Digital Smiles
Web3 is at that awkward moment when it is learning how to walk in a world that expects it to run. Like any new technology in its infancy, Web3 is babbling buzzwords—crypto, NFT, blockchain. The Web3 hype is tangible. This baby is growing up to be a doctor! The challenge for the digital marketer is to appreciate what the baby can do, when it grows up. Trying to understand what a technology can do, as opposed to what it promises to do, requires perception and discernment.
Shlomi Ron, founder and CEO of the Visual Storytelling Institute, first explained NFTs and crypto to MarTech almost two years ago. We thought it would be a good time to talk with him again to gain a better understanding of how NFTs, crypto and blockchain work together to propel Web3.
NFTs and crypto are like the building blocks for Web3 technology. NFTs are one-of-a-kind treasures, like rare collectible toys, that can’t be replicated or traded for anything else, and they help keep track of who owns unique digital things like digital art and in-game items on the blockchain. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are like digital wallets filled with virtual cash. They help make payments and transactions on the blockchain secure and trustworthy. By offering exclusive rewards, brands can encourage customers to engage with them and develop a sense of loyalty as they receive rewards that are otherwise unavailable.
Some brands are already trying out Web3 solutions, with varying degrees of success. The Gap used the Tezos blockchain platform to launch its own NFT program, offering a limited edition hoodie. Gucci turned to the Roblox platform to launch its “Gucci Garden” for a two-week period, which attracted 20 million players, and Gucci Town, the permanent follow-up, launched last year, sold one NFT accessory for over $4,000. At Art Basel Miami, Phygitals, DressX, and Bored Ape Yacht Club distributed NFTs as rewards for attending events or being a member of an app.
Web3 is a promising start set against the dismal background of the “Crypto Winter”. The key triggers include an overvalued market, with some coins like Bitcoin reaching all time high $65k in Nov 2021, lack of regulation and rampant speculation, the crash of the Luna and Terra stable coins, and FTX’s crypto currency exchange bankruptcy. The public needs to have better understanding of how these technologies work in lock step with better usability, and people need to be sure that their transactions are secure and the NFTs they buy are authentic. In order to cross the chasm from early adopters to early and late majority, we need better usability, security, regulation and stronger utility, with NFTs and crypto embedded in everyday use cases.
We are still in the early days of Web3. That world is “still wide open for everybody to innovate in.”
Originally reported by Martech: https://martech.org/so-how-is-this-web3-supposed-to-work/
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