You would’ve been living under a rock not to have heard about NFTs. For which, thankfully, the conversation is progressing away from definitions to use-case discussions. And beyond the hyped ridiculousness of the Bored Ape Yacht Club or other unattainably expensive NFT releases, I see real and ongoing benefits that can be gained from these tokens. To the extent that our clients can add real economic value to their brand identities and build closer relationships with their fans.

How? Let’s head to brand camp for the blockchain. No flutes required.

The key concept is identity. And badging is the pathway.

Which is not as shallow as it might sound. Scout’s honour. Which is not a bad analogy, either. Scout badges carry three primary themes: identity, journey and involvement. Ditto NFTs, which simplistically, are digital collectibles that early adopters have often displayed as PFPs (profile pics) on social media platforms.

Identity. Tick.

Both Twitter and Instagram now support these PFPs and Reddit has even built its own blockchain-based PFP ecosystem, called the “Avatar Marketplace.” Reddit’s avatars are NFTs. Just not in name. It’s quite clever really. Instead of bringing the world to the blockchain, Reddit is bringing the blockchain to the world. They’re doing it using familiar terminology: avatars. And familiar currency: US dollars.

Obviously, Reddit’s business model includes avatars, thus for other brands, it’s unrealistic to develop PFP NFTs and expect fans to want to collect them and display them as identity badges. It’s inauthentic and they simply won’t do it. Their online presence is far too important to them.

Consider this instead. In psychology, collecting is considered a healthy pastime that connects people to the world around them. It also demonstrates a passion for a subject. People develop a sense of pride and gain status from their collections when the results of their labours are shared with like-minded others.

As a schoolboy, I collected Star Wars stickers and liked to complete the sticker books as something of a tribute gallery to my dedication. Unfortunately, the ability to easily find other kids with the same interests did not exist at the time. Telling fellow students that I was a Star Wars stickers nerd would not have been conducive to ongoing reputational advantage. It meant that the pride in my collection was more for solitary fulfilment and there’s only so far that can take you. I lost interest.

Fast forward a few years to my younger technologist days, I kept every single issue of Wired magazine on a bookshelf at my place. That collection helped to physically identify two of my professional and personal passions, the display of which led to some enjoyable conversations with household visitors who shared similar interests. Sadly, that collection was lost when I moved to Australia, so the memory is now only anecdotal.

Note how both collections were associated with brands that I was passionate about. And unless you collect butterflies, virtually all collectible items are branded.

Just hold that thought for a minute.

Collecting is aspirational and these days leans more to experiences than material objects. The stage over stamps. Cooking over coins. Travel over trading cards.

As marketers, we’re already deeply invested in brand experiences. So, what if those experiences were collectible? What if fans could authentically demonstrate their passion for a brand online and use it to enhance their status? What if fans could own a piece of the brand forever?

These are not hypothetical questions. Marketers are already leveraging NFTs in such a way that they can be viewed as brand experience passports.

Journey. Tick.

They’re passports with the same innate benefits valued by the collector in all of us. Scarcity and uniqueness. Expertise and ownership. Status and pride. But most of all, community.

In tribute to my fellow Star Wars sticker-collecting nerds, who would never know or meet each other, what strikes me about the potential for NFTs in marketing is their ability to bring like-minded fans together. Without resistance.

Gary Vaynerchuk offers a good example of how this works with his NFT “drop” called, “VeeFriends.”

The purchase of a VeeFriend (a cutesy hand-drawn character) entitles you to a ticket to Gary’s exclusive conference, “VeeCon,” for not one, but three years. VeeFriends also come in tiers and the higher the tiers, the more exclusive the access; from Discord servers to VIP events to one-on-ones with Mr. Vee himself. For each event attended, your VeeFriend evolves and as its owner, so does your personal status. Other attendees will be most impressed that you spent 30 of a possible 36 hours at VeeCon 1. If you can’t go to VeeCon 2 (or 3), just sell your VeeFriend (they won’t take it personally) on a 3rd-party blockchain marketplace. If you are the original owner, you get a clip of the ticket on every sale and resale. And so does Gary.

How ConVee-nient.

The Ethereum blockchain has a feature known as POAP, or “proof of attendance protocol,” being irrefutable evidence that someone went that somewhere and did that something. POAP can be integrated into NFTs for use both online and IRL (“in real life”). It’s very cool because being somewhere IRL might unlock access to some exclusive after party at some exclusive bar with some exclusive people (of whom you are now one). POAPs are the visas and stamps in the brand experience passport.

Another example is Nike’s “CryptoKicks” NFTs. CryptoKicks owners get first access to new IRL shoe lines and given Nike’s clever use of scarcity both the physical and the digital are highly prized by their owners. Here too, fans can sell the CryptoKicks and the original purchaser gets a cut from each sale in perpetuity. It’s a “fans-as-owners” model that brings brand and fan closer together in a way that would be impossible without NFT tech.

Time magazine dropped a series of famous historical covers as NFTs. And in addition to making the magazine’s enthusiasts very happy with these moments in time, they also earned free subscriptions and other access benefits. The company itself earned $10 million from the campaign and let’s not forget their ongoing commissions from blockchain resale too. Maybe I should talk to Wired magazine so I can rebuild my lost collection?

But with a Wired magazine NFT, I wouldn’t need to passionately collect a full set like I did in the 90s. I’d only need a single one to unlock the collected community who share my passion. NFTs as brand experience passports give their owners instant credibility with each other, instant access to each other and instant permission to talk to each other.

Involvement. Tick.

NFTs are not difficult to produce, but like any marketing problem, the challenge lies in delivering an on-brand experience. The examples above - Reddit, VeeFriends, Nike CryptoKicks and Time - have all done just that and in doing so have demonstrated a truly authentic way for brands to build stronger technology-based connections with their fans. Not-to-mention exceptional value.

It’s time to go back to basics with the NFT paradigm and create our own “This one time, at Brand Camp…” stories.