[Thoughts #143] The Great Web3 Rotation featuring celebrities, Azuki, Pudgy Penguins, Goblintown, and Wonderpals
[Thoughts #143] The Great Web3 Rotation featuring celebrities, Azuki, Pudgy Penguins, Goblintown, and Wonderpals
PLUS: đ TPan is good at catching grapes and more GIF growth examples
Folks, I think I have a newfound talent.
While eating grapes yesterday, my fiancée A spontaneously decided to throw grapes and see if I could catch them in my mouth. I was 8/10, not too shabby. I may turn out to be the Jerry Rice of catching things in my mouth, like flies and spiders while asleep.
AnywayâŠ
More GIF strategy examples
Yesterday I highlighted the Pudgy Penguins GIF strategy, which resulted in 535 million views to date.
A couple of readers responded sharing additional examples of other brands incorporating similar strategies:
WonderPals
This cute NFT brand has less GIFs compared to Pudgy Penguins (147 vs. 1,000+), but has racked up 315 million views.
This indicates to me that the Wonderpals team has identified areas of opportunity on the GIF SEO (search engine optimization) side of things. Or maybe theyâre more appealing to use?
One of the keywords that theyâve targeted that seems to show success is âpalâ.
âPalâ on Instagram: We see several GIFs that show up above the fold, many of them more visually appealing and applicable than the other options.
âPalâ on Twitter: We also see a couple WonderPal GIFs also above the fold.
Doodles
Doodles continues to be one of the stronger brands in the NFT space, but has not capitalized on the GIF opportunity as well as some of their counterparts.
Doodles community members have called out this opportunity and requested funds from the community treasury to increase brand awareness through GIFs.
When breaking down the GIFs, we can see that thereâs one GIF that drives 70% of the views.
I appreciate Jonâs breakdown and performance-based approach with the proposal. It doesnât seem like itâs been approved (yet?), and as a Doodle holder this would be an initiative Iâd be in support of.
Tactics like these wonât be the primary driver of growth for any brand, Web3 or Web2. That said, they are low lift and are a low cost way to proactively drive brand growth as a complement to larger initiatives.
The Great Web3 Rotation
Earlier this week I provided 3 predictions about the Web3 space post-FTX. My second prediction was around consumer adoption, and I believed that non-crypto Web3 use cases would take the baton from crypto.
I will admit the examples are confirmation bias, but it is interesting to take note of the various datapoints showing continued enthusiasm and interest from multiple angles.
Celebrities
Celebrities have mostly been a miss when it comes to Web3, and I believe the next wave of celebrities (and their teams) that enter the space will be more thoughtful with their approach.
NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is publicly tweeting about his interest, featuring a Steph Curry sneaker NFT.
Whatâs also refreshing to see is that heâs engaging in the replies, with a serving of sass.
Comedian Kevin Hart gave VIP ticket holders blankets with his Bored Ape.
Realistically, I imagine these products were already produced so they decided to give them away. However, the situation isnât so dire that they would store them in the corner of a shipping container. Awareness is awareness, Iâll chalk this up as a W.
Actor William Shatner chimes in on how NFTs empower users in video games. He gets it!
Why are these celebrities honing in on this space despite all the turbulence and general negative sentiment towards the space? Some hypotheses:
They arenât under the mainstream spotlight anymore. They are looking for other areas to shift focus.
With this emerging space, there are new business and audience opportunities where they can dedicate their celebrity towards. Reward > Risk.
Theyâre genuinely interested.
Itâs likely a combination of the above. This isnât Justin Bieber where one mistake could result in a celebrity gossip headline. And as for Kevin Hart, the risk is minimized as he isnât actively promoting NFTs vs. passively expanding his footprint through merch.
NFT Partnerships
I covered crypto marketing months ago and how the industry had taken over F1 sponsorships. That landscape look similarâŠand slightly different at the same time.
Donât get me wrong, I love Mercedes though. Happy for George Russellâs first win last weekend!
Yesterday, Red Bull Racing announced that Azuki would be the first NFT on a F1 car.
Considering F1 sponsorships cost six figures and the fact that Red Bull is the top team this season, this might be through partnership between Azuki and Bybit, a crypto exchange.
The point here is NFTs are permeating culture on multiple levels and when one player pulls out, it seems that thereâs another that is ready to jump in. I expect to see more creative partnerships from the top Web3 brands in places we wouldnât expect.
Speaking of whichâŠPudgy Penguins announced a licensing partnership with Kelloggâs.
If Pudgy Penguins are now friends with Tony the Tiger, whoâs going to link up with Toucan Sam and Cheeriosâ BuzzBee? Letâs see how my Cool Cat looks.
Goblintown (one of the top projects born out of this bear market) announced a game in partnership with Atariâs Web3 division, Atari X.
This game doesnât look appealing to the average person, but if you understand the story and culture behind Goblintown, this is exactly the type of game youâd expect and be excited about.
Last but not least, WonderPals announced a multi-year IP partnership with DeAPlaneta Entertainment:
DeAPlanetaâs focus is geared towards children, which is a great product-market fit for WonderPals. Along with their expertise in films, product licensing, and shows, this creates a higher ceiling for WonderPals to increase reach across different mediums and audiences.
These partnerships continue to to impress and excite me in the short-term. Time will tell with who is able to scale these efforts in a meaningful way.
See you tomorrow!