NFTs need to take a backseat

TL;DR

• The Doodles NFT Project is teaming up with Camp (an “IRL Experiences” brand) to launch a “shop and play” experience in Chicago next month.

• Without owning a Doodles NFT first, we have a hard time getting excited about a Doodles brand experience.

• We bet this is a hurdle that all NFT-first brands will face sooner or later.

• Because if consumers have to spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on a .jpg to care about a brand for the first time, the businesses built around them will struggle.

• Here’s our armchair analysis to solve this problem: build a product that outperforms your jpegs.

Full story

That’s why the Doodles NFT Project is teaming up with Camp (an “IRL Experiences” brand) to launch a “shop and play” experience in Chicago next month.

Apparently it will be:

“Part toy store, part party venue, [and] share immersive theater space.”

And… we… we… we don’t care.

(We tried, we swear!)

Objectively, we can see the attraction.

If you own a Doodles NFT, you’re probably very excited about everything the project does.

Hell, Pharrell Williams is the chief brand officer at Doodles — who has also just been named creative director for men at Louis Vuitton. That’s a big problem!

No doubt some people will want to see his influence on Doodles in action.

The sticking point for us is this:

Without owning a Doodles NFT first, we have a hard time getting excited about a Doodles brand experience.

And that is no art at Doodles! (As much as it sounds).

In fact, we bet this is a hurdle that all NFT-first brands will face sooner or later.

Because if consumers have to spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on a .jpg to care about a brand for the first time, the businesses built around them will struggle to grow beyond the core collector base.

Here is our armchair analysis to solve this problem:

If you’re trying to build a brand based on NFTs, the NFTs should take a back seat.

Better yet, you need to build a product that outperforms your jpegs.

E.g. Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Otherside metaverse/game.

Do we like the BAYC art? Honestly – no, not at all (but that’s just us).

Would we play games in an interconnected digital universe with that art? Certainly!

Because the scope and scale of the experience is greater than any NFT/art style.