Are NFTs Entertainment’s New Fan Engagement Tool?

An engaged fanbase almost always equals more revenue. Think of everything from the early fan clubs for boy bands to the streaming parties run by groups of fans online in the present day. These sorts of efforts often lead to greater visibility for the project or artist in question and ultimately, more sales.

As such, entertainment companies have worked for decades to engage fans, whether this is through contests, giveaways, limited edition products, and so on. As we enter the web3 era, NFTs are fast becoming the new way by which companies create fan engagement.

Why NFTs?

With all the different mediums that can be used to secure fan engagement, why are NFTs in higher demand these days? Firstly, they are very popular among the youth. While practically every age demographic can be fans of a project or entertainer, young people have historically been the most passionate fanbases. As such, leveraging a digital tool that they are the biggest consumers of makes sense.

After all, a 20-year-old is more likely to buy an NFT collectable than a 50-year-old. Then there is the ease of distribution among fans. In the past, fans would have to buy limited edition items, for example, from a physical store or have them delivered to their homes. For entertainers or projects with fans in different parts of the world, this could create some logistical challenges.

With NFTs, such challenges are mostly eliminated. Because they exist in the virtual internet space, anyone from anywhere in the world can buy them with ease. More ease of purchase then equals more money made. Needless to say, these have contributed to making NFTs some of the top fan engagement tools on the planet.

It is also more relevant as consumers are developing their identities on digital platforms and need account security and records of ownership.

“By using Gated or Access NFTs, we can provide certificates of authenticity in the Metaverse enhancing utility function such as access to an event or verification of ownership of an item, which in combination with Digital Identity and innovative in-platform inventory management can create interoperability and still allow transferability like any other NFTs,” says David Lucatch, the CEO of Liquid Avatar Technologies and Managing Director of Aftermath Islands Metaverse.

Managing, controlling, and creating ownership of digital identity and personal data along with open standards is the future of interoperability. Products like Liquid Avatar Technologies’ Meta Park Pass empower users to take control of personal identity and data to support interoperability among Metaverse players while advancing privacy and data management rules.

NFT Engagement on the Rise

So, are NFTs the new darling of the entertainment world? Well, so far their engagement can be classified into; collectables and benefits distribution. In the case of collectables, NFTs are often used as tie-ins for the launch of new projects to get fans excited and to reward them for engagement.

For example, DC Comics created collectable NFTs of all the iconic Batman cowls to tie in with the release of The Batman earlier this year. These collectables not only rewarded fans for being loyal to the franchise but helped to build more buzz around the newest film. NFTs have also been used as scavenger-type hunts for fans. Ahead of the latest season of Stranger Things, a scavenger hunt-type website was created that teased fans with puzzles and riddles that alluded to the new season as well as NFTs.

Another NetflixNFLX
show, Love, Death, and Robots, even put clues within scenes that can be scanned as QR codes and used to redeem NFTs. With all these, it is fair to say that the NFT craze has fully hit the entertainment industry and is fueling fan engagement on a whole new level.

In terms of benefit distribution, NFTs were leveraged by Coachella this year to sell passes to specific events and experiences during the festival. Those who bought them could do this via scanning QR codes,

As NFTs are also being used to deliver rewards to customers, more market options are popping up to take care of the backend. After all, not every company can set up a department to figure out the logistics and coding needed to launch an NFT collection that offers perks.

This is where projects like Polarys come in. Polarys offers NFTs-as-a-service, a fast-growing niche that allows companies to have end-to-end support for their NFT projects. Through a single platform that requires no coding experience, businesses can create their NFT campaigns from concept to execution with ease. The nature of the NFT has its importance: by focusing on utility-based NFTs, Polarys wants to offer the possibility for their holders to retrieve tangible rewards. These include airdropping assets to fans and creating Discord channels that only holders of the assets can access.

The marketplace aspect of the project also means that sales and invoicing can be accessed from a single dashboard. For the consumer, this means that they can get the perks and rewards such as cashback from their favourite brands easily. This has massive implications for indie projects and smaller releases that want to foster fan engagement but might not have the resources of DC Comics or Coachella.”

More Than Sentiments

But while there is a plethora of options in the market for users to engage with their favourite franchises with NFTs, there are also many NFT collections that offer more than just nostalgia and an emotional attachment to media.

The Bandit Project is an NFT collection with 3,000 assets that offers its holders a chance to profit off their purchases. Based on the Binance Smart Chain, each NFT given to a buyer is chosen at random while the ecosystem revolves around the native

$BANDIT token. Those who hold the token can make a passive income from it by minting their NFT. Once a person mints an NFT from the Bandit Project, their capital is locked in a sense. From the day the NFT is minted, they will receive 1% ROI daily until all 3,000 assets are sold (depending on the rarity of their NFT, this could even be more).

Projects like Alóki are pushing the boundaries for those who want to enjoy benefits even outside the virtual world. As one of the first Play-to-Own blockchain projects, Alóki allows users to play a blockchain-based game in which virtual sustainable actions are mirrored in the real world. For example, if a tree is planted in the game, a real one can be planted on a real-life plot of land in Costa Rica, adding to the 11,000 trees planted already.

The company aims to recreate a real community village in a physical jungle land with houses and social spaces that can host users who earned rewards for all-expenses covered retreats. Award-winning sustainability architect Benjamin Saxe will help Alóki bring this vision to life.

With 750 acres of land attached to the project, players stand the chance of eventually visiting and even owning a piece of it through NFTs linked to real-world utility.

NFTs: The Future of Entertainment?

With all the applications of NFTs taking root in the entertainment industry, it is safe to say that they should become a mainstay in the industry over time. From sentimental collectables for fans to practical tools for giving out benefits and access to the public, NFTs have found their place in entertainment.

What’s more, new projects are pushing the boundaries of what can be done with NFTs and creating even more tangible value for consumers. With all these in mind, NFTs are just scratching the surface of what they can do.