Introducing NFT+ : NFTs x IRL products
At Vivid Labs, we are focused on how multimedia NFTs can help brands drive and sustain consumers’ love of their products. We believe that products themselves have stories, and those stories are intimately intertwined with the stories of our lives. These stories are told through media, whether it be advertising or social media. In a previous post, we introduced how VIVID’s NFT+ features can create multimedia NFTs, allowing creators to mint multi-format, multi-asset, and updateable NFTs. In another post, we demonstrated how these features might be applied to sports collectibles to create commemorative NFTs spanning a season. Our reconception of NFTs as multimedia experiences unleashes a universe of potential for brands to engage with and cultivate loyalty among their customers.
Many high-profile consumer brands have historically been at the forefront of emerging technology. This continued with NFTs in 2021 as brands from Louis Vuitton to McDonald's experimented with how NFTs drive brand awareness and open new revenue streams. While some NFT projects, like Nike’s, created digital goods for online platforms, the chief focus among most brands was how to connect NFTs with “in-real-life” (IRL) products. Most of these initiatives deployed NFTs as a form of coupon or ticket that could be redeemed for free or exclusive IRL items.
Case Study: Collector’s Edition Sneaker
Let’s start with a shoe brand that creates an NFT to sell with a new Collector’s Edition shoe. From the outset, the brand establishes the origin of the shoe. Prior to release, an NFT is loaded with the story of the shoe’s origin, including unique media assets such as sketches of the evolution of the design, video and audio notes of early creative and strategy meetings, documented proof of where materials were sourced, and video of the manufacturing process.
The brand also embeds NFT-exclusive endorsements from celebrity athletes. In one particular promotion, a celebrity athlete wears a pair of shoes for a day, collecting video content along the way, and that video is then included. The NFT certifies the exclusivity of that specific pair of shoes, an immutable record of their uniqueness, and a store of additional value for the consumer.
Any single product in a model series is largely fungible. One off-the-assembly-line product, like the Air Jordan series by Nike, is indistinguishable from another in that series. This changes once we buy the shoes because we begin to imbue that specific pair with our own experiences stemming from our own use. Wearing the shoes at a first practice or a school dance, taking care of them amongst a prized shoe collection — these are all experiences that transform fungible items into unique, non-fungible ones.
But now, when a customer buys the shoe with an accompanying NFT, they are also buying a digital asset that reliably establishes a unique origin of that specific shoe. Moreso, the NFT can contain the buyer’s own experiences with the products they love as told through their own added media. The owner can update the NFT with their own media of their experience with the shoe. Whether they are worn on a first date or the front row of a professional basketball game, the media that means most to them can live side by side in the NFT with the exclusive media embedded by the brand. Perhaps they are the shoes that hiked across Europe or won a national championship. These experiences, told through media, can be added to the NFT, capturing the legacy and history of products we love and intertwine with the brand story they resonate with.
The NFT also becomes a continuous and open channel for brands to communicate to their customers. By updating the NFT, brands can add in promotions, discounts, and product announcements to boost loyalty to the brand and the perceived value of both the product and the NFT. Perhaps the NFT grants access to exclusive once-yearly events where fans come to celebrate their shared ownership and meet others who share their passion for the brand. With the power of updatable NFTs enabled by VIVID, the possibilities for this type of ongoing fan and customer engagement are limitless.
If the owner decides to sell the shoe, they can sell it with the NFT — a digital asset that enhances its value because this shoe, with all its experiences, is unlike any other. Imagine these possibilities across a range of products from cars to watches to engagement rings or even milestone purchases like first homes.
The things we own have stories that are deeply interwoven with the story of our lives, as they are often critical partners in our stories. Products have legacies that can be captured and passed along. WithNFT+ these legacies and stories are VIVID.
Join the Evolution. Make it VIVID.
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