The Era of Self-Sovereign Marketing is Here
Introducing the WOM Token that puts marketing in the capable hands of consumers
In many ways marketing has always treated consumers as objects. Objects to be targeted, passively fed messaging — and converted. Sure, people had voices, but word of mouth could never travel as far as radio or television broadcasts.
Today young, digitally native consumers have publishing platforms, editing tools and their own opinions at their disposal. Word of mouth has never had more public online spaces to fill. Even the biggest ad agencies will admit that their biggest threats are not other agencies, but “kids with iPhones” creating awesome content and sharing recommendations about brands and products with their global audiences. To put it another way consumers are becoming the subjects of their own marketing and taking control of what is marketed, to who and how. We call this self-sovereign marketing and we think this is a great thing.
The WOM Token is building a self-sovereign marketing ecosystem that finally puts consumers, brands and platforms on an even playing field.
- Consumers: have autonomy over the brands they choose to promote to one another, combined with a way to monetize their content — all while remaining authentic to their own voice.
- Brands: can get closer to consumers by tapping into and rewarding honesty and word-of-mouth brand advocacy seamlessly, without the need for signed deals.
- Platforms: are able to monetize in a way that improves the user experience and doesn’t rely on invasive advertising.
In our evolution with the GenZ app YEAY, we discovered blockchain is the best way to build a fairer and more mutually beneficial marketing model.
GenZ Creators are Taking Control
Think of creators on the video-streaming app Twitch. Think of all the ecosystems where young entrepreneurs are evolving their personal brand as a business. Vloggers on YouTube, captivating stories on Instagram, everywhere on the web we can see this taking place. Even teen apps such as musical.ly, Tik Tok, Kinit and others show great promise. Video content is now, in 2018, becoming the primary outlet of how we consume and create content.
The WOM Token is looking to bridge the gap between GenZ’s emerging voices, how they can be rewarded by brands and for their word-of-mouth engagement. The positive effects for emerging influencers here are endless.
WOM is embarking upon a Dutch auction, with a series of YouTube videos explaining how it will be rolling out soon. Meanwhile, tokenizing word-of-mouth takes a tribe.
We’ve set up a Young Entrepreneurs Advisory Board as well as experienced advisors and board members. This means our community is evolving from the perspective of both GenZ and experienced blockchain entrepreneurs. The project is now ready to branch out to include investors, brand partners and popular GenZ creators — all to build something truly special together.
While we’ve been attending blockchain conferences around the world, we’ve met with some amazing people and blockchain startups that are pioneering distributed ledger technology solutions that can impact business verticals while also augmenting trust for participants and consumers.
What all this Means for Brands
The idea of consumers having autonomy over marketing can sound daunting, especially for brands used to carefully crafting their messaging and identities. To a certain extent it means relaxing on both and putting greater trust in consumers to convey the brand in the most relatable way for other consumers. Then again, trust is the basis of any great relationship.
The more a brand trusts the people who actually use its products to take the reign on sharing their own honest experience, the more relationships and repeat customers it ultimately stands to gain.
In a world where consumers choose the brands, products and services they market to one another, they are more likely to choose the products and services they think are best. The more a brand tries to control or manipulate its message and identity — and indeed the greater the discrepancy between the message and the reality of the product — the harder it will be to reach the market. In many ways this holds brands to greater accountability among consumers and creates a necessity to understand and bake in their values and preferences. Inclusion, sustainability, lifestyle, corporate social responsibility and doing good for the planet — these are all values that young consumers want to see brands uphold as more than mere lip service.
We’re bringing the power and reach of word of mouth to the blockchain to make the world a more inclusive, friendly and authentic interconnected place. The WOM Token connects brands with fans and rewards word-of-mouth recommendations and is the first self-sovereign marketing blockchain ecosystem ever.
The First Self-Sovereign Marketing Ecosystem: WOM Token
If you think this is a good and positive idea, please don’t hesitate to give us some claps.
