Note: I’ll be attending Consensus 2022 starting tomorrow so my posting schedule will be inconsistent. If you’ll be there, let me know!

There’s been a flurry of Web3 announcements from big name brands in the past few days.

TheFirstMint @TheFirstMint

💥 BIG BRANDS ENTER DISCORD💥 We've seen large brands kick off their web3 journey by launching discord servers in the past weeks. ⭐Samsung ⭐GQ ⭐Lacoste ⭐WWE ⭐+ more What other brands do you want to see diving into web3?

4:06 PM ∙ Jun 8, 2022

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Pretty headline but let’s do some digging. I think it’s a little more than just ‘launching Discord servers’.

Samsung

This Discord portion of the Web3 effort is more focused on the US at the moment. However, it’s important to remember that Samsung is a Korean company. And what does Korea think about Web3?

I guess folks in Korea are pretty excited about Web3 🤷‍♂️

The Samsung US division seems to be pretty bought in as well, and they launched their Discord server yesterday.

Samsung US @SamsungUS

And we’re live! Join the official SamsungUS @discord server during the next 24 hours and you’ll earn the OG role. Get ready to talk all things #Web3, #metaverse and #gaming, and get access to exclusive content and channels

bit.lyJoin the Samsung US Discord Server!The official Samsung US community for all things Web3 and gaming. | 162,879 members

12:37 PM ∙ Jun 7, 2022

1,521Likes661Retweets

How’s the server doing 18 hours after the announcement?

Woweeeee…The Discord server had so much traffic yesterday that it took me several hours to join. Note that the largest Discord servers have ~800k members, so 162k in less than a day is pretty impressive.

So what does Samsung want to do in Web3?

Nice 😉

Lacoste

The French clothing brand Tweeted a mysterious announcement a couple days ago.

Lacoste @LACOSTE

Ready to discover our 💯 new experience ser? 👉 discord.gg/undw3 #underwater #undw3

5:33 PM ∙ Jun 6, 2022

1,665Likes565Retweets

It’s unclear what Lacoste will be doing with their NFT, but the description is :

“Lacoste is entering a new era with the launch of the Lacoste UNDW3 experience. WEB3 pioneers will be able to join the iconic brand as they take members on a journey to experience collaborative fashion in a new creative way.”

WWE

The wrestling show that everyone thought was real (oh, just me? lol) while growing up has entered Web3 as well!

TheFirstMint @TheFirstMint

💥WWE DROP💥 The first @WWEUniverse NFT drop is tomorrow🚨 The Details 🪜3,300 Cases 🪜$30 each 🪜Time TBD The Goods 🔥Hell In A Cell themed 🔥10-20 sec highlights of "past and present" stars Fingers crossed for Mankind🧦 x Undertaker🪦 wwemoonsault.com

5:50 PM ∙ Jun 2, 2022

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Sounds pretty similar to NBA Top Shot. It’ll be interesting to note the similarities and differences between Moonsault and Dapper’s Sports products over time.

I wasn’t convinced that WWE had an in-house blockchain dev team, so I poked around a bit to see who was behind this.

Lookie here, what’s bcl.xyz?

FOX?! Hm…and under that block of text? Logos of some very large media/entertainment brands, no biggie.

It seems we can expect some more blockchain/NFT projects coming from these brands soon.

GQ

Ah fashion…arguably my favorite industry in the Web3 space.

GQ launched their Discord server and “will tap into the platform’s growing streetwear and sneakerhead audiences, which overlap with GQ readers’ interests.”

Where’d I get this info from? Vogue Business.

Who owns Vogue Business? Condé Nast

Who owns GQ? Condé Nast

What other publications does Condé Nast own?

Can you imagine a Teen Vogue piece titled: “10 NFTs That Will Make You Hotter”. Hopefully that will never see the light of day 😰

Salesforce

The tech giant in the business of selling digital ‘picks and shovels’ for customer relationship management is now adding Web3 tools to its portfolio of offerings. What’s interesting to me is their product page’s value propositions:

This provides an insight of what businesses care the most about it when it comes to Web3 and NFTs:

Bridging physical and digital experiences
- How to execute more impactful marketing and the customer relationship as a result
- How do track all this from a cross-dimensional (physical vs. digital) standpoint, not just cross-platform (mobile vs. desktop).
  - Some companies like Nike are more prepared for this. Others like Huggies probably aren’t. Then again, I would be slightly worried if Huggies launched a Discord server…
Deepen loyalty with virtual collections
- Businesses know that as important as customer acquisition is, retention is the name of the game.
Build trust and mint sustainably
- Scams are large issue and concern. Building trust is paramount for brands and their customers.
- One of the large arguments against Crypto is energy usage and sustainability (there are many blockchains that address this concern). Seems like Salesforce will help business to remove another barrier to adopting Web3 technology and their respective user bases.

Themes

So what does this all mean? Here’s some themes I’m taking away from all this.

Web2 companies are moving in

There have been plenty of early adopters, but more through partnerships (Dapper and NBA/NFL, Gucci and 10KTF). With this wave of announcements, it feels like brands are laying their roots in an earnest way. Here’s a rough framework of how I see the stages for Web3 brand adoption from large companies:

Actively making moves: Budweiser (Google it, they’re doing a lot in Web3), Netflix, Gucci, the gaming vertical, the financial services vertical.
Rolling Out: All the companies mentioned above, Starbucks.
Laying low and building: Pretty much every major consumer brand that has not announced anything publicly. My go-to has and will continue to be Disney. When they announce, all hell will break loose. Note that they’ve licensed their IP to companies like Veve for digital collectibles, but that’s a far cry from some larger initiatives they could roll out.
On the sidelines observing: Doesn’t matter, they won’t be around for much longer. Jk, I imagine products that have a more sensitive user base may understandably be laggards with Web3 adoption. The Huggies example I mentioned earlier would probably fit in this category. But hey, don’t get made at me if a Huggies NFT launches early 2023, who knows 😂.

What would you do for a ~~Klondike Bar~~ Discord role

One of the reasons for the explosive growth of the Samsung Discord? 2 words.

In some instances, OG roles mean additional benefits that may result in positive financial outcomes. However, the downside of these tactics result in a Quantity vs. Quality imbalance. A large number of those 162k members are probably bots, multi-account users, or virtual assistants.

Since the dawn of smartphones, phone farms have been a tale as old as time. Whether its in the digital advertising space or engagement farming, it’s now entering Discord as well.

It’s not about you

I’ll keep repeating this until my fingers bleed. Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren’t like us. Their social media apps of choice are not what we’re used to, and Discord is one of their favorites.

Could you have imagined this being a thing 10 years ago?

Consumer preferences are evolving and brands are evolving to meet them.

See ya’ll soon! Next time you get a post, it’ll be coming from Texas 🤠

[Thoughts #40] A Phone, Crocodile, and Well-Dressed Wrestler Walk into a Bar