Virtual worlds are making digital identity more fluid and expansive than ever before. 52% of Gen Z say they feel more like themselves in the metaverse vs offline. 65% believe that their online relationships are just as meaningful as the ones they make IRL. This is a generation that’s investing in its online identities, spending to the tune of $54bn last year on digital goods, such as avatars, skins, and game accessories. In Web2, we created content. In Web3, we’re creating ourselves.
This emerging context will recalibrate the way brands operate online. To date, over 45% of major brands have incorporated Web3 strategies across their marketing efforts. The world's most powerful marketers have shifted investment into the space. Just as every brand today needs a social media strategy for reach, every brand tomorrow will need a Web3 strategy centred around community, identity, and exploration.
The Principles of Web3 Brand Design
Content → Context
As technology becomes more intertwined with our everyday lives, our relationships with it will change, too. The metaverse is about transforming the ways we encounter the digital realm–and whether you like it or not, it’s inevitable. We’ve evolved to understand our world through multi-sensory experiences in spatial environments. The metaverse lets us tap into our natural human instincts for perception, interaction and exploration to engage the creative power and flexibility of digital content.
The brands sculpting the future of web3 will be those that create space, not just content. A virtual runway. A museum. A writers room. At a time where algorithms incentivize virality over meaningful interaction, successful web3 brands offer an alternative: environments where we can share experiences, explore our interests, and experience belonging.
Static → Dynamic
Content has become one of the most important influences of consumer engagement for brands, but these assets require relatively high upfront production costs, and once launched, they don’t typically evolve over time. To continue to foster engagement, brands must continue to produce content for the feed–unless you can make something that transcends it.
Dynamic NFTs let you create content that changes based on its owners' interactions or real-life events. An athlete's season-long performance shapes their NBA trading card. A gaming character level-ups, changes appearance, or gains new abilities based on in-game achievements and events. Instead of proliferating content, dynamic experiences let you create assets for durable interaction, reflecting the shifting experiences of your community and revealing your brand narrative over time.
Engagement → Utility
In our fast paced lives, brand loyalty is a key currency. And while digital communities have more influence than ever before, they lack the power and incentive to meaningfully participate in a brand’s story online.
Web3 brands are discovering that more valuable interactions can be enriched through NFTs. A digital asset can provide ownership, access, voting rights, and more. At a time when brand loyalty matters more than ever before, utility lets you offer your communities a stake in what they love, and for successful web3 brands, this is a product in its own right.
Closing Thoughts
Web3 represents an unparalleled opportunity for self-expression and is as much a question of creativity and imagination as it is about technology. As the landscape matures, the way we express ourselves online will change too. Today, more and more legacy brands are adopting Web3 strategies in an attempt to rewrite the future of brand identity on-chain.