How to Strategize, Create, and Launch Your Brand NFT

Map representing the brand NFT roadmap with utilities lying above it.

NFTs first became a buzzword when Beeple’s crypto art piece “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sold for $69 million in 2021. Today, digital collectibles have become a global phenomenon with the total NFT market expected to reach $211 billion by 2030. Many big brands like Adidas, Jimmy Choo, and Skipstone have already embraced NFTs in their branding and marketing strategies to stand out in the market.


However, of the thousands of NFT collections, not all brands are hitting the mark. Most brands and marketers are struggling to grasp the true utility of NFTs and how they can be integrated into their business-specific uses. This is not only leading to incomplete NFT campaigns but also making a dent in the brand’s reputation.

 

To craft a successful NFT collection, brands need to align NFTs with their products and services. This enables NFTs to feel like an extension of their existing offerings and doesn’t alienate their audience.


In this article, we discuss step-by-step processes to help brands understand how they can strategize, create, and launch their brand NFT.

 

 

Key Takeaways

 

  • NFTs allow brands to sell exclusive items and build trust with customers through uniqueness and true ownership.

 

  • To create a successful NFT project brands need to understand their products and audience — then strategize, create, and launch their NFTs.

 

  • Building a strong and engaged community around the NFT project is essential for success.

 

  • Collaborating with other brands can help businesses navigate the complexities of NFTs and tap into existing customer bases.

 

 

 

Why Should Brands Launch NFTs?

 

As consumers spend the majority of their waking hours online, conventional marketing tactics are losing to capture users' attention. Research even shows a 62% drop in the effectiveness of short-term performance marketing in the past two years.

 

Here, NFTs give a new means for brands to engage their customers using more interactive experiences that go beyond traditional marketing strategies.

 

Let’s look at a few ways in which brand NFTs help businesses and their customers:

 

  • Rarity and Uniqueness: Each NFT is inherently unique because it has a

    specific identifier embedded within its metadata that sets it apart.

    Use for brands: Using this scarcity of NFTs, brands can enhance the perceived worth of their offerings and sell limited edition items. Besides, they can offer exclusive, token-gated experiences to customers.

    Value for customers: They gain exclusive assets from their favorite brand, which creates a sense of belonging to an exclusive community and boosts their pride. If the NFTs are redeemable, they can also redeem their collectibles for exclusive experiences.

 

  • Ownership and Authenticity: NFTs store ownership data on the blockchain, which provides an immutable and tamper-proof ledger of records.

    Use for brands: Brands can use NFTs to trace and authenticate the provenance of their assets, which will prevent counterfeits.

    Value for customers: NFTs can act as certificates for proof of ownership and verify the originality of their brand goods.

 

But how can brands create their own NFTs?

 

This process can be divided into three broad steps — strategize, create, and launch. So, let’s discuss each of these stages for more understanding.

 

 

Strategize Your Brand NFT

 

Just like any other marketing campaign, a brand must first define the purpose behind its NFT efforts. This can start with understanding their audience, looking at the utilities and benefits NFTs can offer their audience, and trying to find the bridge between these two aspects.

 

The purpose could be creating a utility-driven experience for loyal customers, or expanding into new products with redeemable NFTs.

 

Here are some crucial things for brands to do, given they already have a primary product and a well-defined target audience:

 

 

Determine the Type of NFT

 

There are many types of NFTs like Phygital, gaming, loyalty NFTs, etc. Brands should find the right type for their planned efforts and what their audience would be most interested in.

 

For instance, fashion enthusiasts might be interested in buying NFTs that let them redeem them for limited edition physical items from their favorite brand or designer. Sports lovers, on the other hand, may purchase NFTs, which give them exclusive access to athlete meet-and-greets.

 

This will help brands define the utility of their NFTs so that they provide real value to their buyers beyond mere artwork. We’ve listed some types of NFTs and utility brands that can offer:

 

  • Event or Experience Access NFTs: These NFTs serve as tickets that grant holders access to exclusive events and experiences. Take the Coachella Music & Art Festival, for instance, which offered 10 unique NFTs that unlocked lifetime passes to the event and access to exclusive areas.

 

  • Phygital NFTs: Brands can tie their physical items with NFTs that will allow holders to exchange them for physical products. A notable example is Nike's RTFKT Air Force 1 Genesis collection which lets customers redeem their NFTs for a physical pair of sneakers.


  • Digital Collectibles NFTs: These NFTs can have varying traits and rarity levels and can be used as profile pictures or just for collection.


  • Loyalty NFTs: Brands can use NFTs in their loyalty programs that change their appearance when a customer reaches certain points and unlock exclusive rewards for them.


  • Gaming NFTs: Games like Axie Infinity have tokenized their in-game characters into NFTs which players can use to battle, breed, or trade at a secondary marketplace. This way, brands can use NFTs to represent & monetize in-game tools, skins, weapons, and more.
 
 

Select a Blockchain

 

The blockchain chosen for the brand NFT collection plays a significant role in determining its success. If a brand opts for a blockchain with limited scalability, it might become congested during periods of high demand.

 

This can result in delayed transactions and high gas fees, leading to poor customer experience like what happened during Yuga Labs Otherdeed NFT sale. On the other hand, just prioritizing scalability over security can leave NFTs vulnerable to hacks and breaches. So, brands should go for blockchain that can fulfill both security and scalability requirements to ensure a fine experience for customers.

 

Brands should also consider interoperability potential so they can collaborate and expand their reach to other ecosystems. They can also explore specialized blockchains that offer architecture tailored to specific industry requirements. For instance, Ronin is an EVM-based blockchain that is crafted specially for games and player-owned economies.

 

 

Collaborate with Other Brands

 

Partnering with existing web3 or web2 brands for the launch can help brands navigate issues like technological hassles and building from scratch, making their transition smoother. This will help create more compelling projects and tap into existing customer bases of other brands.

 

Take Nike for instance. It partnered with RTFKT studios to bring its physical products into the virtual world.

 

Brands can look for NFT agencies that have an understanding of web3 audiences and trends, with specialized expertise in creating NFTs & building niche-specific campaigns.

 

If brands have physical offerings, they can go for tokenization as a service platform like Dibbs that provides customizable solutions for brands to securely tokenize their assets.

 

 

Create Your Brand NFT

 

Once a brand has clearly understood its target audience and has conceptualized the idea into a plan, it’s time to create the NFTs. Here are steps that will bring your brand’s NFT to life:

 

 

Designing the NFTs

 

Brands should focus on the overall aesthetics, originality, and thematic relevance of NFTs that match their target audience This will be the first thing collectors will see and experience.

 

With this noted, brands can hire artists and designers who can bring their vision into digital versions — illustrations, animations, videos, or 3D models of physical products. To add an extra layer of allure, brands can add varying rarity with each artwork. If it's a phygital NFT, make the artwork resemble the physical item as closely as possible.

 

Next, brands need to set the project's drop architecture. This includes defining total NFTs in the collection, their pricing structure, and duration of availability. If NFTs have specific functionalities like fractional ownership, they can be appended by creating customized smart contracts.

 

 

Creating an NFT Roadmap

 

Despite Porsche's reputation in the web2 world, its iconic 911 sports car NFT collection failed to sell out, and the brand had to cut the supply. This is largely attributed to the absence of utility, unclear project roadmap, and overpriced NFTs.

 

That's why a brand's NFT roadmap should clearly outline the project's vision and goals. It should cover all the important aspects like the technology used, the development plan, the tokenomics model, and the team behind the project.

 

A good roadmap should provide a detailed breakdown of project milestones and deliverables with clear deadlines. This transparency will help brands build credibility and trust among potential NFT buyers.

 

 

Setting Up Utility

 

This step includes setting aside things that will enable previously defined utilities for NFT holders. For instance, if a brand's NFTs are redeemable for physical products, it involves manufacturing or sourcing the linked products and setting up logistics services. If NFTs grant access to an event, it will include planning the event and setting its time and location to create a memorable experience for attendees.

 

This will ensure a smooth experience when holders claim their NFT utility and foster a long-term engagement with the brand.

 

 

Marketing and Community Building

 

A strong community of individuals who share and believe in the project's vision is essential to make its NFT launch successful. So, whether you're a web2 or web3 brand, set up your discord and build a community ahead of launch.

 

Communicate your project's goal and converse with interested buyers on Discord channels to create an engaging community. Brands can use their social media platforms like Twitter to make big announcements and gather their existing community.

 

This will allow people to be notified when the launch takes place and other important updates about the project.

 

 

Audit NFT Contract

 

If needed, consider having your NFT smart contract audited by third-party auditors before the launch. This will identify existing vulnerabilities within the smart contracts and minimize risks like DoS attacks, reentrancy attacks, and front-running. Plus, it will build up users' trust in the project and safeguard the brand's reputation.

 

 

Launch Your Brand NFT

 

Everything's moving forward, and now you're heading toward launch. Let's dive into the essential steps involved in this crucial juncture of your brand NFT strategy.

 

 

Primary Marketplace Setup

 

Brands can either build their own marketplace from scratch or select from existing ones. This will serve as the first place where users will be able to browse, purchase, and mint your brand NFT tokens.

 

So, brands should make sure that the opted marketplace is scalable to handle the sudden demand and does not crash during the mint period. Users should be able to securely connect their wallets and make transactions to buy NFTs. It should have a clean and intuitive interface to create a seamless landing and purchasing experience for customers.

 

Similarly, Brands must finalize a secondary marketplace where customers can trade their NFTs after mint. This will generate an additional revenue stream for brands through royalties wherever people trade.

 

 

Marketing the Launch

 

Let’s see some marketing strategies for NFT campaigns that drive the visibility of brand NFTs and attract interested buyers:

 

  • Social Media: Brands can leverage social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to reach out to a broader audience. They can create posts to showcase the value proposition and offerings of NFT projects. This way brands can directly connect & engage with their loyal followers and convert them into buyers.

 

  • Collaborate with Influencers: Brands can partner with influencers to advertise their NFT project to larger audiences. This will enable them to tap into new audiences, build credibility, and create hype around the project.  

     

    For instance, Bepple used his existing social media followers and collaborated with influencers to promote his NFT auction. This allowed him to reach more art enthusiasts and create a presence in the NFT space.

 

  • Community Marketing: If a brand already has a loyal community of customers, it can leverage it to educate customers about its NFT offerings. They can also give them exclusive early access or limited edition drops. This will improve the brand's customer engagement and create a buzz around the project, attracting more individuals.

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NFT Claim and Steps Ahead

 

Typical consumers are not familiar with terms like wallet, gas fees, and marketplaces. To bridge this gap between customers and their NFT claims, brands must create a user-friendly NFT claim experience.

 

Brands can integrate NFTs into their platform, set wallets on users' behalf, or collaborate with third-party services to ease the NFT claim process.

 

The next thing brands should focus on is their project’s future plan. Brands should communicate with their NFT holders and create or alter their roadmap to offer more engaging and valuable experiences to them.

 

 

Build a Successful Brand NFT Project with Dibbs

 

Brands are recognizing that NFTs are more than just digital assets — a gateway to build a deep bond with their customers by offering rare and unique value. The key to a successful brand NFT project is carefully strategizing, designing, marketing NFTs, and connecting with the community.

 

But as this space is still new legal complexities are bound to increase. Brands may find it challenging to navigate securities law and adhere to legal guidelines all by themselves.

 

That's where Tokenization as a Service (TaaS) platforms like Dibbs can help brands in ensuring legal compliance. We take care of everything from secure custody tokenization to seamless minting and guiding users to the claim process, all while strictly adhering to regulatory standards.

 

So, businesses can focus on crafting digital collectibles and improving their customer engagement without worrying about the tokenization process. To learn more about how we can help your brand, schedule a demo with us today.