NFT took the world by storm in 2021 as it made the headlines one after another. One of which is when a collage of 5000 images got sold for more than 69 million USD during an online auction.
Since then, many people, including digital marketing experts, have become curious about NFT. Consider doing a quick search about what NFT is, and you will see there are trillions of search results available.
Before going into detail about NFT, let us first discuss what it is and why it became so popular worldwide.
What is NFT?
NFT is an acronym for non-fungible tokens that started in 2014 and only recently broke through the mainstream last year. It refers to the digital ownership of cryptographic assets like GIFs, collectables, music, or videos linked to blockchain that anyone on the internet can buy and sell.
Every NFT has unique label codes and metadata, which help it distinguish itself from others. Think of NFT like fingerprints. No one else in the world has the same one, all thanks to blockchain technology. It makes any creation unique and traceable to the original owner.
LEARN MORE: What Is Blockchain & How Does It Improve Digital Marketing?
Another fact about NFTs is that they can also be a representation of real-world objects such as the following:
- Deeds to a car
- Tickets to a real-world event
- Tokenised invoices
- Legal documents
- Signatures
These real-world objects of NFTs are a few examples, and there can be more options that can be NFTs as long as people get creative with their ideas.
How Does NFT Work?
On an NFT marketplace, any creator (or, if you prefer, an artist) will mint their work on the platform. The word mint means their digital ownership of cryptographic assets becomes a part of their chosen NFT marketplace’s ecosystem.
Once the creator properly minted their work, the platform where they have done it will execute codes in smart contracts, which proves their work is saved and stored on the blockchain. The smart contract has a lot of data, from the creator’s worklist to the parties who bought their NFTs and the royalties the creator earns.
In summary, the minting process of NFT goes through these steps.
- Create a new block
- Validate data
- Record the data on the blockchain
Why Is NFT So popular?
Given that NFT is always in the spotlight headline to headline since last year, many people are starting to recognise its qualities. Some of those are brands using NFT with their digital marketing campaign.
Listed below are the qualities of why NFT is so popular.
1. Decentralised
Every NFT marketplace enables NFT artists to earn a profit directly from their NFT work. For example, an artist often relies on an agent to promote and sell their physical art pieces. Once the agent has sold an art piece, they get a commission on the overall price of the art piece.
On the other hand, NFTs cut out the agent, allowing NFT artists to interact, connect, communicate, and make a deal with their potential clients directly on the NFT marketplace.
Since NTFs are programmable, NTF creators can include in the smart contracts that they will receive a royalty every time their NFT assets get sold. And that royalty will automatically go through to the NFT creator’s account.
The NFT creators, however, can only benefit from this arrangement if their NFTs has been programmed. Otherwise, receiving a royalty each time they have sold their NFT art pieces will not be possible.
2. Scarcity
Scarcity in NFT means that the creator can decide how many variations they want to create with their work.
For instance, if you manage an entertainment industry and are planning to hold a concert, you can create hundreds to thousands of copies of NFT concert tickets. Even though they are both similar, there is still a difference. Each NFT concert ticket has a designated code on the blockchain. In other words, no one will have the same NFT item even if they visually look the same.
Another example will be the digital marketing campaign that Taco Bell released last year. The brand jumped on the NFT craze and sold their NTFS within minutes, which all went to the Taco Bell Foundation and donated to their partnered charity organisation.
3. Royalties
Any NFT marketplace gives NFT creators the liberty to keep their complete copyright ownership. When an NFT creator mints their work, the NFT marketplace helps put up a smart contract by granting sole ownership. And the original NFT creator can receive a royalty payment every time the new owner sells their NFT work.
4. Secured
When buying and selling an art piece traditionally, one must thoroughly research its origin to guarantee authenticity. NFT digital works, on the other hand, can be traded securely and transparently. NFTs work as unchangeable digital signatures, giving collectors extraordinary trust.
5. Convenience
When a real-world object gets digital, its primary selling point is convenience. Since anyone has internet access, anything can be mass-produced, traded and distributed to others.
And for NFT consumers, their needs and wants have become easier to acquire, exchange, share, store, or even bring the NFT item they have bought anywhere. NFT collectors gain directly from the convenience, as do the NFT artists.
Difference Between NFT Internet And The Internet Today
How To Use NFT In Your Digital Marketing Campaign?
You can use NFT for various things, including your digital marketing campaign. If you have plans to use NFT, below are some scenarios on how you can use NFT in your digital marketing campaigns.
- NFT collectable assets can help you tell your brand’s story.
- Raise brand awareness through NFT assets that consumers can purchase.
- NFT assets can help generate excitement from consumers before the actual event starts creating a topic for consumers to talk about the news on the internet.
- Sell products purely in digital form or as a supplement to a physical offering to generate a completely new revenue stream.
Examples Of Brands Tapping On The NFT Trend
1. Burberry
Last year, Burberry released an NFT collection about Mythical Games’ for Blankos Block Party, a multiplayer online game.
2. Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton launched a mobile video game last year in which players can earn 30 free NFTs by following the brand’s mascot Vivienne to Paris.
3. NBA
To let fans enjoy the iconic moment of their favourite basketball player, NBA released NTF Top Shots.
You can view the rest on www.nbatopshot.com.
4. Jimmy Choo
Together with the street artist Eric Haze, the luxury fashion brand Jimmy Choo launched a mystery shoebox collection in October last year.
5. Coca Cola
Coca Cola also jumped to the bandwagon and released a series of four NFTs. Not only are they animated NFTs, but each one delivers a multi-sensory experience. Moreover, first owners will not know what they bought until they unlock the NFT artwork.
To commemorate International Friendship Day on July 30 last year, Coca Cola released these four NFTs.
6. McDonald’s
As one of the biggest fast-food chain restaurants, McDonald’s hopped on the NFT bus. They made NFTs as part of their digital marketing campaign when they celebrated the return of McRib to its menu back in November last year.
i present to u the most important NFT. RT for a chance to win one of ten exclusive #McRibNFT
no purch. nec. 50 U.S./DC, 18+ only. winners need crypto wallet to receive NFT. rules: https://t.co/2QRhsPlpur pic.twitter.com/KYmWI67PhG
— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) November 1, 2021
7. Twitter
A few days ago, Twitter also released NFT Profile Pictures due to the number of requests they have been receiving from many Twitter users.
gm!
You asked (a lot), so we made it. Now rolling out in Labs: NFT Profile Pictures on iOS pic.twitter.com/HFyspS4cQW
— Twitter Blue (@TwitterBlue) January 20, 2022
8. Gucci
View this post on Instagram
9. The Fabricant X Vogue Singapore
These two have collaborated and brought NFT to Vogue’s September issue. Now the magazine cover is now available as an NFT asset.
10. Adidas and Prada
Adidas and Prada are collaborating on an NFT project. They plan to create 3,000 tiled photos taken by the community, with the final piece designed by Zach Lieberman.
Keep an eye out for their NFT on adidas’ website.
Conclusion
NFT may be still in its infancy, but this new economic model allows brands to engage more with their consumers differently. Their digital marketing campaign can become more memorable and exciting than ever before, enabling them to attract more costumes, gain traction, and make conversions.
For more information about NFT, get in touch with our digital marketing team. Contact OOm at 6391-0930 or leave a message on our website!
