Web3 Creatives Share What’s to Come from the New Tech

Alex> The most exciting use case in web3 is tokenised loyalty. Using tokens to drive new consumer behaviours and build new incentive structures should, over time, reinvent the way brands think about rewarding their customers.

The second, broader, opportunity area relates to how brands can use gaming technologies to build more immersive and ownable brand experiences. In my opinion, games designers are the new architects of the web. What we have learnt/will learn from gaming, from experience design to 3D and measurement, will impact the way in which we build brand experiences for the foreseeable future. 

Morten> In-game activations. The metaworld’s ‘The Otherside’ (a meta-RPG) recently drew a staggering 40,000 virtual attendees to its housewarming event. The Otherside offers a unique and ever-evolving experience that is co-created with its players and I seriously can’t wait to co-create with brands there as well. 

Brett> I get excited about projects that are fun, innovative and have real value. The hype and the crypto gold rush were focused on the wrong things. The average person doesn’t care about the cogs in the machinery or market value, they just want fun experiences, cool stuff and real connection.

Yasushi> Web3 aims to be decentralised, distributed, and user-driven. However, for web3 to become mainstream, it is essential to further evolve and promote web3 services and solutions as indispensable components of daily lifestyle, just like web2.0 SNS. It is important to continuously disseminate and set up content and services that utilise metaverse and NFT, and promote the creator economy engaged in web3 to make these areas a part of daily life. To transition from a web 2.0 way of thinking to 3.0 for future lifestyles, it is essential to focus on technological innovations that will help communication take root, such as platform communication that solves the problem of simultaneous connections in a 3D world and cloud rendering platforms that update further.

KDDI's αU, a service solution brand for web3 and metaverse launched in March of this year, aims to become the mainstream of next-generation communication for the major Japanese telecommunications company, KDDI. The brand offers various service solutions, from NFT wallets and markets, metaverse focusing on voice distribution, digital twin commerce services, and interactive live entertainment distribution using cloud rendering. The concept movie produced for the brand's launch features a combination of several generative AIs, including Mid Journey, Stable Diffusion, and Runway Gen1. It animates just four illustrations to question whether the world has started to become one without drawing a line between virtual and real. This film, produced using VFX sensibilities and human judgement with AIGenerate in collaboration with the Australian production company T&DA, makes me feel that we are moving towards a new era, including the process of its own production.

Francisco> A huge opportunity is to build true independent communities that self-regulate and are connected through a passion or love for a story, a cause, or a brand. As agencies, marketers and brands we are still trying to figure out the true foundation and home of these communities. What is their ecosystem and their user experience. In the end, customisation of messages through a tokenised consumer presence could be achieved giving brands the opportunity to deliver on truly unique and customisable experiences. Excited to see what it does for existing communities like AMEX, Starbucks or an Airline Reward System. What do all of these folks have in common beyond their love for the brand.

Alex> I get under the hood of the technology and try to find relevant use cases for it. People expect everything now and must realise that we’re 10 years away from realising the true potential of some of these technologies. Patience and an analytical mind help us as a team cut through the hype to unearth the gems that can help us do great work for clients today.

Morten> It went from meta-FOMO to JOMO. All the tourists are gone.

However, what has endured are the projects that truly made it worth people's while. To uncover their true value, it's important to look for the storytelling within them - a crucial yet often overlooked component in many unsuccessful projects.

Brett> The real McCoy is cool even if you remove the tech and the speculator market. If it makes someone happy, it’s real.

Yasushi> In the current situation where use cases such as demonstration experiments and trial videos are increasing exposure and interest, many people still need to be convinced about the web3 world, except those who jump into that area. While there are still many discussions on issues such as copyrights and rule-making for generated digital outputs, and the development of NFTs with a focus on investment, it is a domain that requires further refinement. However, I have the same feeling as when P2P emerged in the web 2.0 era, and I believe there is no reason for many companies to stop this evolution.

Alex> I’d love to work on a DAO [decentralized autonomous organization] project with a brand. DAOs can be powerful tools that champion community and promote ownership, but few projects to date have really delivered on their promise. For me, the concept of a DAO turns on its head traditional business thinking around how companies should be owned and operated. It’s a revolutionary idea that adheres to all the fundamental principles of web3.

Morten> My dream web3 project would involve a seamless integration of meaningful AI into a metaverse experience. As AI continues to gain momentum as a hot topic, it has always been a crucial aspect of the metaverse's blueprint. However, until now, these two concepts have often been discussed separately, without recognising their potential for mutual enhancement.

Brett> I don’t have a specific dream project, but it’s always fun to work with great IP. I also love anything unexpected or with authentic community value. The collections we did with Gucci and Coolcats or the crazy metaverse invasion we created for Duolingo are examples where we checked those boxes.

Yasushi> Until last year, web3 had drawn market interest with metaverse and NFTs. Still, the revolution in communication that web3 brings is further fueled by the emergence of generative AI this year. I am most interested in creating a community formation with more people participating through content and experiential offers such as virtual human/pet/IP through bot x generative AI, which makes people feel new values beyond human common sense. I'm excited about the future where diverse values take shape and it becomes natural to communicate with machines that surpass humanity daily.