CANNES — Right now, the collection of technologies known as “Web3” seems a little murky to some.
But, once upon a time, marketers thought the same thing about “Web 2.0”.
In the Web3 panel, The Creator Economy & The Future of Video, at The Mediaocean Retreat, two executives unpicked how brands and agencies should think of the new tech:
- Host: Ryan Barwick, Reporter, Morning Brew.
- Matt Wurst, CMO, Mint.
- Zack Rosenberg, CEO, CatapultX.
Tokens are tickets
Wurst’s Mint has already helped the likes of NBA, Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets create NFT (non-fungible tokens), methods of allowing fans to buy digital collectible items.
“NFT 1.0, if you will, was very much a collectible-driven experience where NBA Top Shot and certain brands were creating purely collectibles that leverage the IP or even maybe some creative art,” Wurst says.
“But the use cases for what tokens … can unlock were really just beginning to scratch the surface. They can be used as access tickets to events, real life or virtual. They can be rewards, membership and loyalty tokens.
“This is also now going to become the web three loyalty programme. Tokens will replace Amex rewards points. They will replace your Delta SkyMiles because what those tokens offer is liquidity.”
Blockchain for proof
Rosenberg’s CatapultX analyzes video using computer vision in order to present contextual cues as buyable metadata. Rosenberg thinks blockchain has application in media and advertising.
“Blockchain is certainly a great opportunity for us to verify impressions … whether or not there was an actual person on the other side,” he says. “Let’s verify this for the advertiser.
“We’re talking a lot about it internally as a brand safety tool, being able to thumbprint and catalogue content so that we can recognise it in the future, wherever it may be.”
But Rosenberg, as blockchain and other Web3 rises, is wary of “trying to sell too many new things at one time” to his customers. He says his customers want to know that a piece of tech works, not necessarily that it is blockchain-powered.
Access brand experiences
Mint’s Wurst thinks NFTs, or tokens, will be massive.
“Live Nation, iHeart, they’re already leveraging these tools to create token-gated experiences,” he says.
“Token-gated experiences is the future of all brand-to-consumer interactions. Being able to leverage and understand what tokens you have on the blockchain will enable me as a brand or a creator to know which experiences you should see, which you should unlock.
“Meta and Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and soon to be YouTube are building audience segment, token-enabled tiers.”
Marketing is marketing
What does any of this mean for those in media, marketing or branding?
Wurst advises brands to think about what they can package up to sell access for – websites, live streams, ticketing, rewards, voting participation, peer to peer communication, chat rooms.
But, despite some of the newfangled terminology, he also sees it all as just as extension of traditional marketing.
“The marketing playbook doesn’t change for brands,” Wurst says. “You’re still targeting an audience. You’re creating content, you’re measuring it and you’re optimising it.
“You do not need crypto to get involved in this. We’re able to just leverage email addresses to deliver an opportunity to claim an NFT.”
You are watching ‘The Mediaocean Retreat’, a Beet.TV Leadership Summit at Cannes Lions 2022.
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