Feb 28, 2023 | Blockchain, Digital collectible, Disruption, NFT experience, NFTPlugnPlay, Proof of Attendance, Web3, YPO Gold
Participants of the 2023 program at Harvard Business School receive a digital proof of attendance and a commemorative collectible as non-fungible tokens, enhancing their learning about NFTs and web3 technology.
The YPOG HBS President’s Program champions at Harvard Business School have taken a unique approach to commemorate its 2023 in-person program. Members who completed the one-week program received digital proof of attendance and commemorative digital collectible NFTs or non-fungible tokens. These NFTs are unique digital tokens that cannot be replicated or exchanged for something else, making them perfect for commemorating special events and achievements.
The YPOG HBS community members continuously learn to grow as leaders and individuals. They celebrated their return to in-person with a unique 3D NFT limited edition that celebrates the X anniversary of the program. This experience also enhanced participants’ learning about NFTs and exploring how web3 is revolutionizing industries. The NFT experience aimed to help members remember their time at the 2023 YPOG HBS program and allow them to dive into the exciting world of NFTs.
The NFTs created for this experience are digital collectibles that help participants remember their time in the program and allow them to explore the world of NFTs. The experience was designed to complement what participants learned about NFTs in the program, including the “Bored Ape Yacht Club: Navigating the NFT World” case study and the lesson “A Look into the Future – Value Creation? Or Not?”
The NFT experience was created using the NFTPlugnPlay platform and powered by Fulcrum Digital and Escalate Group. The solution integrates a seamless web2 email-based experience and a web3 experience for advanced users. NFTPlugnPlay “minted” and “distributed” the NFTs utilizing Solana blockchain and integrated Crossmint solutions and AWS cloud services. The minted NFTs are visible on the Solana Explorer or in the YPOG-HBS xNFT Opensea Collection and contain 108 unique owners.
NFTs are not just for commemorative purposes; they can also be used to tokenize documents such as licenses, birth certificates, academic certificates, and medical records while allowing authorized users to access and verify the data when required. The immutable nature of NFTs helps prevent identity theft and offers better control over data.
In conclusion, the YPOG HBS President’s Program champions at Harvard Business School have taken a unique approach to commemorate its in-person program by providing participants with a digital proof of attendance and commemorative digital collectible NFTs. This experience was designed to complement what participants learned about NFTs in the program and allow them to explore the world of NFTs. NFTs can also be used to tokenize documents and offer better control over data.
Feb 22, 2023 | Engagement, Agility, Blockchain, Digital Asset, Experimentation, Innovation, loyalty
In recent years, blockchain technology has been making waves in various industries, offering innovative solutions that can give companies a competitive edge. One area where blockchain is making a significant impact is in the world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). NFTs are digital assets that are unique, non-interchangeable, and cannot be replicated. They have several properties that can change traditional marketing practices. In this blog post, we’ll explore how NFTs can potentially revolutionize branding, channels, pricing, and promotions in the marketing world.
NFTs Revolutionizing Marketing Mix
First and foremost, NFTs’ digital nature allows for a new level of flexibility and versatility in branding. Companies can now create unique digital identities for their products and services that can’t be replicated or counterfeited. These digital identities can then be used to create unique and compelling stories that can engage customers and build brand loyalty. Additionally, NFTs can be used to develop limited-edition digital items, adding a level of exclusivity and rarity that can drive demand and increase perceived value.
NFTs also open up new channels for marketing, such as online marketplaces and social media platforms. These new channels can provide transparency and trustworthiness that traditional marketing channels can’t match. NFTs can also be used to create new and innovative pricing models, such as dynamic pricing, where the price of an NFT is determined by market demand.
NFTs can also revolutionize promotions. Companies can now create special promotions, such as limited-time offers or exclusive deals, that can only be accessed by owning a specific NFT. This creates a new level of engagement and loyalty among customers, who are now incentivized to hold and collect specific NFTs to take advantage of these promotions.
However, it’s important to note that several short- and long-term issues will significantly impact the usefulness and attractiveness of NFTs in marketing and the broader world. For example, competitive dynamics, the need for experimentation and ease of use, creator royalties, and the risk of bad actors will all need to be addressed as NFTs become more mainstream.
Unlocking the Potential of NFTs with Escalate Group
In conclusion, NFTs have the potential to change traditional marketing practices in several ways. However, it will take time and experimentation to fully realize the potential of NFTs.
Our company, Escalate Group, has a Web3 innovation studio that can assist businesses in identifying Blockchain web3 business opportunities, gaining a competitive advantage, and producing exceptional results. As NFTs continue to evolve and gain mainstream acceptance, they will become an essential part of a brand’s overall digital experience and drive new marketing practices. So, keep an eye on this technology, as it will be a disruptor in the future!
*I used OpenAI’s GPT-3 and Grammarly tools to generate some of the content for this post.
Jan 16, 2023 | Web3, Agility, Blockchain, Engagement, ExO Sprint, Experimentation, Marketing, Marketing mix, Metaverse, NFT
The internet is changing, and it’s creating new opportunities for businesses. Five significant forces are shaping the next decade: Total enterprise reinvention, talent, sustainability, Metaverse, and ongoing technology revolution. The Metaverse is going to change how businesses operate and how they connect with customers and employees. It will affect everything from customer experience to how products are made and managed.
It’s essential to have a responsible Metaverse with two key dimensions: trust and humanity. Trust is about security, privacy, resilience, and IP protection. Humanity is about safety, sustainability, well-being, inclusion, equity, and accessibility.
The potential of the Web3 economy for brands is enormous
Not only can it create incremental value for market-focused players, but it has the potential to become a new revenue stream if players focus on providing customers with a new, better, and different way of doing things. This is where customer-led innovation comes in – by providing transformative value and disrupting the value chain in existing industries, new value can be created that didn’t exist before.
But it’s important to remember that we’re still in the early days of Web3 and the Metaverse. There’s still a lot we don’t know, so a humble approach is important. Experimenting with Web3 will be critical to improving and transforming our businesses. We must also be worthy of these powerful technologies and include ethical and moral considerations.
Define your company’s position now
This is where our company, Escalate Group, comes in. We can help you explore the business relevance of the Metaverse, crypto economies, and blockchain. Our Web3 innovation studio will work with you to integrate these emerging technologies into your broader transformation initiatives. From assessing current programs to developing pilot programs to governing your ecosystem, we know how to derive business value from Web3.
Our web3 advisory mini sprints are designed to help you envision and plan for business opportunities related to digital collectibles, token communities, and crypto economies. We’ll guide you through the process of reimagining your business, leveraging in-depth research from our team and extended community to examine next-generation strategies, tools, and technologies. This will enable you to connect physical and virtual worlds for employees, customers, clients, and communities.
The potential is limitless. Charting new revenue paths and seizing new opportunities has never been more urgent. Web3 and the Metaverse will unlock new possibilities. Web3 is an ecosystem play. Pioneering ideas today will create the leaders of tomorrow. Whether you want to defend your market or be a disrupter, defining a strategy cannot be done in isolation without knowing the marketplace of established and new native players and platforms. So, we’ve got you covered whether you need to find the right implementation partners, conduct a strategic re-design of your target operating model, or define a metaverse sourcing strategy.
*I used OpenAI’s GPT-3 and Grammarly tools to generate some of the content for this post.
Nov 11, 2022 | Web3, Blockchain, Community and Crowd, Competitive edge, Disruption, Experimentation, Innovation, Jobs to be done
During the fall of 2014, attending the executive program of Singularity University at the heart of the Silicon Valley, the idea that Blockchain would be as significant to the growth of the internet in the next fifteen years as the internet has been in the previous 25 years started to grow in my mind.
Two market cycles after, I have seen many of the world’s best minds and billions of dollars in investment pouring into the space to figure out how to use the technology to make a fully digital society a reality. The adoption of Bitcoin has increased its positioning as a store of value; smart contracts have enabled crowdfunding, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and Decentralized finance (DeFi).
Companies in various industries use blockchain to streamline processes and foster greater transparency and trust. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global blockchain market is projected to grow from $7.18 billion in 2022 to $163.83 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 56.3% in the forecast period.
Blockchain is more than Bitcoin, Stable Coins, NFTs, DeFi, and Crypto.
Considering the pandemic, we have seen that the two main factors driving the expansion of the blockchain market are the financial services sector’s competitiveness and the health sector’s digitalization. Also, growth is fueled by the increased demand for data security, and there is already noticeable progress in the supply chain, gaming, music, and the arts.
Our Web3 innovation practice has been helping firms in the fintech, financial services, energy, healthcare, entertainment, manufacturing, and telecommunications sectors to assess the impact of blockchain and other exponential technology and trends on their business, develop integrated programs to enhance their current business models, create new ones, and gain and track their competitive advantages.
We know from experience that blockchain is still in its infancy and that it has yet to demonstrate its potential to transform the current internet into the internet of the future. But every business needs to dip a toe into the web3 wave. While in most businesses, it might still be early to commit entirely, there are certain areas where the race has already started.
Why Blockchain?
We are moving from the sharing economy into the ownership economy with new ways people organize around a project; communities and decentralized organizations will play a critical role. Blockchain technology becomes essential for business and society if you believe that material contributions should have clear ownership and provenance.
Blockchain is a platform for disintermediation; it is about trust, decentralization, and ownership. Consumers can own their data, and the technology enables tools to reward contributors and user behavior, boosting creativity, collaboration, and digital communities.
Communities are starting to engage their members, simplifying the technology and the user experience, and from there, they are beginning to explore opportunities. Therefore, adoption driven by digital communities will be critical and effective.
When technology is simple to use and solves a real problem, it is quickly embraced by the public. As it is, blockchain will not be an exception. Businesses must explore, build, measure, learn, and repeat to develop the skills required to flourish in the web3.
How to gain web3 competitive edge?
Below are the components of a disruptive innovation system to help organizations embrace blockchain disruption, gain competitive advantages, and make web3 happen.
- Begin with a Massive Transformative Purpose that can be taken by your organization and your community or one that can draw a new community.
- Proactively and pragmatically assess market trends impacting your business to identify opportunities where trust, ownership, and disintermediation have the potential to change the future of your industry.
- Leverage your Purpose, develop relationships, and nurture community; this way, the right people will find you.
- Engage your community, and educate yourself on web3 to better identify the problems your organization can solve and the jobs to be done with the customer at the core.
- Set aggressive objectives and 3-5 measurable key results (OKRs), run experiments, fall fast, and learn quickly.
- Establish and maintain a business rhythm and help your team to identify what they need to create new business models and monetization mechanisms.
- Use data, dashboards, and real-time information to make informed decisions about where and how to invest across the web3 innovation portfolio.
- Understand and measure your key success factors (KSFs), and hold yourself and your team accountable. Identify the #1 most prominent specific and measurement activity to success.
- Wash, rinse, and repeat; and make sure you extend your web3 disruption innovation culture.
Those who don’t start climbing the web3 learning curve may miss the most significant value-creation opportunity of our lifetimes, just as many people did during the transition to the world wide web in the 90s and the second wave during the 00s, where the user-generated content business models emerged.
If you have any comments or suggestions or would like to continue the conversation, do get in touch with us.
