NFTs: The Golden Ticket for Brand Managers in the Era of Global Distribution

NFTs entered the web3 world in a halo of fine art pretension and high-value transactions. Two years later, mainstream media has written their obituary, and even the blockchain world is divided. Cool, everyone says, but what are they good for?

At Authentick, we are very pragmatic believers. The days of $60M JPEGs will not return. Does that mean NFTs are nothing more than mercy for fanboys and the occasional Nike collection, always hovering on the cusp of a raison d’être?

We say “No”. We say that NFT’s best days are still ahead and we’ll prove it by expanding access to 1B (you read that right) online shoppers on the same marketplaces where they buy their pet food and socks. They will pay how they typically pay for household goods and never need to worry about a web3 wallet — we host wallets, for free, forever.

That is our mission: bring NFTs to the people where they live and shop. But the question remains… what do NFTs, er, do? Why would one billion online e-commerce shoppers want an NFT, or perhaps two, four, or twelve?

There are myriad actual, solid reasons. In this article, we will look at the most compelling use cases: customer engagement on the part of brands, creators, or anyone else who wishes to level up interaction with their community and fans.

Is there an audience?

Here is the hard truth: the number of potential customers who view a new collection is (as of November ’23) less than 100K. It is heartening to see leading players such as Puma, Adidas, and Lacoste, dropping collections when, on most days, I doubt that they would pick up the phone for so few customers, most of whom are online and operating at a much lower price than their usual product line.

By this time next year, the world will be different. Authentick will expand the reach from 100K to a 1B MAU audience across Asia, LatAm, Europe, and MENA. In fact, we’ve already begun. Let’s take a look at the opportunities a larger audience will bring.

Customer engagement is king

Whether you are Louis Vuitton or Levis, customer engagement is crucial. We say that NFTs are a gift that is giving for brand managers. How?

Offer value to customers at almost no cost

Brand NFTs are recognized, even by detractors, as assets with value. If they did not have value, NFTs by Starbucks, Ferrari, and NBA Top Shots would not be selling for decent prices on Opensea and specialist marketplaces such as collectible exchange Sorare.

Retailers have been giving out freebies forever, but those tiny perfume samples and logo tote bags cost real money to produce, ship, and store. People must be paid to give them away in malls and stadiums. NFTs represent a unique opportunity to distribute assets seen as cool and a way to identify with the brand, at practically zero cost to the provider. Musicians can give away free downloads of a new song, but a song attached to an NFT comes with proof of unique ownership.

The World Economic Forum had this to say: “The results of our research indicate that NFTs have the potential to notably improve customer engagement, create innovative avenues for communication, and facilitate novel experiences for fans and customers. They can act as a powerful medium for creative industries to promote meaningful connections with their audience while generating new income streams.”

Consider the Starbucks loyalty NFTs selling for $800, or NBA Top Shots , or the Pixelmon at $22,028.79 USD — the most expensive part of their production was the graphic design. Ponder that when you plan your next customer engagement campaign.

Track after the fact

Most products that are sold or given away disappear from inventory leaving barely a trace. Other than a store location or online transaction record, no further word is heard.

Not so with NFTs. Their ongoing sales or transfers from wallet to wallet can be observed and the data recorded to inform improvements in subsequent collections or audience targeting. It is a unique opportunity for brands to understand the details of how their products are received and used.

In a pure web3 world, data would be collected on anonymous wallets — interesting but limited. In the Authentick ecosystem, we can match wallets with user info and demographics for a more detailed window into customer behavior.

Follow up with purchasers via email, airdrops, and more

Tracking is just the start. NFT follow-up can include scheduled or surprise drops of more NFTs into wallets holding a brand’s NFTs, or even a different company’s NFT.

Most web3 wallets are anonymous by design so airdrops are the end. Authentick has email addresses and other info for all of our customers so targeted announcements, offers, surveys, and other marketing is available. The NFTs can come from anywhere, but this feature is another that is only available for NFTs sold via our marketplaces.

Cool custom experiences tailored to brand identity

Apes, the Nikeverse, and Starbucks NFTs… we hear about them constantly followed by: “What else can we do with NFTs?”

Whatever you want. Truly. If you can imagine it, someone can code it. Trade, transact, bundle, share, record, report, evolve, enter, or leave. Or think further out of the box: NFTs that evolve based on football scores, NFTs to locate geocaches, or validate the authenticity of a physical good.

Bet, or bet, or prove that just about anything did nor did not happen. NFT cars that race against other NFTs, NFTs linked to scientific databases, and NFTs that confer ownership of historic video clips. There are NFTs that own other NFTs and have rules on using them.

Use NFTs in games. Turn them into art. Use them as tickets. Bundle them with physical goods — ‘want a t-shirt with that NFT? How about a ten-day Norwegian cruise?’ Sell .001 of an acre of land. Raise your NFT as a pet or breed it to make more NFTs. Enter a contest or a real-world event at Paris Fashion Week.

These are not tokens in the way that a BTC or an ETH is a token. Those store value, pay for things and can store limited info on-chain. An NFT is a link to code of any length — a map, a book, a film, or a sim continent with millions of sim people going to work every day.

If you can dream it, we’ll distribute it. If you need someone to design and code it, we’ll do that, too.

NFT+SKU = ERP

Brand managers are a hardheaded bunch. If an asset cannot be priced in a national currency and tracked in an ERP system, does it exist? Philosophers may debate but the brand manager knows intuitively: absolutely not.

If you are unfamiliar with SKUs, they are the inventory ID numbers by which vendors track their goods, accountants record finances, and a host of other uses. ERPs are the software used to manage all aspects of a company’s business. Because NFTs exist in a parallel dimension where goods are stored in wallets instead of warehouses, and priced in crypto rather than fiat currency, companies are unable to fit one into the other.

NFTs that reside in Authentick wallets, wherever they were created, can be managed as SKUs. For brand managers and e-commerce marketplaces, this is a serious game changer. It means that NFTs can appear on balance sheets and business models just like any other asset. Product managers can forecast, stock, resell, depreciate, and more. They can also bundle which opens up intriguing possibilities.

Imagine offering an NFT with every pair of sneakers, or an NFT version of those same sneakers to wear in the metaverse. Or collecting a full set of NFTs could be redeemed for merch or free tickets to the next game, or… Combining digital with physical goods holds incredible promise. Louis Vuitton’s phygital mystery boxes — NFTs plus actual LV trunks — sold out at $42K each.

Is tracking in an ERP system that important? Absolutely. Pitching collections internally to upper management just got a lot easier.

Test fast, press traction

A brand manager proposes expanding their fashion t-shirt line with a new fabric and design. The first step, test with a limited production run, give away a few dozen to loyal customers for feedback, and compare results across different countries or continents.

Simple? No. Even for a test, the fabric must be sourced and manufacturing revised. Goods must be stored, shipped, and stored again. Loyal customers must be located, contacted, and comments captured. Giveaways in malls require instruction, hourly wages, and oversight. Large brands budget large amounts for these tests. Small companies accept the risk of producing goods that could go viral or end up in the bargain bin.

NFTs cannot be used to test, say, a new flavor of ice cream. But as distribution expands, there will be no better method for testing ideas for a wide assortment of goods.

Launch with a low effort at a low cost

A few people with a small budget can go from idea to worldwide release in a few weeks. Faster, if required.

How? For a fairly small space (today, that is) the web3 world is crowded with labs, designers, and all the other players needed to take a concept to design, pre-mint, PR, and release. A brand manager can outsource every step at whatever level of spending is available.

There is one missing piece: social media. Tiktok and Youtube are still banning blockchain-related products if that is of interest, Authentick can help. Given our unique business model, we are approved on both Tiktok and Youtube worldwide. Check out our Tiktok here to see them in action.

Revenue

This is last for a reason. The market has proven that there is real money to be made selling digital goods for healthy amounts that cost almost nothing to produce. One Adidas collection pulled in $11M — pretty good when you consider that there were no manufacturing, shipping, or inventory costs involved.

For brand managers, however, our point is that revenue is secondary to the multiple, innovative forms of customer engagement that come with this new technology. The revenue? That’s a bonus.

I’ll end as I began: NFTs add a whole suite of new tools for brand managers to reach and understand their customers, but only if they are in use by mainstream consumers. Can one company bridge that gap? We think so.

By late 2024, the opportunities listed above will be accessible to hundreds of millions of online shoppers. When that happens, brand managers will no longer be able to ignore the potential of NFTs.

The time to learn the territory, partner with design labs, and plan your future strategy, is now.

About Authentickator

Shop where you shop. Buy what you love. Pay how you always pay.

Authentickator’s mission is to bring NFTs and web3 assets to everyone. Our platform enables users to easily browse, purchase, and verify the authenticity of NFTs on major e-commerce sites without a wallet or web3 experience.

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