I thought it was only right that since this one is all about crypto that I mint the original version of this blog as an NFT. If you’re interested in collecting it, or reading it on Mirror, go here.
Otherwise, the same copy is below - hope you enjoy! Oh, and if you do, you know what to do…
This is a collection of unfinished thoughts on how a new set of social behaviors came to be, how technology is enabling said behaviors, a comp to the past, and what it means for existing brands and maybe future businesses. I’m taking a shot with this one and would love any and all feedback. Thanks!
A shift in “Community”
Movements are unfolding online at a rate and in a manner that is completely novel. Consumer behavior and trends have developed and deteriorated at paces that would cause even the most plugged in to spazz out.
Recently, this has largely been attributed to terms that some like to clump together as “the blockchain, metaverse, crypto…” In reality, it’s driven by people. The technology is just enabling people to express these new behaviors.
But it started a long time ago. Admittedly, my perception of the 60’s is largely shaped by Mad Men, but based on that understanding (and many podcasts from more creative thinkers) this is where I’ve landed. At the turn of the 1960’s, when TV’s infiltrated the living rooms of Americans everywhere, neighborhoods and cities at large had one platform to take information from. There was one line of communication: the TV, feeding the many willing listeners, us. Walter Kronkite was revered as “the most trusted man in America.” You think Tucker Carlson could nab that title today? No shot. One singular source of information influenced the minds of each home on the cul-de-sac, across zip codes, and over state lines.
This expanded the idea of community. A shared baseline and facts for discussion to build upon. However, as technology developed, the lines of communication proliferated with it. Now, instead of one central point of knowledge disseminating information, we have innumerable sources of devices and platforms to influence our actions.
I believe I first saw these from Jack Butcher but wasn’t able to find the originals. Sorry, Jack. Big fan of NIA, if that helps.
This has led to fragmented communities. Shared baselines evaporated. Beliefs, interests, and friends groups were no longer bound by street names. Communities shifted from the neighborhood to the cloud, if you will. As local communities were no longer grounded in geography, we had the chance of creating our own, online.
Digital Communities
Take that premise and fast forward to social media. Social media has allowed us to create digital personas and connect with like-minded people across the world. We’ve been able to find new cultures and experience new adventures as a byproduct of finding digital tribes where we feel most comfortable.
We also started caring about different things. Social capital became accessible to people outside of Hollywood because of the internet.
Dedicated and loyal audiences have flocked to brands that promote ideals that they associate with. Fans have clamored to follow individuals who promote a positive (for the most part) message or entertain them in ways that others couldn’t. Value was no longer an easy to define term, and it no longer strictly went by way of product and purchase. It evolved to include a sense of community and networks. Social networks.
A Shifting Playing Field
The playing field is shifting, fast. Companies can’t solely rely on foot traffic like decades ago, and they can’t solely rely on CPM’s like a few years ago. When it comes to reaching the “right” consumers, it starts with the mission. A cohesive strategy that includes knowing what you want to say and who you want to reach.
As specific values are represented by the communities that claim them, a brand or product has to tap into those communities. Otherwise, it’s on to the next one.
In the past that may have meant getting in the car and driving to the next mall, or brick and mortar store. In today’s world, it could be a new tab, Telegram, or Discord server. Or, down the line, swapping your tokens out of project A and into project B on a dex like Paraswap. A revolutionary action that allows us to measure affinity like never before. Maybe that’s good maybe that’s bad.
This shift raises the stakes for a broader consumer experience. With the playing field online, a brand has to come out of a static 2D existence and into a dynamic 3D world. They have to deliver on a journey that reinforces the ethos of what your brand stands for. Well beyond the limited transactional experiences of years past.
The Destination
This, to me, is what the Metaverse is. Not a singular destination that sits in a dystopian, never-ending, pixelated land with leg-less avatars. It is an ongoing series of experiences that span various touchpoints online, extend into real life, and back.
It serves as an opportunity for businesses to exist in a multi-platform world. Deepen their relationship with customers and various communities because experiences go beyond promoted tweets that all look alike, a well curated Instagram page, and a cool color palette for your physical and digital storefronts. It opens up new levels of collaboration and expression.
The Tech
What takes the term Metaverse and unlocks its potential beyond the digital experiences that we’ve become accustomed to over the past few years is blockchain technology. The infrastructure to a better internet.
As an indisputable source of truth, it is also a completely novel tool for understanding consumer habits, for tracking participation, for distributing and contributing value. Blockchain ledgers create a new opportunity for transferring value between brands and consumers.
It is also new way to deliver on brand promises and unlock novel experiences across boundaries and barriers in a digital world.
How Technology Has Changed Ownership
As our lives shift from sharing with those immediately around us to those who make up our digital circles, what and how we share changes.
In order for some of our Discord friends who live in Paris to see the clothes in our closet, we have to share online. Similarly, the way that we show character, culture, or social affiliation through say, the art on our walls and the stores that we shop in, shift to digital counterparts.
Provenance of these items relies on an honor system. Our online resumes consist of time stamped Tweets and Facebook albums. We aren’t doctoring those photos of us on vacation. We aren’t flexing in front of a car that we don’t own. We’ve been a fan of this artist or a part of this community WAY before it was cool, believe us.
The way we interact and exist online has changed the way we think about ownership. Proving this ownership, and rewarding it, is a new behavior that technology, specifically blockchain technology, has unlocked.
What Does It Mean For Brands?
Most metaphors are imperfect, and it's hard to relate what is happening in web3 to anything that has happened before. At least from my limited perspective. Marketing departments shifting budget from OOH to banner ads on desktops in the 2000’s? The mobile and social revolution at the turn of the 2010’s?
In both examples the social behavior had changed. But, in the 2010’s example, ad budgets didn’t tip in a way that reflected the mobile adoption of the early 2010’s until attribution came in 2017 or so. Consumers were first, as you’d expect, and many established companies couldn’t get there until they could justify the investment. The big ones are never agile.
Looking at where we are today, it is like we’re still in the 2017 podcasting era of web3. The only attribution tactics we have are “Rogan10” codes to redeem on Winc Wines.
Right?
An equivalent of this in the NFT space could be Adam Bomb Squad partnering with Chipotle for their $.01 guac deal. Yes, it’s commonly said that NFT communities provide access to an active consumer, one that aligns with the core principles of the project, founder, or a general mission. But attribution lacks when tracking activity off-chain. So their workaround was to get 8,000 people to sign up for this promotion so we can then see how many convert at their local Chipotle.
Directly, this helps Chipotle get people to engage with their brand through the “Buy The Dip” game, and more importantly by getting people to trade their bags for bowls IRL. But, this also helps Adam Bomb Squad learn where their consumers are located. And who is the most active in the community. All of this can be tracked with wallet addresses so they know who to reward with special access, product, or smiley face pins down the line. You see what I’m getting at?
There are ways to measure activity, it just might not be level with what we’ve been used to. We have a new set of behaviors. New business models and new measurements of success. A lot of this is intimidating to existing businesses. Especially when it’s so easy to get dunked on over Twitter these days.
Brands exist and they provide a service or they sell a product. But the new business model is through community. I have using this as a catchall, but right now it’s the best I have. It’s similar to how entire companies have launched based on curation of content. This in many ways is just curation of people.
I don’t have the brain to get into what Balaji is selling with his Digital Network piece, but it does seem to be a function of that. The group aligns with Adam Bomb Squad first, and is willing to go to Chipotle second, because of the affiliation.
So what is a brand to do?
There are 100 ways for this to take shape, but from a conceptual standpoint, steps one and two are to have patience and add value. It’s pretty easy to read right through disingenuous efforts in this space. Most of us love Kevin Hart but, well, you know. However, on the flipside, Keith Grossman was lurking in Discord’s for a long “time” as the media company figured out their entry into the space. That’s worked out pretty well.
It was an entry that had multiple touchpoints, organic partnerships, and true value add that helped people native to the community.
It’s like bringing a six pack to the party full of your girlfriend’s friends. You’re new to the crew, but you brought beer. Who wouldn’t love you? You added value.
Add value to an existing community like Chipotle did with Adam Bomb Squad. Add value to the space with an experience or journey that people can access that attaches to your core principles. The truth is, you won’t get to selling product for a while. It’s a long game.