Welcome to the Summarin - your weekly dose of commentary and summaries of the most interesting topics from the world of culture, media and commerce. If you are new around here and like what you read, hit the subscribe button below.
In today’s edition (19.3.22):
After DTC > NFT
The challenges facing brands in web3
The metaverse gets a push from Hollywood
The Natural Extension for the Digitally-Native
The past two years accelerated online commerce across the board. Hip brands that have emerged into the direct to consumer (DTC) space flourished and reached enviable levels of growth with some even deciding to go from private to public companies. The pandemic also served as an accelerator for a lot of legacy businesses that lacked an owned online store to jump on the bandwagon and open their virtual doors for the first time.
The DTC model has now matured and operators are looking at the next stage of their development. A trend that has captured imaginations and has become the talking point in every product meeting is web3 and the metaverse. The terms, while still mostly buzzwords thrown around during meetings, have become identifiers for the technological innovation that comes from the crypto and AR/VR industries.
For digitally-native brands, going down the path of web3 is the most natural progression. Steeped in culture, investing in loyalty programs, social followings and brand equity, these companies have the right ingredients for a thriving community - a necessity which is the foundation for all successful web3 launches.
Those companies who manage to foster this relationship and succeed in educating their communities on the transition they are undergoing, will have a chance at success. They will be able to evolve. This next stage is not going to be easy to achieve though. Already we are seeing cool reception of various brand NFT launches. Communities, who are quick to sniff out a half-hearted effort, are voting with their wallets and it is quite obvious that there is still a lot of learning and work to be done by the brand community of operators in order to pave the way to this evolution.
Change is never easy and it will take a lot of effort and experimentation in order to formulate the roadmap that will pave the way for mass transition from DTC to web3.
More brands are launching NFTs. But what are they really selling? (THINGTESTING)
I’ve written about it on multiple occasions, but this article does a good job highlighting the challenges that brands face when they dip their toes in the NFT space. The only way to make a successful dent in this universe is if every stakeholder is fully committed to this new way of thinking. Because NFTs present a totally different business model, it requires a total shift in organizational thinking as well as a reshuffling of the existing business models. The closest existing mechanism that roughly can be translated into an NFT is loyalty programs but even in the traditional version, most brands suck at the execution. So, to have a successful NFT project, a brand needs to start thinking in web3-native terms and adopt a community-first mindset. A closer look at the brand’s equity may help shine a light on the strong pillars that exist on which an NFT idea can be developed. But this is easier said than done. The examples we’ve seen from brands so far have been largely underwhelming and in some cases received quite unfavorably by the existing customer base. This is a result of sub-par execution but also a lack of education and the relatively high bar to understand the crypto world. Read story
Memo: The Return Of TY Haney (2PM)
With web3 gaining momentum and serious consideration across board rooms and the rising intent of businesses to test the waters, we can assume that a suite of tools and services will be built to help facilitate the transition to this new world. One interesting ecample is Try Your Best - a platform still running in stealth mode that aim to help onboard brands and their communities into web3. Loyalty rewards, ownership and having a voice in the development of new initiatives can be attractive incentives for customers to join on the journey. For most brands and operators though, to start they face an overwhelming wall of tech jargon and clumsy interfaces. This is where the help of facilitator platforms comes into play. Read story
Bob Iger Getting Into the Metaverse Business (The Hollywood Reporter)
If you are looking for validation of the metaverse you may find it in Hollywood. While Big Tech is pushing the narrative in that direction, the visions presented by these companies has so far failed to inspire the imagination. The geeks are not known for being great storytellers anyway. So, perhaps it will be Hollywood and the executives coming from the storytelling machines that are the big studios where the metaverse will get its shining moment. Bob Iger, the former Disney CEO responsible for the incredible transformation of Disney over the past two decades has now turned his attention to the metaverse and that is a move we should keep an eye on. Read story
Bored Apes + CryptoPunks: the big ideas (Metaversal)
This week, two of the biggest projects in the NFT space merged into one - a development that got a lot of people excited and created a seismic shift into the space, probably triggering a new wave of consolidation among blue-chip projects. Read story
Snoop Dogg released an exclusive Death Row mix in the metaverse! Listen here
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That’s all for this week. Have a great week(end) 👋
Marin