Web3’s Paradigm Shift: Marketing in the Decentralized Era

Marketers, welcome to the multiverse.

We’re quickly heading into a privacy-first world, with cookies and traditional advertising on the out and consumer control becoming increasingly more important. In this boundaryless landscape, a space is opening up for brands to completely reimagine branding and customer relationships as we currently know them. And web3 is at the center of it.

As with any new technology or trend, it’ll take time before widespread adoption of web3 marketing takes hold, especially as this new frontier represents a significant cultural shift. But while web3 marketing is still in its infancy, it has the potential to revolutionize our current approaches to digital marketing, branding, brand-consumer relationships, advertising, and more.

Some global brands are already testing it out, embracing the possibilities of web3 and adopting its foundational principles of autonomy, privacy, and community. In doing so, these brands are transforming how they interact with their customers. As this trend continues, web3 marketing will evolve into something far from our current marketing practices, with brands cultivating loyal fan bases through digital collectible campaigns which improve the consumer-brand relationship and build valuable brand equity.

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Here are three examples of brands launching next-generation marketing and branding initiatives and strategies, quietly powered by blockchain technology, and the different ways they’re being deployed:

Starbucks

Starbucks recently launched its Odyssey Rewards program, which can be thought of as a super-powered loyalty scheme. Crucially, the company calls their digital tokens Stamps, not NFTs.

The Odyssey Rewards program is centered on community building and fan engagement, consistent with the Starbucks brand. By leveraging web3 technology, Starbucks hopes to reward and connect with its members in new ways. The company will offer collectible, ownable digital stamps. Fans will be able to unlock new benefits and immersive coffee experiences. Starbucks is, in essence, channeling web3 ideals into its customer relationship management, paving the way for a new type of community engagement.

Dior

Dior recently released 470 pairs of its B33 sneakers that contain an NFC chip in the sole that guarantees authenticity and unlocks a range of other digital benefits. This example completely rethinks how to guarantee product authenticity beyond a physical card slotted into a shoebox or handbag. Dior, as a luxury brand, recognizes that novel technologies could be a differentiating factor for the industry, and is introducing it to their consumer base in terms that are decidedly not tech-forward. In Dior’s launch, the words NFT, blockchain, or web3 cannot be found.

Going forward, many brands are likely to adopt this approach, which chooses not to emphasize tech-first terms but rather lets the technology do the talking. This will enable brands to talk to their valued consumers in the language they’re comfortable with while powering new customer experiences.

Ducati

Ducati is about to launch a series of virtual goods to broaden its appeal and expand its audience, without diminishing the exclusive value of the company’s physical products. The aim of the program is to extend the Ducati community globally.

Ducati’s history and story is woven into its digital collectible offering, with the first release – a video-sequence of all the Ducati logos that have appeared on the tanks of motorbikes produced in Borgo Panigale from 1946 to the present day –  a “gift” to fans worldwide, a symbol of belonging, community and passion, and a way to mark the beginning of Ducati’s web3 journey.

What these three examples demonstrate is how loyalty, engagement, and community are at the center of the discussions around web3 marketing. The shift towards people-powered digital experiences is being taken to a new level. In a sense, it is an extension of the community engagement practices that previously soared in popularity within marketing spheres – made mainstream in the web2 world through Facebook groups, for example. But web3 really brings these experiences to life – and crucially – puts the control back in the hands of the individual, and in technologically superior ways that protect data and value authenticity.

For some time, brands may continue to approach the synthesis of web3 and marketing cautiously. Some will be wary about how their current audiences might respond, or will want to ensure that their customers are not put off what might be seen as niche technology or terminology. Others are perhaps wary of how the web3 community will welcome their efforts.

Going forward, brands adopting web3 marketing strategies will differentiate themselves by working with established partners – experts in this new frontier who have experience in seamlessly enabling innovative marketing campaigns and who embody web3’s foundational ideals. Brands will be looking to develop campaigns that are much more than a rushed, experimental effort to buy into a hype. From-the-ground-up efforts matter here, which means brands building communities natively on their own platforms, rather than worrying about the instability or data issues inherent in using third-party platforms, like social media.

If brands can adopt web3 marketing authentically and seamlessly – and the examples above show that some pioneers already are – they’ll be in a position to adopt more customer-centric initiatives that foster genuine brand equity and build loyalty.

These brands, and those that will follow them, are moving towards full adoption of web3 and its limitless potential. In several years’ time, marketers and brands won’t need to talk about NFTs, the blockchain, or digital vs physical experiences because the technology and the ideals will be fully embedded in our marketing and business practices. It’ll be exciting to see which brands get us there.

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