Speaking at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference in New York this week, Reddit head of global client solutions Neal Hubman discussed how the forum site was able to make the Collectible Avatars project a success by making sure that cryptocurrency jargon took a backseat to the actual utility of the collectibles.
While many of the initial wave of NFT projects in 2021 used buzzword-heavy marketing to play up connections to what was then a hot new trend—the cryptocurrency-adjacent technologies of Web3—brands have sought more accessible language as that terminology has come to be associated with debacles like FTX’s collapse in the minds of consumers.
As a result of the project, Reddit users have minted more than 5 million of its unique collectible avatars to date in partnership with the Polygon blockchain. “The consumer doesn’t care about [jargon],” Hubman said. “The industry will continue to evolve and make it easier to onboard Web3 whether they know it or not. I’d just like to encourage everyone to remove the jargon and speak like a normal human or brand, and you’ll be a lot more accessible and approachable.”
One of the biggest challenges in creating NFTs or other Web3-related projects is doing so in a way that fits naturally into an existing community of users and fans, according to Hubman. NFT distributors like TokenTraxx are doing this by enabling users to purchase NFTs without a crypto wallet but still using blockchain technology.
According to R/GA global chief creative officer Tiffany Rolfe Brands that have a large contingent of early adopters among their customer base or an image associated with innovation are still pushing forward with NFTs and other Web3 projects, while other clients are thinking more strategically about whether this tech is right for them, Rolfe told Adweek.
