The Future of Brand Building in A Web3 Revolution
Explore a glimpse into the future of brand building in the age of Web3. Dive into a new era where brand development is decentralized and driven by the collective power and creativity of communities.
At the Edge of a Brand Building Revolution
This is my prediction for the future of brand building.
Imagine standing at the precipice of a revolution.
The year is 2024.
The lines between the physical and digital worlds blur into vibrant experiences.
Are these experiences real? Or are they simulations?
It’s difficult to grasp the difference between what’s in real life and what’s online, everything is all connected.
In this era, brands are intricate systems that co-exist and develop through the involvement of their communities.
This is not fiction; it's our not-so-distant future and my take on the new era of brand strategy and development.
This story is about reimagining the essence of brand building in the age of Web3, blockchain technology, virtual reality, and community.
Today's Brand Landscape: At the Crossroad of Reality and Simulation
The pandemic irrevocably altered our existence.
The boundaries between our work and home lives, professional and personal personas, and online and offline worlds have dissolved.
The things online are sometimes more important and strangely more real than the things that happen in real life.
Everyone wants to be a creator and is fighting for followers on platforms like TikTok.
Are so-called “creators” or “influencers” real famous people?
These people may have hundreds of thousands of online followers watching what they do or say on social media almost daily.
Yet, most of those “influencers” are still living paycheck to paycheck.
Doesn’t online fame translate into financial success in real life? Are these people famous in real life or simply online?
Maybe it is just a simulation or a performance of fame created and amplified by the algorithm.
Jean Baudrillard explained in Simulacra and Simulation that there is no absolute distinction to be made between reality and simulation and that we are fated to live in hyperreality or a series of overlapping hyperrealities.
According to Baudrillard, hyperreality is where contemporary society operates; it's a world where simulations do not just represent reality but become more real than the real itself, thus rendering the concept of reality meaningless.
It feels like online reality, somehow incredibly important, doesn't always translate into physical reality.
When it comes time to translate the value we created online into value in real life, something doesn’t always translate.
Web3 and The Metaverse of Branding
In this blended reality emerges Web3, the decentralized web, and the metaverse, the combination of the physical and virtual worlds.
The Internet is no longer this static place online outside of the real world where we share our real-life experiences.
The Internet has become this dynamic place where most real-life events begin.
Whether these events materialize or not in the physical life, may well depend on the algorithm.
Here, we exist both online and in real life simultaneously, consciously or unconsciously.
Creative Commons Zero License (aka CC0), digital assets, smart contracts, and NFTs are the vanguards of this new space thriving on open-source collaboration and shared creativity.
The conventional real-life experiences shared online is an obsolete behavior.
Many people are spending less time on large social media platforms like Meta, Instagram, and X.
Largely because it feels like it doesn’t represent them anymore.
These platforms emerged to connect people but they turned out to give us dopamine boosts with a plethora of entertainment. Which is entertaining to say the least but it has lost its original purpose.
In response to this, people are migrating to more online private spaces like group chats or niche social media platforms because they feel like they are being represented and connecting with people that they actually want to connect with.
People seek customized experiences and want control back over their social media use and online lives.
This behavioral shift changes how brands view audiences.
Audiences are now seen as communities of active creators, investors, and contributors to the brand narrative, co-creating and living the brand story, rather than pure passive consumers or simple content creators.
The metaverse adds another layer to this evolving landscape. Brands no longer consider digital as a static space for marketing but as a universe for creating parallel experiences and realities.
This shift opens up endless possibilities for brands, transcending the limitations of the online and physical worlds.
The Future of Brand Building: Co-creation and Community Participation
The future demands brands to transcend their traditional roles and evolve into platforms for change that mirror the aspirations and values of their communities.
In this future, brands are no longer dictated by corporate strategies.
The concept of co-creation takes center stage.
It is the experiences and inputs of community members that shape tomorrow’s brands.
Brands are giving back control of their development to their community members.
The community has the final say regarding the Why, How, and What, of a brand.
Brands are no longer constructing the future or shaping culture; they are facilitating a future that the community yearns to see, a future collaboratively envisioned and realized, bringing shared visions to fruition.
This extends to every aspect of a brand - from its mission and values to its products and communications.
Brands become a collective expression, a tapestry woven from diverse individual threads, each contributing to a richer, more authentic narrative.
Overcoming Legacy Challenges: The Outdated Framework for Brand Strategy
Legacy brand frameworks, rooted in pre-digital mindsets, fail to account for the nuances of online communities and to adapt to the fluid nature of digital experiences.
The rapid pace of change in technological advancement, consumer behavior, and market dynamics render traditional brand strategy frameworks and strategies almost irrelevant as they are conceived and implemented.
The traditional methods — focus groups in controlled settings, qualitative research by market research firms, and the typical agency model — have lost their relevance.
They fail to capture the real-time, dynamic interactions and the multifaceted nature of online communities and how online interactions are as real and meaningful as in real life.
The need of the hour is not deep research and strategy but agile, community-driven insights that shape the brand strategy and narrative as the story evolves.
A New Interface of Brand Co-Creation: The Community as the New Focus
The future of brand building is iterative and distributed.
It is a model where decentralized teams empower community members to own, develop, and spread narratives.
This approach makes brand narratives more adaptable, responsive, and authentic.
By embracing less control over their development, brands gain a more elastic and resonant identity.
In this new paradigm, the community is an integral part of the brand development.
Brand strategy and brand building become a dynamic operating system, accessible to every member of a community.
The first open-source interface for brand strategy that fosters a community-centric approach to brand building.
An Open-Source Interface for Brand Strategy: The Decentralized Brand Development System
This interface is more than a tool; it's a paradigm shift.
It considers native online behaviors and incorporates Web3 technologies, enabling decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to collaborate in real-time via smart contracts and get rewarded via crypto transactions.
The ambition is to evolve from a linear brand development model to a dynamic, interactive interface where community members can directly influence and co-create brand futures.
From positioning to visual identity, and from partnerships to product development, every aspect of a brand is influenced, co-created, and deployed by its community.
Community members gain ownership and are incentivized through various means like tokenomics, product trials, exclusive access, you name it.
Community members are not just consumers but co-creators and investors in the brand's journey.
Their involvement goes beyond user-generated content or influencer marketing.
It's about active contribution in each stage of brand development, tied to ownership and contribution, facilitated by the decentralized nature of token distribution.
This is a glimpse into the future of brand building.
While I’m fascinated about where Web3 is taking us, when it comes to brand building, this direction might well remain an ideal.
I hope you enjoyed this essay.
What’s your prediction for the future of Brand Building?
Let me know how you think brand strategy and brand development will evolve in 2024 and beyond.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
How would you contribute to the evolution of a brand if you had the opportunity?
Ready to grow your brand relevance?
Let’s talk!
FAQs
Bastien Frediani
LinkedIn: in/creativebrandstrategist
Email: strategy@thinkbastien.com
Bastien Frediani is the founder and strategist of ThinkBastien, a strategy studio that helps bridge the gap between vision and audience.