Five Ways Brands Are Using NFTs

NFT are more than digital art; they are proving to enhance a company’s brand in powerful new ways. An NFT is an immutable data record, stored on a blockchain, that represents a unique digital asset. As digital art, they are able to enhance the two most important pillars of marketing: storytelling and customer engagement. Companies are now adopting NFT as a means to (re-)brand themselves in creative new ways.

Supporting a cause

Buyers want to identify with familiar brands; this is doubly true if that brand supports a cause that buyers deem worthy. Companies can create and sell their own NFT to raise funds for charities and causes. Last year, Taco Bell minted its first NFT on Rarible with some collectors bidding up to $200,000. The funds went to the Taco Bell Foundation which supports education scholarships, grants and nonprofits serving youth. 

Building community 

NFT can build enthusiasm for a brand because they can be used as a digital gateway to a community. Much like a concert ticket, an NFT can guarantee its owner a spot in the brand’s tribe. Louis Vuitton and Burberry are building their communities by creating mobile games featuring their own mascots as avatars. Burberry’s CMO explained the move saying they are “continually looking to connect with our communities in the spaces they love.” Using an NFT to engage current buyers and potential customers in a common arena is an invaluable new way to expand an existing community. 

Repackaging traditional products

Taking a fungible product and recreating it as non-fungible is another way to create hype and demand for a product. In 2021, Kings of Leon released their album, When You See Yourself, as an NFT. With a $50 price point, the album included its digital download, enhanced album cover art and a limited-edition vinyl record. NFT offer multiple new ways to market traditional products. 

Providing experiences 

Tokenizing events or offering NFT in games are two ways companies are providing customers a unique experience. In 2019, as part of a giveaway hosted by Apple, Vodafone created a game where players had to hunt down NFT called Vatoms. The project became so successful that it spawned a new version the next year where players could receive tech prizes associated with NFT. Video games that engage customers inside brand-associated storytelling have innumerable possibilities. 

Extending a product’s value

Leveraging a product’s value by extending what the customer receives can be easily done with NFT. Nike patented a cryptographic system that connects a physical shoe to a digital asset. When a buyer purchases a pair of sneakers, they also receive a ‘CryptoKick’ NFT. The token extends the value of the shoe into the digital space, thus making the product even more exclusive. 

Despite their full potential taking some years to be fully realized, NFT now appear to have been made for branding. Taking a unique, immutable digital asset and selling it to a buyer for exclusive access, gameplay, or an associated physical product, makes the NFT into a powerful tool for the modern marketer. Over the coming decade, we will continue to see art, gaming, music and more fuse together into creative and innovative NFT applications.