Welcome to The Summarin - a Modern Marketing Playbook, collecting the most interesting ideas, topics, and tweets from the past week at the intersection of tech, media, and commerce.
In today's edition (5.3.22):
Embracing (or not) the new
NFTs leave a mark on the gig economy
A look at a modern-day exclusive social club
Read and listen:
In or Out
While NFTs naturally fit within the domain of video games and the ability to make digital goods acquired in a game portable across titles has been touted as the prime showcase of the potential of the technology, the real consumer adoption has been happening in the world of fashion and luxury with brands leading the way in NFT project launches and embracing the crypto community and technology with open arms.
Why has the gaming industry been at such odds with crypto? With the exception of a few play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity that have gained traction in developing countries where economic opportunities are scarce in the real economy, the major developers of of hit titles have played down the importance of the tech and, in some cases, have consequently taken a more aggressive stance against adopting crypto. These attitudes have been fueled by internal objections raised by staff giving rise to internal cultural divides.
The opposite dynamic is happening in fashion and luxury. Brands and marketers all over have embraced the crypto revolution and are having fun. We have seen collaborations between huge brands and digital art studios, companies buying NFTs to signal they are in tune with the times, executives leaving web2 companies to go work in web3. A spirit of collaboration, community and play has arisen in the field and that has positively contributed to the popularity of NFTs and web3 as a whole.
But of course, this makes sense. The difference we see comes from the nature of the players involved in these developments. What we see here is a difference of opinion between Dev People and People People.
In my years of working with developers (Dev People) I have found that they can be an amazing bunch but often they are stubborn and feel to take contrarian views just for the sake of it. In addition, there is the healthy practice that is ingrained in a developer’s mindset to pushback and question thoroughly new propositions - this ensures that all aspects of a suggestion are thought through and possibilities for introducing loopholes in the system has been limited. But that can often lead to staleness and passiveness, sprinkled with a pinch of pessimism towards change. This is an inward dynamic.
On the other hand, marketers (People People) are attuned to the emotions, attitudes and culture of the consumers they interact with. They develop a feeling of where the attention is and where it is going. The nature of the job requires one to be open to new ideas and to constantly dabble with the absurd, costly and the uncertain. It is that openness that drives the curiosity and desire to try new ways in which to express one’s creativity. In turn, if there’s a fit between the idea and the consumers, profits follow, the idea gets recognized by the rest of the marketing community and other brands jump on the bandwagon, reinforcing the adoption of this new concept. This is an outward dynamic. This is what has happened with NFTs and crypto over the past 18 months and why we’ve been hearing so much about these buzzwords from all over the place.
These two mindsets result in two different reactions. One side is trembling with excitement and takes any announcement and novelty as a spark to ignite its imagination. The other, looks in pessimism and distrust, smirking at the notion to experiment and dabble in the new thing.
The Crypto Revolution Is an Existential Crisis for Video Games (Vice)
Waypoint has spoken with developers at Electronic Arts, Zynga, Behaviour Interactive, Ubisoft, and others. Each of these companies is either actively using or considering crypto in its games. Across the board, developers Waypoint talked to described internal turmoil and disapproval over what’s seen as dollar signs guiding executive-level decisions that seem to add little to the already wildly popular medium, and if anything, present a threat to how and why games are currently made. Read story
An NFT Bubble Is Taking Over the Gig Economy (Wired)
No one pays attention to the internal dynamics of a new system until the scale becomes the talk of the town and the economics around it result in mouth-watering profits. Artists that specialize in the digital expression of their craft are in high demand right now by opportunists looking to capitalize on the NFT trend. While there are a few blue chip projects that are given as examples all over the place, the majority of work is questionable at best and in turn, it takes advantage of various systems that have enabled its being. Case in point - gig workers on freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. Read story
This Social Club Runs on Crypto Tokens and Vibes (NYTimes)
This one requires a free account to read. An inside look at one of the hottest web3 communities - Friends With Benefits which is deemed to be a Soho House-like digital social club. This is one of the most prominent examples in the space and an example of the financialization of culture. The community is a meeting ground for artists, entrepreneurs and crypto enthusiasts who can network, hang out, and in the future (in their own claims) give rise to the next generation of innovators in the web3 space. The exclusive club is very selective in its membership selection and to access it one has to own a bunch of FWB tokens and be vetted by community members. Read story
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That’s all for this week. Have a great week(end)!
Marin