Thanks to NFTs, the potential to share creativity, reach larger audiences, and capitalize on artistic output is greater than ever. Brands now have an unmissable opportunity to enter a rapidly evolving space that’s generating the same amount of interest and engagement as the dot com boom in the late nineties. According to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), the future is even brighter:

“Looking ahead a few years, NFTs could be the central digital touchpoint between brands and their consumers — and one that is controlled by the brand itself.”

The reason for the vast popularity and value of NFTs is that they offer previously unattainable scarcity and unique ownership of digital assets. And not only that, HBR goes on to say, NFTs give buyers and sellers a mechanism that they both agree represents ownership. This makes it possible to build markets around new types of transactions, to buy and sell products that could never be sold before, and for transactions to happen in innovative ways that are more efficient and valuable. For instance, NFTs could provide membership to an exclusive club, entry to events, access to limited edition merchandise and, most importantly, inclusion in a thriving community that is built around a brand’s unique values and vision.

SUPERPLASTIC x Gucci, ‘SUPERGUCCI’ ultra-limited NFT

The power that NFTs give brands is twofold: their ability to build strong, engaged communities around a range of products and ideas, and to form closer connections with consumers. There’s an immediacy and intimacy in the way NFTs connect brands with buyers that hasn’t previously been possible. A number of big players in the fashion, technology, sports and music industries have already made moves to immerse themselves in the NFT sphere for precisely these reasons. Fashion house Coach, for instance, launched a collection of artworks as NFTs in late 2021 featuring animals from its promotional holiday game. The purchase of one of the NFTs also entitled collectors to a custom (and highly exclusive) Coach bag. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team has partnered with digital artist Mad Dog Jones on a collection of eleven NFTs, which feature an artistic interpretation of the signature car driven by Lewis Hamilton. This shows the sheer scope of possibilities that NFTs make possible for brands, without confining them to one single product, industry, consumer group, or event.

Glenfiddich presents Iordanes Spyridon Gogos x Chase Shiel ‘22. Available on, Culture Vault

Culture Vault is excited to be exploring these possibilities with brands like Australian fashion label Iordanes Spyridon Gogos and sneaker designer Chase Shiel. For the 2022 Afterpay Australian Fashion Week, renowned whiskey distillery Glenfiddich presented a fresh collaboration between the two designers. Gogos and Shiel created an exclusive shoe that was worn by Gogos on the runway and then airdropped as an NFT to the attendees. The NFT is a marker of participation in the brand’s history, a commemoration of an exclusive event, and a lasting souvenir of this one-off creative collaboration. At Culture Vault, we know that as more and more brands enter the space in new and innovative ways, the value and engagement in NFTs will only keep expanding.

This piece was originally written for Culture Vault and published on https://culturevault.substack.com/ on 26 July 2022