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- šÆ Metaverse Fashion "Weak", Airline Lands NFT Tickets, Ralph Lauren Goes Crypto
šÆ Metaverse Fashion "Weak", Airline Lands NFT Tickets, Ralph Lauren Goes Crypto
Also: NFT Buyers in Decline, Pro Trader Platform Wars, Web3 CMO Handbook, and many more!
Kuba Szewczyk
April 07, 2023
Happy Friday! Welcome to The Web3 Marketer, where I help brands and marketers stay ahead of the web3 curve. Every week, I bring you top stories on web3 & digital collectibles across consumer & loyalty.
Today's write-up is 1,220 words, a 5-minute read.
This weekās TL;DR:
š¤ Metaverse Fashion Week attendance plummets
š NFT buyers decline post-SVB
š°OpenSea launches Pro offering and incentives
š Upcoming events: NFT NYC (Apr 12-14); Metafest, Switzerland (Apr 13-14); Consensus, Austin (Apr 25-28)
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The Big One
Metaverse Fashion Week attendance plummets 75% as users struggle with tech and loneliness
Decentralandās Metaverse Fashion Week 2023 attendance dropped to 26,000 from 108,000, a symptom of a broader decline in mainstream consumer interest.
The four-day virtual event was organized for the second time and scheduled right after the ārealā Milan Fashion Week.
Big names did not help: Brands including adidas Originals, D&G, Tommy Hilfiger, HUGO BOSS, Coach, Monnier Paris, and Philipp Plein, put proper effort into activating the spaces with virtual hubs, immersive showrooms, and meta parties.
The business model is not new, as many online games have built and monetized entire ecosystems around users paying to make their characters look cool, e.g., Roblox and Fortnite.
In fashion, a virtual show might have lower costs than a real-world one, and can be made available to a wider audience.
The actual user experience, unfortunately, fell short of the promises and didnāt seem to have progressed much since the early days of Second Life.
User complaints ranged from awkward tech glitches through low-resolution graphics to the limited multiplayer experience.
+ For deep dive, check out my post here.
By the Numbers
Structural decline in daily NFT buyers after the SVB saga
The average number of NFT buyers has dropped by roughly 25 % since the Silicon Valley Bank run weekend back in mid-March.
The dollar volumes have not fallen to the same extent, suggesting that a portion of less risk-tolerant collectors may has stepped away from the market.
A longer timeframe will tell us if this is a temporary or structural shift.
Crypto Twitter Explained
The battle for NFT pro traders intensifies, narrows down to trading incentives
OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace by active users, has launched OpenSea Pro, a separate NFT aggregator geared towards pro traders.
The launch is primarily a defensive move against Blur, a competing marketplace and aggregator that has been eating away OpenSeaās market share since its launch in October.
While both platforms compete on the features, inventory and zero fees, Blur has been able to induce high trading volumes by incentivizing trading activity with a future airdrop of $BLUR tokens.
Get smart: Airdrops are free tokens from web3 projects sent en masse to their communities in a bid to encourage adoption. For some, itās a speculative opportunity.
Why it matters: Crypto Twitter believes OpenSea must and will soon launch its own incentive program, and somehow share some of its $13B valuation with the community.
The problem: As a VC-backed incumbent, OpenSea is likely aiming for an IPO, so it wants to avoid issuing any tokens that may appear as unregistered securities.
The team has only hinted that future rewards will feature NFTs, which are considered more legally compliant, but financially less attractive than a token.
+ For deep dive into this rivalry, check out the data dashboard here.
Top Headlines
š ļø MarTech & CreatorTech
š„ Web3ās first CMO published the āWeb3 Marketingā handbook about bringing Ethereum to market and growing web3 startups.
Psychological ownership can help web3 projects foster a greater sense of attachment, healthier user retention, and sustainable ecosystems.
Media agencies continue to invest in web3 technologies in ways ranging from client activations to data management.
Artists are using free NFTs to reward fanbases and kick off communities.
š Consumer & Mainstream
š„ Flybondi, an Argentinian airline, will issue all of its e-tickets as NFTs to offer a āmore flexible travel experienceā"
Papa Johnās is launching pizza-themed NFTs into a gamified foodie metaverse and linking them to real-life rewards in UAE.
Donald Trump's official trading card NFT sales have briefly spiked more than 500% following news of the former presidentās historic indictment.
MetaMask, the most popular crypto wallet, will (finally) enable viewing NFTs in the browser extension.
š¤ Metaverse
KPMG survey shows that 60% of executives think metaverse can drive profits, but a similar proportion also feels itās several years away.
Appleās CEO Tim Cook argues that AR is fundamentally about āenhancing peopleās communication, connection.ā And likely FaceTime calls.
National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) reported on metaverse use cases for state governments ranging from staff training to prison visits to natural-disaster preparations.
Customer experience has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvent itself with metaverse interactivity and personalization.
š Fashion & Luxury Goods
š„ Ralph Lauren is opening a web3-centric Miami store with crypto payments and NFT gifts, targeting the cityās active web3 community.
Gucci dropped KodaPendant, a $2,400 limited edition NFT and jewelry piece that unlocks perks within Yuga Labās metaverse game.
Breitlingās Chief Digital Officer shared how the brand is leveraging web3 to elevate the customer experience.
Coach, Clinique, and AĆ©ropostale move beyond metaverse hype with tactical omnichannel activations.
š¬ļø Entertainment & Media
Ex-Activision Blizzardās COO Daniel Alegre began his role as CEO of Yuga Labs, an NFT jaggernaut, to accelerate the metaverse gaming efforts. Mr. Alegre spent 16 years at Google and only 3 at Activision.
Warner Music plans to spare web3, AI roles amid recently announced layoffs. After 18 months of web3 experimentation, WMG reaffirms web3 as the chosen path forward.
Artists and musicians are flocking to web3 for better record deals, and independence from legacy labels.
Damien Hirst is launching his iconic spin paintings as NFTs and physical artworks.
Film industry, already using web3 technology to build communities and monetize niche content offerings, sets NFTs as the next big step.
š Sports
FIFA launched an AI-powered World Cup soccer strategy mobile game, the first title since its split with EA Sports last year. Future plans include in-game NFTs (letās hope it works out better than FIFAās recent NFT flop).
Sports NFTs can provide fans with unprecedented access to their teams, reward their support, and offer a stake in what they love.
š°ļø Deals
š Additions to the Web3 Tools database (277 total)
šļø For the Weekend
What NFT Mania Can Tell Us About Market Bubbles (FT)
Diablo II and the Rise of NFT Culture (NFT Culture)
The Internet Is Ruined. The Metaverse Can Still Be Saved (Wired)
Tokenization of Culture, With Neda Whiteny of Christieās (šļøApple, 46 min)
Building an NFT-Enabled Members-Only Dining Club (šļøApple; 47 min)
Meme of the Week
Thatās all. See you next week!
Question, feedback or collab? Send me a note.
Author Bio
Kuba Szewczyk is an NFT Product Strategy Lead at ConsenSys, helping build NFT tools for brands and creators. He previously worked at Bain & Co. Digital Assets and earned Harvard MBA.
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