In 2021, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) generated overall sales of close to $25 billion and became one of the year’s most defining cultural phenomena. This trend has continued with NFT sales topping $2 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
In an effort to engage audiences and produce secondary revenue streams, brands—in sectors ranging from fashion to sports, alcohol to art, music to beauty—melded visual media, blockchain technology and e-commerce to create and market new NFT-based digital brand campaigns for everything from toilet paper to tacos. If the first months of 2022 are any indication, advertisers’ interest in the digital sphere shows no signs of waning, with brands using NFTs to market digital campaigns from Puppy Bowl trading cards to lifetime music festival passes to private eating club memberships. For many brands, NFT initiatives are their first foray into the emerging metaverse.