Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: “Web3 is going to revolutionize the way businesses use the internet.” It’s a statement we believe to be inherently true, but it’s also frustratingly vague. What does the growing adoption of blockchain technologies behind web3 truly mean for businesses? What do its new concepts of ownership and authenticity in a digital space mean in practical terms? While new applications are emerging by the day, one of the most compelling use cases is already here: going from physical to digital in web3.
This article will explore what “physical to digital” means for brands and creators that want to stay on the cutting edge of the entertainment industry. It will show examples of how similarly forward-thinking brands have used the process to connect with fans in new ways and bring in audiences, all while maintaining the brand safety and performance-driven practices they require.
Going “physical to digital” means taking parts of your business that already exist in the physical world and using web3 technologies to create digital tokens for them.
These tokens can be linked to their physical counterparts to create added value for brands and consumers, by enabling new ways to collect, sell, and trade existing assets.
The blockchain-based nature of web3 means physical to digital transformations give brands more transparent, secure, and decentralized ways of doing business.
Finding the right tokenization-as-a-service partner is the best way to ensure a safe, effective, and profitable physical to digital transformation for your brand.
What Does Going Physical to Digital in Web3 Mean?
Going physical to digital in web3 means taking existing elements of your physical business and using web3 technologies to bring them to digital platforms and marketplaces. This can manifest in any number of ways depending on the type of business you run, but here are a few examples to illustrate some of the possibilities:
- Nike’s dotSwoosh marketplace sells NFT (non-fungible token) sneakers that will later unlock exclusive access to physical versions of those same shoes.
- Funko teamed up with DC and Walmart to sell a collectible diorama recreation of The Brave and the Bold No. 28’s cover that comes with a matching NFT to add to your digital collection.
- Dolce & Gabbana sold a series of digital bear NFTs that came with physical prints of the collectibles themselves, as well as exclusive matching D&G garments owners can wear in real life.
These physical to digital moves created added value for both brands and consumers, unlocking a unique proposition for their respective items that would be impossible solely in the physical or digital domain. Though the first well-known examples of NFTs were exclusively digital collectibles, these companies have proven the collectible power and mainstream possibilities of physical to digital.
Bringing your brand’s physical assets to digital marketplaces is a momentous transition that requires familiarity with technology, platforms, and audiences. Fortunately, working with the right tokenization-as-a-service partner can help ensure your physical to digital move is done in a way that aligns with the value of your brand and, ideally, keeps paying dividends for years to come.
How Will Web3 Technology Benefit My Business?
The physical to digital transition is based on web3 technology, which is built on a basic concept of computing called the blockchain. In short, a blockchain is a public digital ledger that’s distributed through the nodes of peer-to-peer networks, allowing each peer to verify the origin and ownership of each item on the network. Opting for this approach to computing and networking comes with three fundamental benefits for businesses:
Transparency
Blockchain transactions are recorded for all to see, and each token on the blockchain carries its own record of where it has been and when. This means businesses and consumers can act with confidence knowing that their tokenized assets are the real deal, with a single source of truth to verify their provenance. These records are also an excellent data source to be parsed for marketing insights with the aid of AI technology.
Security
The other side of the coin from transparency is security. Web3 technology is built to track and verify ownership in ways that make fraud or unauthorized duplicates significantly harder to execute, meaning physical to digital products are a more secure means of doing business than counterparts that solely exist in one realm or the other.
Decentralization
The peer-to-peer nature of web3 eschews established gatekeepers that control and profit from online transactions. The smart contracts built into physical to digital tokens mean they can travel with minimal limitations from a user on one marketplace to the next, while still reliably enriching their creators and owners as they go.
How Can My Business Take Advantage of Web3 Technology?
If you’re ready to start your business’ physical to digital transition, you’re already one step ahead of the competition. But like any new way of doing business, it can be easy to make a misstep or false start when bringing your brand to web3. As a medium that lives at the crossroads of tech and culture, there’s a lot to account for if you want the best web3 launch with the most momentum possible.
Dibbs is here to give you that momentum. We can help your brand secure your digital future in the world of collectibles with a uniquely easy-to-use tokenization-as-a-service platform backed by proven experience in bringing collectible-backed NFTs to life. We do so with futurized revenue streams that let you monetize franchise-defining IP with a few clicks, all with a brand-safe way to issue tokens and enter web3. Schedule a demo with Dibbs today to see everything we can do for your brand.
