🎯 Weekly Recap: Starbucks's Web3 Loyalty Seeing Venti Signs of Success

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 921 words, a 4-minute read.

This week’s TL;DR:

1. 🧋Starbucks's web3 Odyssey loyalty program early success

2. 🎁 Utility and benefits in online communities

3. 🖼️ Reignited interest in open edition NFTs

📅 Upcoming events: ETH Denver (ongoing until Mar 5); SXSW (Austin, Mar 10-19)

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The Big One

🔝 Starbucks's Web3 Odyssey Loyalty Program Seeing Early Signs of Success

The Iliad Odyssey, an extension of Starbucks Rewards that seeks to expand brand loyalty through the emerging digital channel of web3, is seeing encouraging signs, according to Bank of America analysts.

Beyond its transactional origins: the Odyssey program affords the ability to reimagine brand loyalty.

• Starbucks's approach to web3 is "more holistic than the industry’s prior NFT forays”.

• Appears to bring new members into the overall Starbucks Reward fold, as well as motivate existing members to engage more deeply.

Get smart: Odyssey is a US-only, closed beta program where members participate in interactive journeys like games and virtual tours related to coffee education and Starbucks history.

• Launched in Dec 2022, with 4,000 invite-only users (many more on the waitlist)

• Earned points that can be exchanged for rewards or ‘Journey Stamp’ NFTs that can be collected and traded.

Big picture: Loyalty programs matter to bankers because of… share price. Rewards program membership growth has historically been a driver of comparable benchmarks when valuating a company.

Caution: Contents Hot: On March 9, Odyssey is now launching its first-ever paid NFT drop to complement the existing user journey.

• With only 2,000 limited ‘Stamps’ at $100 each it’s likely going to sell out fast given that the limited collectibles from December drop are reselling for up to $2,000 a piece.

🔮 What’s next: The recent community Ask-Me-Anything on Discord suggests: US-only focus, arcade & AR-style games, more limited collectibles, introduction of ‘utility’ benefits.

+ Meanwhile in web2: Starbucks is using Twitch to find new customers

By the Numbers

📊 Utility and Benefits Drive Interest in Online Communities

The takeway: The results show the power of bridging digital-only NFTs with real-world benefits to create utility beyond the digital asset itself.

Crypto Twitter Explained

🐦 Open Editions Are Reigniting the Wintry NFT Market

In the midst of crypto winter, one area of the NFT world appears to thrive and attract attention - the so-called ‘open’ editions (or OE in cryptoslang).

Get smart: Open editions are a popular way of distributing digital collectibles, where creator mints an unlimited number of NFTs within a specified time frame, typically a span of 24 to 72 hours.

• Traditionally, most collections are limited editions that have a cap on the number of NFTs that can be minted ranging from one-of-ones to 10,000 or more.

The recent popularity of open editions from artists such as Jack Butcher and Kevin Abosch, has grown due to new NFT platforms designed to provide easy use and creative flexibility, and to a democratization push from within the NFT sphere.

• Due to no supply constraints, open editions are accessible and affordable for collectors as emphasis shifts from having deep pockets to closely following the market for time-limited drops.

Some detractors worry that artists selling too many editions undermines the scarcity and value of their work, leading to a potential deflation of prices for existing works.

Why it matters: Crypto Twitter is excited as the trend renews interest in the NFT space and allows more people to participate in the digital collectibles market, bringing in fresh waves of artists and enthusiasm among collectors.

Artist deep dive: How 'Checks' is a nod to Twitter's new meta of "purchasing" status

Top Headlines

🛍 Consumer & Mainstream

• Asset Tokenization Is Shaping Up To Be Crypto’s Theme of the Year (Blockworks)

• Gamers Will Drive Web3 Adoption (Decrypt)

• Don’t Call It ‘Crypto’: How Some Blockchain and NFT Projects Are Rebranding (Decrypt)

🤖 Metaverse

• Republic Cancels $75 Million Metaverse Fund Following Crypto Collapse and SEC Guidance (Yahoo)

• Meta’s AR/VR Hardware Roadmap for the Next Four Years (Verge)

• Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, and Other Tech Firms to Create ‘Japan Metaverse Economic Zone’ (Coindesk)

💍 Fashion & Luxury Goods

• What Gucci and Others Learnt From the Metaverse (FT - paywalled)

• Adidas to 'Scope Out' Token-Gated Sneaker Drops, Says Web3 Lead (Decrypt)

🎬️ Entertainment & Media

• What Do Unity’s Web3 Developer Tools Mean for the Ecosystem? (NFT News Today)

• NFT Backfire: A-Lister Celebrities, Including Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian Caught Up in Fraud Allegations (EssentiallySports)

🏈 Sports

• Peloton's Robin Arzón Is Building a Web3 Community Around Working Out (CoinDesk)

• Deloitte, Sinclair Broadcast Launching New Sports Metaverse Experience (TheBlock)

🛠️ Web3 MarTech

• Loyalty Programs Are Seeing a Resurgence Thanks to Web3 (Hackernoon)

• Power of Attribution in Web3: Reframing IFTTT (If This Then That) user engagement and gamification based on tokens and smart contracts. (JUMP)

💰️ Deals

• Orange Comet raised $7M equity round to take large popular IP and turn it into NFT content and web3 worlds around it (Decrypt)

• Redeem raised $2.5M pre-seed round to transfer NFTs over text message (The Block)

• OWND raised $750,000 pre-seed round to let Gen Z back brands using fashion NFTs (Tech.eu)

📚️ For the Weekend

• 📃 Five Lessons From My First Year Working In Web3 (Rolling Stone)

• 📃 Polygon's Race to Become Ethereum's Top Sidechain (Fortune Crypto - paywalled)

• 🧠 Generative AI and Web3: When abundance meets scarcity (Substack)

• 🎙️ Bitcoin Rewards and NFTs May Help Grow the Blockchain (TechCrunch; 30m)

Meme of the Week

Free resources:
10+ Best Reports on Brands in Web3 & NFTs
235+ NFT Tools For Brands & Creators

End Credits (AKA Also Made The News):

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