SAM SIMMONS

Non fungibly curious

It can be addictive to purchase NFTs as an experience of joining a community of strangers who welcome you solely because they own their own NFT from the same collection. It gives you something in common where such previously did not exist, forging organic connections amongst strangers. For brands and businesses, it is an incredible social phenomenon, and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of its power that can be harnessed through NFTs.

NFTs are giving power to brands to empower their fans by leveraging NFT technologies to create digital fan experiences that are rooted in IP that people love. Brands are aiming for more direct relationships with their most loyal fans, customers, and enthusiasts, but also to facilitate experiences between those fans to create a self-perpetuating cycle of brand loyalty and advocacy.

I liken it to being a fan of a sports team and seeing someone walking down the street wearing the same team jersey as you. By affiliating yourself with that fandom IRL, or digitally, that NFT community, it says something about you and your values to other fans, community members, and others. It brings about an instant connection and serves as the kindling for community.

And thus, by nurturing fandom, we create brand advocacy. NFTs provide that bridge for brands to create communities out of the most loyal subset of individuals in a digital and more scalable way.

It gives communities and the individuals that comprise them a sense of ownership over the brand with which they affiliate, which in turn drives loyalty and advocacy. The NFT space allows brands to bring new life to IP in ways never thought possible. While it may be perceived as daunting to surrender a degree of control over IP to a community, there is a network multiplier effect in allowing your audience to tell the story of your brand within their own communities both on and offline, perhaps better than the brand itself can.

The ways that brands new and old will find creative outlets for IP exploitation through NFTs will be fascinating to watch in the coming years. Surely as participants continue to enter the space, the competition for share of attention and wallet will continue to pick up steam. Through this time, it is the brands that put community first through storytelling, immersive experience, and the participatory impact that will prove to be successful.

NFTs will forever change how brands engage their fans by turning customers into community. The impact of such cannot be understated.