NFTs for Team GB: a new advertising approach.
The Olympics are hotting up in Japan, and Team GB’s commercial director Tim Ellerton is creating a buzz at home too.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a way of owning digital content that have soured in popularity throughout 2020 and into 2021. They use blockchain technology to buy the original copy of a digital asset, and can be extremely valuable. The most expensive NFT ever sold went for $69 million, and thousands of NFT sales worth millions of dollars in total are traded every day.
And now, as the 2021 Olympics take place in Japan, Team GB has become the first Olympic team to create and sell its own range of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — in a sort of virtual giftshop, serving as both merchandise to commemorate the occasion, and a useful marketing exercise.
The NFTs on offer are being provided by Tokns, and they are a selection of digital collectibles. They includes celebrations of 125 years of British Olympians and will offer nightly NFT drops through auctions of ‘one of one’ items and collections of fixed price NFTs. Many of the pieces are designed by Team GB artist-in-residence Ben Mosley, with his distinct impressionist style.
Tim Ellerton, Team GB’s commercial director, explains the move to NFT souvenirs “We are delighted to partner with Tokns ahead of what is set to be a very different Games for our Olympians in Tokyo
Particularly following the announcement that there will be no fans or spectators present at the Games, we are delighted that we can provide moments digitally that will be available for fans and collectors. This is Team GB’s first venture into NFTs and we are looking forward to making our mark in this fast-developing market.”
It’s certainly true that this is a very different Olympic games this year. When there’s no way of traveling to watch the games in person, regardless of which country they’re in, the buzz around the competition seems a little damned — heightened no doubt by the new deal that sees BBC coverage limited to only two live streams following sale of rights to Eurosport and movement of coverage over to Discovery+.
This move, therefore, allowing sports fans to own a little piece of the games as well as tapping in to a red hot market, is a smart one. So too is the ‘drop’ style of release, which limits the amount of time the shop is open for specific purchases, amplifying the excitement, and the intrigue.
OWN A PIECE OF HISTORY, SUPPORT TEAM GB, SHOW YOUR PRIDE. — teamgbnft.com
Unlike many of the NFTs that make the news, Team GB’s offerings are decidedly more affordable, with a range of options from a £60 Ben Sherman Tokyo 2020 shield, to a £300 ‘Gold Medal Moments’ piece. All of these NFTs are exclusive, unlike buying regular digital art, just not quite as exclusive as Beeple’s Everydays — The First 5000, sold for $69.3 million at Christie’s first ever NFT auction.
Whether the purchasers will be getting these NFTs out to show the grandkids like you would a piece of physical memorabilia from a historic games remains to be seen. Regardless, the central aim of promoting Team GB, and getting audiences excited about an unconventional setup has certainly been achieved, judging by the dozens of ‘sold out’ notices on the Team GB NFT website.
