Bitcoin has been making headlines for some time now. It is hugely popular around the world and many governments are making laws to regulate crypto trading. However, there is another digital asset that is rising simultaneously. This new asset is NFT, which looks like it will be here for a long time!

NFTs, or Non-fungible tokens, have a lot to offer to the world and work in tandem with blockchain. We’ll get to that in a bit, though.

In this article, we are going to tell you:

– What NFT is

– How it is used

– How brands are using it (with real examples!)

Now, let’s begin.

What is an NFT?

NFT, or non-fungible tokens, are non-interchangeable units of data. These are stored on the blockchain in digital ledgers. Thus, NFTs can be sold and traded. There are several NFT digital assets like photos, audio and video. However, NFTs are different from crypto-currencies since each of these tokens are individually identifiable.

Why are brands using this technology?

It is because of NFT’s versatility. You can use them to represent virtual creative works in fashion, virtual world-building, virtual real estate, virtual vehicles, virtual apparel, and so much more.

Before studying how different brands are using NFTs, know why they do so.

How can brands use NFTs?

The use of NFTs brings a number of benefits for a brand. Here are some of them:

– Create hype about the ownership of a virtual item

– Leverage the existing fan base to increase sales, hype or goodwill

– Allows you to create a larger market by reselling

– Create excitement among viewers about the pre-launch of events and products

– It opens a new revenue stream for you. You can earn by selling digital products or associated products that complement the physical item.

Here are how some brands are using NFTs.

How are brands using NFTs all over the world?

Below you’ll see how some of the top brands use NFTs?

Taco Bell’s Taco-llectables

Taco Bell – a fast-food brand popular in the USA and beyond, recently introduced its taco-llectables on Rarible. Rarible is an online marketplace. What happened was that Taco Bell sold out its first batch of virtual collectables quickly!

Here’s what the company did!

They created five distinct NFTs and sold them in five batches. 

On Twitter, the brand said, “Our Spicy Potato Soft Tacos can now live in your hearts, stomachs, and digital wallets.”  For all their troubles, the company will get 0.01% of all sales in the future. All of the earnings will go to the Taco Bell Foundation, an institution that helps people in pursuing their careers.

Smart, right?

Certainly, but wait to see how the following brand is using NFT.

Nike

Nike has been one of the first few prominent brands that understood NFTs significance. The company has been silently observing the growing desire for digital sneakers for some time. It even received a patent for tokenizing digital sneakers.

Here’s what happens:

Whenever customers buy a physical shoe, they unlock NFT tokens from Nike. The company gives them a digital copy of the purchase, which collectively represents CryptoKick. These tokens are assigned by blockchain to properly verify the authenticity and ownership of privileges assigned to those digital shoes.

The great thing about these assets is that the owners remain in complete control. For instance, they can sell rights to third parties who can mix show designs. They can also limit how many times the asset can be copied or cloned. NFTs record essential information about the product, such as its design, color and style. Thus, owners can mix and match to create their custom type. You can monetize this indefinitely as long as they have the ownership.

This idea from Nike is similar to CryptoKitties, but is a bit better than that! Owners get their unique shoe pairs which are secured forever through blockchain. They can see the ancestral tree of their digital footwear’s development as well.

Cool, isn’t it?

Yes, but wait till you see what the next brand did.

Louis Vuitton

The fashion industry is another entity with a keen interest in NFTs. Various fashion houses worldwide are studying this technology, and its use in the industry. They believe that NFTs natural scarcity, coupled with its ability to accrue value over time, can bridge the gap between the real and virtual fashion.

By collaborating with League of Legends from Riot Games, Louis Vuitton created a special skin. This skin is named the True Damage Qiyana Prestige Edition. It showcases the gaming champion’s weapon covered in the unique Louis Vuitton pattern.

We have seen how some brands are using this revolutionary technology.

Let’s now see how Augmented Reality is used in NFTs.

Augmented Reality & NFTs

Till now, we have seen what NFTs are and how we can interact with them.

We have also seen how brands are using them.

However, this is not the only way NFTs exist in the world. Right now, people are taking baby steps in using this technology. There’s a lot more potential, but that’ll come in time as brands start discovering more benefits.

Due to the lockdowns over the past two years, artists had more time to develop unique and creative digital products. For instance, in 2021, there were AR NFTs. These are interactive 3D visual items, can be used in virtual environments, and are cooler than traditional NFTs. You can experience AR NFTs in a virtual world like multiverses, but traditional ones are little more than the items on your desktop.

The virtual designs of Andrés Reisinger, an Argentinian designer, are an excellent example of this. He created and sold at an NFT auction ten pieces of surrealist furniture.

But what’s great about that?

Here’s what: if you own one of them, you can use them anywhere in the multiverse forever. These 3D models thus work through virtual and augmented reality. These can be used by gaming platforms like Unreal Engines and Unity to develop animations, games and even CGI movies. The developer, Andrés Reisinger, will also turn certain virtual items into physical ones!

As you can see, VR, AR and the avatar economy are trending now. And who knows, in the future, NFT may well be one of the ways to conduct business in the metaverse.

For brands, it means that those who take the jump early may benefit faster. Those who don’t may fall behind.

How will you know if your brand should use NFTs?

Virtual worlds shall only continue to grow from here on. The opportunities to build, use and sell virtual assets shall also grow. With more people coming into metaverses, demand for these assets shall continue to grow. 

Your brand must act now. Acting later may mean losing the initiative against your competitors. The metaverse is big enough for both buyers and sellers. The clock is ticking!!