These Household brands are looking to conquer NFTs
This article seeks to give a whirl-wind insight into how the world's biggest and most iconic brands are sensing the opportunity Web3 could harness, with each diving head first - in different ways - into the world of NFTs to seize the opportunity...
#1 - Nike x RTFKT
Nike have arguably made the biggest splash in the NFT space to date, in terms of "mega brands" entering the space - Nike made public that they had acquired RTFKT back in Dec'21. RTFKT was founded in 2020 by a team of three, who pitch themselves as a brand which are at the very cutting edge of Web3 innovation to deliver the next generation collectibles, which merge culture and gaming. The speed [& secrecy] that such a big corporation moved to close this deal was impressive - very reminiscent of a start-up mindset and it is this mindsight that these big brands needs to adopt, if they are to be successful in the NFT space - *cough* Adidas *cough* - should take note.
The announcement sent shock-waves through the NFT community and rightly so. The core NFT offering at the time of the acquisition was RTFKT - CloneX Mintvial & Clone X - Taskashi Murkakami, with hype and expectation driving the average selling price of each NFT asset to a peak of 33ETH [$130K] & 28ETH [$112K] respectively - Based on $4K per ETH at the time.
In more recent times, the collab powerhouse have launched the RTFKT x Nike Monolith and RTFKT x Nike Dunk Genesis CRYPTOKICKS. We won't go into detail of these collections in this post, but highly recommend checking out the collection through the above links - a very interesting take on bringing the Nike core offering and combining with the NFT and Web3 space.
Nike rarely get it wrong and you would be crazy to bet against them making this a success - their approach to entering the NFT space is aggressive and we personally LOVE it.
Could you really live with the FOMO of missing out on Nike x NFTs?
#2 - Adidas x BAYC
Soon after [in the same week!] Nike announced their arrival into NFTs, Adidas followed suit - with a VERY different approach. Adidas revealed their "Into the Metaverse" [ITM] NFT collection, within Adidas Originals - the lifestyle subdivision of the German Sportswear giant.
Into the Metaverse collaborates with G-Money, PUNKScomic and Bored Ape Yacht Club [BAYC]. In particular, the partnerships with G-Money, a well-respected member of the NFT community with over 270K twitter followers and the powerhouse that is BAYC, make the Adidas NFT outfit very, VERY intriguing. Adding fuel to the fire, Adidas recently contributed to the $500 Million seed funding round of Yuga Labs [who own BAYC], triggering speculation about how closely BAYC are to the Adidas NFT project.
The ITM NFTs are part of a 4 phase journey, of which we are currently in "Phase 2". To progress to phase 2, each ITM holder had to "burn" their phase 1 NFT - Introducing an aspect of gamification and interactivity for the Adidas NFTs. As holders burned their way into Phase 2 they were able to claim an Adidas x BAYC x G-Money x PUNKScomic hoodie, tracksuit and beanie. Shortly after entering phase 2, all holders were airdropped a new NFT - the Adidas Capsule - A definite nod the aforementioned RTFKT - CloneX Mintvial. Speculation is rife in the Adidas Discord, as what is held within these capsules.
Adidas' journey into NFTs has been far from smooth sailing, who by their own admission, have found it difficult to move like a "startup" with ITM, which has often slowed their progress. However, they recently announced to their discord members they have put new structures in place to remove the red tape, to allow them to move like a startup, as the space demands!
Game on Adidas, what have you got to offer?
#3 - TAG Heuer Connected
A more recent mega brand entering the NFT space is luxury watch maker TAG Heuer. Despite TAG being relatively "late" to the party vs. Adidas and Nike, they are included in this list, as they are taking a completely different approach.
Instead of attempting to create their very own digital NFT asset - *cough* Nike & Adidas *cough* - TAG have chosen to stick with what they know best in making watches, but are seeking to take advantage for those who want to "flex" their NFT in the real world or IRL. TAG have released TAG Heuer Connected, which is a smart watch which let's you display your NFT artworks on your wrist - in a very modern and sleek design, if we may say so!
We are not sure if TAG fully understand the potential of where this could take their brand, but this watch will help bring the biggest and most sought after digital NFT brands, into normal society. It is very much pulling on the standard laws of consumerism and the same reasons to why people want to buy the very best brands [Rolex, Bentley, Dior etc.] - Flexing and showing people the kind of live they are able to lead through the brands they associate themselves with. In the very same way, TAG has inadvertently created the vehicle for the same thing, just for showing off the most sought after NFTs in normal society.
We are very interested to see how this one develops, as it will allow those NFT collectors, who hold the very rarest of NFTs, to Flex to those of us who could only dream of holding a BAYC, CryptoPunk or Fidenza.
Time is ticking TAG, how will this one play out?
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