NFTs for established entertainment and media brands?

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are unique digital assets that exist on the blockchain easily allowing proof of authenticity.

Back in early 2018, I gave a talk at the University of Central Florida’s Launchpad entitled “Leveraging the Block Chain in your Startup “. Crypto was gaining momentum and awareness and I was spit balling ideas with a room full of college students looking to launch their startups leveraging the blockchain. We chuckled at one of the first NFTs called CryptoKitties and how I bought one for my daughter because she thought it was cute. After great discussion, laughs and ideas we all agreed that whoever figured it out would make a lot of money and create a new industry.

Fast forward to now and we are seeing the hype and growth of these tokens. Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Charmin, Lebron James, Tom Brady, Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and more have sold tokens recently. They are all selling quickly and fetching $10,000s, $100,000s and even millions of dollars. A win for the artist but also a cherished collectible for the die-hard fan.

I personally think that the current hype is a bubble and will pop, but what will be left will be an exciting, profitable and useful industry.

Beyond ownership of Tweets, digital art and collectibles is a functional utility use.

What if established entertainment and media industries used NFTs for the following?

• grant owners VIP access to events
• real-life perks
• priority access to in-person and online queues / waiting rooms
• early access to online sales for merchandise and collectibles
• replace current paper and digital tickets
• digital ownership of unique digital art found in your favorite shows and movies
• a history / trail of places you visited, events you attended, shows you watched, etc….
• more collectibles from the talented artists and actors/actresses
• virtual goods in gaming

I can see beloved brands such as Disney (Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar). Pokemon, Universal, Cirque du Soleil, Nintendo and more issuing these tokens to reward and strengthen their connection with fans.

It also allows these brands to invest the proceeds towards their foundations to empower youth and further their inclusion and diversity programs.

What do you think? Can Disney and others involve their fans more and build more engagement?

P.S. it may be one of your best marketing devices….

original published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nfts-established-entertainment-media-brands-dale-frohman