Last month, I did a two-part series on QR Codes and how NFT projects are starting to explore novel interaction models with them.
This week there were updates to both of these examples I covered and they continue to serve as inspiration for others in the spaces.
Limit Break’s Super Bowl Ad
Limit Break’s Super Bowl ad might continue to hold a sour taste in people’s mouths a month later. However, Gabriel Leydon (Limit Break’s CEO) shared some interesting info about the effort on a Twitter Spaces a couple days ago.
Gabriel Leydon (FREE,OWN) @gabrielleydon
JOIN NOW LETS TALK FREE NFT! (this one is recorded!!) https://t.co/tIDFKZ00eJ
I happened to join about 90 minutes in and my ears perked up when someone asked about the Super Bowl ad: “If you had the chance to redo the Super Bowl ad, would you do anything different?” (1:27:40 if you want to listen to it yourself).
Here’s Gabe’s response, summarized by yours truly:
From a technical POV the ad was flawless, ‘it worked’
If Limit Break were to do the ad again, they probably would’ve had a POAP component or some variation of infinite supply
The team was planning to run another QR code TV ad in Canada this week, but postponed it
At Machine Zone (Gabe’s previous company), the team bought TV ads in 60 countries and spent $100 million per year on the channel at its peak
Machine Zone ran 2 Super Bowl ads for previous mobile games and with A-list talent at the time (Kate Upton and Arnold Schwarzenegger)
The numbers that Limit Break saw for the Digidaigaku Super Bowl ad made the Machine Zone Super Bowl ads look like a joke (clicks, site visits, etc.)
QR codes for video game ads work, this will be the future of video game ads
The most difficult part of the campaign was the technical portion and they were successful. The QR code didn’t break, the website didn’t break, and the smart contract functioned as intended for successful minters
Limit Break will continue to run QR code ads and refine the process
The team is proud that they were the first to run this type of QR code TV ad and believe they won’t be the last
2 years from now TV will be drowning in QR code NFT commercials and the industry will give Limit Break the nod as the first to do this
Limit Break will be back with more of this sooner than people think
Woah 🤯
First of all, I’m glad that my initial piece about Limit Break’s Super Bowl ad aligns with Gabe’s line of thinking: Scan to Mint works.
And to continue testing the strategy, Limit Break was planning on running a similar ad this week in Canada. The rationale to pull the ad from airing may be due to the recent uncertainty in markets everywhere, which was likely a prudent move.
The Limit Break Super Bowl ad was announced months in advance, while the now postponed Canada ad had a casual mention during a Twitter Spaces.
I expect to see more web3 (and web2!) companies, not just web3 gaming companies, to test this strategy in the coming months until it’s as normal as taking selfies.
On a related and separate note, the Twitter Spaces came about from Limit Break’s announcement that they acquired FreeNFT, a NFT marketing platform.
Gabriel Leydon (FREE,OWN) @gabrielleydon
1/ PLATFORM ANNOUNCEMENT🚨 @limitbreak has acquired @freenft_xyz, the #1 platform for Free NFTs! FreeNFT is crucial to onboarding the next billion web3 users. We have also acquired FreeNFT.com, to make FreeNFT a legitimate brand to new users! Details below 👇
Summarizing Gabe’s Twitter Thread on the acquisition:
FreeNFT works with NFT projects providing marketing and tech services to help developers grow communities
The platform provides smart contract services: Writing contracts, minting solutions, programmable royalty solutions, and AdventureERC721 integration
AdventureERC721 is a standard for developers to create interoperable experiences. Example of how Digidaigaku is using it here
From a strategic standpoint, Limit Break is solidifying and diversifying their capabilities at the same time:
Let me know if I’m missing anything
Laying this out in a visual format, it seems like FreeNFT can be a platform for Limit Break’s technical advancements for ecosystem partners to easily integrate. Limit Break can innovate while FreeNFT is the marketing and technical bridge to other developers, gaming and otherwise.
Now we have a better idea with where Limit Break’s $200 million raised is being spent. And it’s not just for multi-million dollar TV ads 🙂
Have you crossed a bridge before? If so, share or subscribe!
CODES by Jason Cline
Jason Cline’s CODES struck again this week. In the past he’s taken his holders and scanners to landing pages with gift cards (public and token-gated), content, and digital art.
Over the past couple of weeks, Jason shared that he was doing something special for holders of 10+ CODES.
Yes you’re biased Jason, but I agree that it is a great value prop, which is why I’m doing a follow-up piece on it!
When I learned about this little surprise he had planned for this subgroup of holders, I scooped up some more CODES to qualify for this activation since I wanted to join in on the fun.
Before we get into it, how many holders even had 10 or more CODES?
There were a total 622 CODES holders and 69 holders had 10+, indicating that would approximately be the number of wallets/people that’d be eligible for whatever Jason had in store.
On Monday, Jason came out with the surprise:
What was it?! The QR Code took scanners to a Zora (a minting platform) page for Hesher Codes:
The 15 tokens were minted out in 8 minutes. What do these Hesher Codes do? These special Codes can be redeemed for a custom 3d sculpture made by @devon_lol.
Here's some examples of what I can make
Nice little treat for those that were lucky to snag one of these special Codes! With this activation, we can add another category of destinations for CODES.
In the case of Hesher Codes, Jason applied two gates:
Holder quantity: Need to hold 10+ CODES
Claim quantity: 15 Hesher Codes were available for claiming from a potential ~69 wallets
This idea got me thinking of how to build on top of this activation. If we were to take this one step further, what could we do to make this even more interactive and interesting?
The first QR code leads to a mint page with a supply of 1.
In order to redeem the token, the lucky minter has to tweet out the next QR Code from their Twitter account. Jason Cline points his holders to the tweet and updates the collection metadata. The next mint page has a supply of 2.
The two lucky minters have to tweet out the next code, but each tweet only includes half of the QR code. Once both are tweeted out, this takes holders to the next landing page with a supply of 3.
Ok…this idea is ridiculous, but I hope this makes the point that there are creative ways to insert additional steps for an engaging and interactive experience that goes beyond the traditional models of what a NFT and a QR code is.
Speaking of which, I was fortunate enough to get one of these Hesher Codes, I need to DM Devon!
ETH Denver by the Numbers
Earlier this morning, Blockworks published an article about ETH Denver’s plans to expand internationally. In the article, several stats were shared:
15k attendees from 115 countries
6k devs participated in the hackathon
400 projects for the hackathon
$100k awarded to 18 finalists
$1M in bounties from 62 sponsors
All in a bear market?! This is an encouraging sign. It would be fun to compare year-over-year conference statistics to see if ETH Denver is an outlier, or this is a broader trend despite mainstream skittishness with the space.
The 15k attendees also explains why reception was horrible 😂
See you next week! Here’s to this weekend being calmer than last 🥂
