Overwhelmed? The deprecation of third-party cookies, Web3, NFTs, the metaverse, POAPs… gulp! This has been a steep learning curve, and while I am certainly no first mover or expert in any of these, I definitely feel more comfortable exploring and discussing each of them and their various implications and opportunities for marketers. How? Long live the nano degree!

While the typical theory of mastery by Ericsson is 10,000+ hours, a nano degree is the ability to learn rapidly – even if it is only five hours over a quarter, according to Chris Savage, one of Apac’s leading comms and professional services growth experts, and a speaker during my scholarship with The Marketing Academy in 2020.

So how do you get a nano degree?

1. Examine what’s niggling at you or what’s a heavily debated topic in your area of interest.
2. Read, watch and listen as much as you can on the topic.
3. Let everyone know you are interested in this topic and see what comes your way.
4. Seek experts, an executive coach or mentors to share their learning.
5. Pay it forward: Even if you’re not exuding confidence in the particular area, share your knowledge with others and you might be surprised just how much you have learnt.

I had just attained nano degrees in privacy changes and the deprecation of third-party cookies and how marketers can attain their first board role, when I realised I needed another nano degree in Web3, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), the metaverse and 'proof of attendance protocols' (known as POAPs). I didn’t even know what a POAP was before I started, so this was added post-nano degree: POAPs are digital badges you get for attending events.

Better connected thinking

One of the benefits of The Marketing Academy is the access to all of the Alumni since 2015, when the program first launched into Australia. One Facebook post to the Alumni and I quickly connected to Heath Evans from the current 2021 cohort. 

Heath’s passion quickly became clear – he saw a lack of marketing and agency people in the many rooms he was in, ranging from blockchain events to Discord groups, and it was clear there was underrepresentation, even absence, in these evolving discussions, unpacking everything from crypto to de-fi, NFTs and the metaverse.

So Heath has taken it upon himself to educate his 2021 TMA cohort and others keen to learn, with weekly educational sessions including connecting us with incredible people who have done incredible things – such as Greg Oakford who co-founded Australia’s very first NFTFest.

Heath was incredibly generous with his time and no question was too big or too benign for him to answer. Here’s what I achieved in a matter of weeks:

• Explored Decentraland.org (a primary metaverse destination that is decentralised) and made an admittedly pretty daggy avatar. I returned ghosts to their graves fairly easily, but I struggled finding the ‘cat man’ who the octopus bartender told me I needed to find to make a cocktail including cat hairs. On my third time in the metaverse, I managed to not only find the cat man and get the cat hairs, but also find all the remaining ingredients and a chalice to get the cocktail – and it was some cocktail! For those who haven’t experienced this – give it a go. I may sound like a lunatic, but I now understand why people might want to purchase NFT wearables and buy virtual real estate.
• Learnt about Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of the metaverse. 
• Joined several NFT and metaverse groups on Discord.
• Purchased two .eth ENS domains via my MetaMask account and discovered the annoyance of gas fees.
• Created my first NFT on OpenSea.
• Received my first POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol) for attending the session with Greg.

I have well and truly ‘fallen down the rabbit hole’, as they say, and while it’s all a bit overwhelming, having a support network around me to ask what might seem like the dumbest questions, makes it all worthwhile.

Now this all comes with a pretty strong warning: Create an NFT campaign at your own peril! Mark Ritson in his ‘biggest marketing moments of 2021’ presentation expressed clearly that marketers exploring NFTs are wasting their time. And while it’s true that it could be a waste of time, it could also be a good way to test and learn and explore this new rabbit hole lying in front of us. If nothing else, at least you might make a heap of money from crypto and/or the next big thing in NFTs (post the likes of Merge (black dots), Bored Apes, Crypto Punks, Cool Cats, World of Women, and CryptoKitties).

Or if you’re with Mark Ritson and don’t see the point of NFTs, what will be your nano degree for 2022?