advertia digital | administrace

And we are off to the races, folks! 

Recently, Binance introduced Binance NFT, a marketplace for NFTs and digital collectibles. As a part of this initiative, it launched the “100 Creators“ program to spotlight local talent from around the world. 

Yet on that very same day, Michael Winkelmann, the American digital artist known as Beeple, introduced the cleverly named WENEW platform with the aim of becoming the “premier curator and provisioner of iconic moments.” WENEW is auctioning off historic and iconic moments across categories like sports, politics, history and fashion. The first auction, featuring NFTs as well as tangibles from tennis legend Andy Murray, generated over a quarter a million dollars in sales.  

Even the Israeli parliament has jumped on the bandwagon. It will become the first to lend the elected president the oath of office declaration in the form of an NFT. The country’s new president is set to receive the digital version of the original oath signed by his father.

How are NFTs unlocking new value? 

Blockchain technology allows a digital asset to be unique and not interchangeable or, importantly, counterfeitable. Therefore, NFTs represent a significant advancement for the preservation and sale of items such as photos, video, audio or any other type of digital work. Because still to this day digital works have been easy to copy, transfer and sell. And, most oftentimes, this hasn’t done anything to benefit the original artist or creator. With the introduction of NFTs, new value has been created for artists and creators because their original works cannot be digitally pirated. 

For the end-consumer value is created through the resulting uniqueness and authenticity that has been previously unavailable with any digital product. As Beeple himself said in a recent interview: “Everybody’s [asking], What gives NFTs value? And it’s really no different than any other medium, whether that be music or paintings. It’s the emotional connections we have that gets to people.”

„Everybody’s [asking], What gives NFTs value? And it’s really no different than any other medium, whether that be music or paintings. It’s the emotional connections we have that gets to people.“

—Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple

Global is the new local.

NFTs have opened up a whole new frontier of possibilities across myriad industries. And, in many ways, it is remindful of the initial propagation of the Internet: similarly, crypto and NFT early adopters and first-movers will be poised to become the biggest and most successful.

At advertia digital, we are currently working on several NFT projects, primarily related to branding and web design. Alongside this, however, we are starting to experiment more and more through space_pace, our startup and idea studio, and a dedicated NFTLABS division. 

NFTLABS was created in response to several projects we are either helping with or inventing within the NFT sphere. Some, like iMucha, are dedicated to art, some to collecting, but we also see a lot of potential in 3D design and interactivity itself. Having the opportunity to work with Binance NFT and its 100 Creators program has helped give us a great overview and helpful insights. 

Perhaps most importantly, all of these projects are always built as global — which is a huge strength of all digital projects — as it seems that global is indeed the new local. 

Not for everyone.

Just like one shoe does not fit all, NFTs are not for everyone. They just don’t fit into certain business models or types of communication.

What are some of the most popular NFTs?

Here’s a brief snapshot of some of the industries that have jumped on the trend and the products they are creating: 

Art

iMucha 

Alphonse Mucha leapt to fame in Paris in 1895 where he became recognized as the pre-eminent exponent of French Art Nouveau. Now his works are being given new life, prominence and value through NFTs.

Filip Hodas 

Also known as Hoodass, this popular Czech artist has subtly worked his way to the top of the world in 3- and 4-D visuals. He mints on prestigious platforms such as SuperRare or Nifty Gateway. Nowadays, their wait lists amount to several months and his NFTs sell for tens of ETH.

Pablo & Frida

Pablo & Frida creates 3-D renders of gallery exhibitions for their reuse in virtual reality. In the future, galleries will be empty and visitors will be able to choose an exhibition through which they can virtually tour and walk.

Entertainment and Gaming

Cryptokitties 

Tapping into the cat craze, Cryptokitties allows players to purchase, collect, breed and sell virtual cats. It has generated tens of millions of dollars in transactions. 

Decentraland 

Decentraland is an online space that combines virtual reality with blockchain technology. Players have direct control over the rules of the online world. NFTs represent in-game commodities like art, as well as clothes and other items like virtual real estate.

Merchandise and collectibles

LVMH

The LVMH group is looking to NFTs as a way to confirm the authenticity of luxury goods. 

Nike

Nike has patented CryptoKicks: digital sneakers that could function as NFTs. 

Travel

Although something we’ve yet to see implemented, NFTs could be used as vessels for delivering items of value that are related to travel and tourism brands. Such a line of  NFTs would serve as a type of permanent souvenir that generates an air of brand nostalgia, uniqueness and even demand. Travel and tourism NFTs could be distributed to those who are currently traveling as a symbol of appreciation as well as to loyalty club members and even armchair travelers. Alternatively, it could be utilized to incentivize travel or simply offered for sale as a limited edition item. Think of it as the future version of the KLM porcelain Delft houses. 

„I personally see NFT as the standard for the future. It can be expected that when real icons enter the NFT space, the whole ecosystem will suddenly have a quality, vision and direction.„

—Honza Borysek, CEO & Strategy, advertia digital

In the very near future, amazing projects will arise.

The digital playing field of the future looks very different than that of today. It will not consist of a rigid hybrid of winners and losers. Rather, it will consist of multiple, large distribution platforms like Amazon where millions of merchant creators will distribute and sell their NFT-based products.  

And with the inevitable introduction of new cryptocurrencies like Worldcoin, which aims to make crypto accessible to every individual on the planet, NFT-based products and services are destined to become more readily available, more intuitive, more interesting and, of course, more lucrative. 

The NFT tsunami is coming. Are you prepared? 

If you were asked what industry Apple belongs to, what would be your response? As a producer of a wide array of electronic products, ranging from the iMac all the way to AirPods, most would simply refer to it as a technology company. Yet, that hasn’t been the case for some time now. 

After its start with desktop computing and laptops in the 1980s, Apple introduced iTunes as a source of music in 2003, followed by the best-selling touchscreen phone of all time, the iPhone in 2007. With the rise of music, Apple acquired Beats by Dre in 2014 for a cool US$ 3.2 billion signaling that it was more than dipping its toes into the music industry. Apple’s dive into entertainment was rounded out in 2016, when it began to produce and distribute its own original content, including tv shows and movies. Of course, there is also Apple’s move into the health sector with the release of the Apple Watch in 2015. 

In 2008, iconic gangsta rapper Dr. Dre introduced the Beats line of headphones with the mission to allow one to „hear what the artists hear.“ It was acquired by Apple in 2014 for US$ 3.2 billion.

Reflecting upon all these developments at Apple over the years, one can observe that it has leapfrogged from a simple technology company and maker of the iPhone to a lifestyle brand that is closely intertwined in multiple aspects of its customers‘ lives. As Tim Cook says, “Apple is in the business of creating products and services that are easier, better and more enjoyable.” Implementing this company mantra has helped Apple to ensure that more than one billion people around the world continue to use an Apple device each day.

So what if one were to say that Apple is more than just a technology company or a lifestyle brand, but that it is also an influential financial industry powerhouse that is reshaping the future of finance? In the Apple Event from April 2021, Tim Cook talked  about two major initiatives within the first four minutes of a sixty-one minute presentation. First was Apple’s carbon neutral initiative followed closely by Apple Card, revealing some of the foremost priorities of the folks there in Cupertino.

“Apple is in the business of creating products and services that are easier, better and more enjoyable.”

— Tim Cook

Just how is Apple reshaping the future of finance and what are the benefits to consumers when using the Apple Card? One of the most unique features is that it has no annual, over-the-limit, foreign-transaction, or late fees. However, with the potential for financial powerhouses, banks and even credit unions to begin offering a comparable product, Apple pushed to reinvent the credit industry entirely. 

The titanium Apple Card is laser-etched with the card holder’s name and the Apple logo. A white finish is achieved through a multi-layer coating process that’s added to the titanium base material.

Previously, when there were two holders of a credit card, one got the benefit of building a good credit history and the other did not. So if a couple were to divorce, the viable credit history would typically remain with only one of them. Apple Card allows spouses and partners to share and merge their credit lines, have equal rights on their account and build credit equally. This simple move provides women and minorities in particular the opportunity to build credit with the assurance that the health of their credit profile will not be impacted by a life change like a split or break in the relationship. Additionally, in what is called the Apple Card Family, the Card may now be used by any family member over the age of 13, with optional spending limits and controls for kids. 

Although Apple Card clearly is a winner for those in countries where it is available (currently only in the USA), it might just even be a bigger winner for Apple. By allowing those 13 years and older to use the card, Apple will begin collecting a treasure trove of metadata giving it insight on consumer habits and spending for a segment of the population that includes over 30 million youth in the USA alone. And when this segment grows up using perhaps at least one Apple device and a service from Apple’s wide array, what incentive would one in this segment of the population have to switch to a competitor? 

Last, there is Apple Pay, introduced in 2014. It is set to become a multi-billion dollar business annually for Apple within just a few years. Apple enthusiast website 9to5mac breaks down the juicy math based on figures from credit card transactions in the USA alone: 

Call it $7T in round numbers. If 5% of those payments are made via Apple Pay, then that’s $350B worth of transactions. If Apple takes 0.15% of that, then it made a cool $525M in 2018. If Bernstein is right that the percentage doubles to 10% by 2025, then that’s a billion-dollar business – from one country in one year.

By re-inventing the credit card as well as how payments are made in general, Apple has opened the door to a new and almost guaranteed swath of loyal consumers and cemented its place as a leader that is reshaping the future of finance.

What is one of the hottest, most valuable pieces of marketing real estate in the Czech Republic these days? Large surfaces within Prague 7 that can be repurposed for visually stimulating murals. 

Tucked in between the meandering Vltava River and Stromovka, Prague’s largest park,  sits the 7,1 square kilometer, appropriately numbered 7th district of Prague. Evolving  from a district known for manufacturing and labor in the era of World War II and Communism, today its surfaces are highly sought-after chunks of marketing real estate.  And, perhaps rather ironically, Prague 7 is also punctuated by the headquarters of some of the world’s most well-known marketing and advertising agencies as well as the trendy coffee shops and loft flats that provide workers  with all the necessary creature comforts.

“Let the hunger games begin.”

— David Strauss, popular mural painter.

Mural mania begins

Created by Michal Škapa and Ondřej Vyhnánek, this mural called Jiskra at the Prague Exhibition Grounds, raised CZK 353,000 (≈ USD 17,000) in December 2020. Funds went to the Pink Bubble Foundation supporting teenagers and young adults with cancer and the Single Mothers Club helping mothers and fathers who are on their own. 

In the past several years murals have been popping up with increasing frequency in Prague, particularly in the 7th district. They are large canvases for a locale to illustrate its story and to engage with its citizens by creating a new, unique experience. Murals increase the potential for attracting foot traffic to local businesses as well as tourism, and even to shine a spotlight on a shared community theme or concern. Perhaps, most surprisingly, they can even have a positive impact on the environment. So it is no wonder that murals, which can cost a few thousand to a few million Dollars to create,  continue to become such a popular experiential marketing vehicle. As famed mural painter David Strauss said in a recent chat with Honza Borysek, our CEO: “Let the hunger games begin.” 

Murals in marketing

From a marketing industry perspective, murals are highly-impactful, memorable and cost-effective. Murals don’t get swiped away in one’s Facebook or Instagram feed. Rather, they tend to generate a level of interest and media buzz that could not be similarly achieved through a simple pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. Their impact is lengthy and memorable as they tend to disappear only after a span of time because of natural elements or a repurposing of the surface which they adorn. And they tend to attract high-profile sponsors like @Nike.  

Murals for our environment

In May, disruptive painter David Strauzz unveiled his latest contribution to the Prague 7 mural scene with We Share The Same Future. It is sponsored by @nike, @footshop and @airlite. Photo by @kubokrizo.

Murals are typically divided into three categories, including: photography, scenery and abstract. Murals can be much more sophisticated and create new value in more ways than one might typically think, including for our environment. The We Share The Same Future mural created by David Strauss located on an about to be reconstructed building near the Maniny tram stop in Prague 7 makes use of Airlite paint technology. Airlite paints generate negative ions on the surface where they are applied so that when they touch the surface, the air is purified in a natural way. 

Why Prague 7 vs. other Prague districts?

Prague is one of few European cities to have survived continuously since the Middle Ages. The entire central district is blanketed under a UNESCO World Heritage designation. And although Prague ranks amongst the world’s best cities for street art, rivaling Berlin, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, New York City, Paris and Philadelphia, it is still hamstrung to some extent by the UNESCO designation. Introducing larger works of art, like murals for example, is nearly impossible — that is if one is to comply with the regulations. 

This has led to a gold rush of sorts in Prague 7 for artists, collaborators and their sponsors. Within Prague 7 there is the hope of discovering even larger canvases that are free of the bureaucracy and restrictions found elsewhere in the city. The receptivity to murals in Prague 7 is even reflected in its designation by the district as the official Art District of Prague. In a further sign of its support and enthusiasm, Prague 7 even has an Instagram account dedicated to highlighting culture and the arts. 

The future of murals

Jan Kaláb, who is now venturing beyond murals and into NFTs, once painted a wall alongside a popular tram line in Prague 7 that used to be an old leather factory dating back from the early 1900s. 

So it’s only natural, as in any situation where demand exceeds supply, that these surfaces in Prague 7 have become some of the most valuable pieces of marketing real estate in the country today. Like in our previous article about cryptocurrencies and, with Bitcoin in particular, when the supply is limited and demand is high, the value will only continue to rise.