaces. The remarkable success of Doodles’ SXSW activation indicates the intersection of the physical world and metaverse is crucial for an NFT brand to increase its value within its community.
Doodles’ strategic partnerships and one-of-a-kind brand experiences certainly set the bar for similar IRL community-focused events for other NFT projects in the foreseeable future.
So make sure to follow our platforms and stay tuned here for more updates on similar events from your favorite NFT projects:
