The work we do with Web3 brands is changing the way we market every brand we work on.
For decades, marketers have talked about community and constant feedback loops and giving ownership of brands to their customers. Web3 is making these ideas not just possible, but inevitable. We’re getting a lot of early experience with Web3 technologies and business strategies that will leave Illuminator well-positioned for the next marketing epoch.
1994
“why do i need
a website?”
2004
“Why do I need
Facebook?”
2022
“why do i need
a web3 strategy?”
Illuminator designs and mints NFTs for brands. They’ll account for 18% of our revenue this year.
Right now, minting an NFT is a fun stunt for edgy brands, but that won’t be the case for long. NFTs aren’t about pixelated jpegs of monkeys; they’re about functionality. In a very literal sense, they’re about letting your customers own a piece of the brand. They’re the key to unlocking experiences that connect people more closely to the brand and each other.
They’re also a revenue stream. Illuminator gets paid to design NFTs and create the minting site experience. More importantly, every time an NFT is resold, a royalty fee is automatically paid to the original artist. Sharing in these royalties with our clients opens the door for recurring revenue—a concept that’s eluded the agency world for a long time.
“NFTs aren’t about pixelated jpegs of monkeys; they’re about functionality.”
Marketers love talking about engaged communities; DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) are taking things to the next level. Early manifestations of online communities like panels and social media followings are downright primitive compared to DAOs, where tools like voting, revenue sharing, and collaboration are effortless thanks to smart contracts.
DAOs are going to reverse the product development cycle in most industries. What seems counterintuitive now will be business as usual within 10 years. On the agency side, DAOs open an opportunity for recurring revenue and will shift where in the process we’re engaged. For our clients, DAOs will transform almost everything: Inventory management. Product strategy. Community management. Finance. It’ll allow them to sell through before they go into production. It’ll create brands that are managed by passionate communities.
There’s a learning curve with Web3 technologies; we’ve spent significant time figuring out how things work. But that investment has paid off, in terms of expanding our offering and from a new business perspective. We’ve also been diligent about packaging our learnings into blog posts and email newsletters to educate our clients and broader network on this vital new space. But most importantly, everything we’re learning in Web3 will soon inform our approach on every brand we work with.
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