Over the past 2 years, many large and small companies have announced their entry into Web3 in various ways and with varying degrees of success. Most of them launched their NFT collections, and some were popular among brand fans.

For example, Nike, Gucci and Starbucks have declared their innovation. Here is a video presentation of the Nike x RTFKT collaboration:

But can this be considered a full entrance to Web3? It was partially successful because minting NFTs increases loyalty among existing audiences. It’s more about fun and hype than consistent usage of blockchain technology.

What can brands implement to make the blockchain mass adoption closer and make this process as native and reasonable as possible for the user?

My name is Daria, and in this article, I want to share TOP 3 trends of blockchain that will influence product marketing and user experience (UX) in 2024.

Proof of Ownership

Web3 technologies enable digital ownership, where users own digital assets, such as NFTs representing digital art, collectibles, or virtual real estate. Brands can capitalize on this by offering exclusive, tokenized digital assets that customers can buy, trade, and showcase.

Proof of ownership in the luxury goods industry is a critical aspect that helps establish the authenticity and provenance of high-end items. Counterfeiting and fraud are significant challenges in this sector, and proving the legitimacy of luxury goods is essential for both consumers and brands.

There are several use cases in which ownership can be proved.

First of all, Blockchain and Cryptographic Verification. Blockchain technology can create a tamper-proof ledger of a product's history. Each item is recorded on the blockchain at various supply chain stages, including manufacturing, distribution, and retail. Customers can verify the product's authenticity by scanning a QR code or using a mobile app to access the blockchain record.

Arianee Protocol empowers brands and owners to give digital life to products, experiences, or communities through tokenized digital product passports.

Also, companies can use Digital Certificates and NFTs. Non-fungible tokens can be linked to luxury goods to represent ownership and authenticity.

Such auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's conducted NFT auctions and explored blockchain technology for provenance tracking of art pieces.

By the way, Sotheby's recently collaborated with Ledger. The partnership will provide Sotheby’s collectors with Ledger’s industry-leading products for secure self-custody of digital art, access to Ledger Academy’s library of digital custody resources, and more.

Apple has explored blockchain and cryptographic methods to enhance the authenticity and traceability of its products, particularly in the secondhand market. Ferrari also has been considering blockchain technology to verify the authenticity and provenance of its high-end cars.

As you see, companies in the luxury segment are interested in using blockchain technologies to highlight the authenticity and origin of their products. I'm sure the smaller brands will also use such blockchain-powered tools in the future.

Seamless Web3 experience with Account Abstraction (AA)

Account Abstraction is not just another chat topic. It will allow blockchain and crypto to go from geek love to mass use.

Account abstraction is a concept in blockchain and cryptocurrency technology that makes blockchain accounts more flexible and programmable.

With account abstraction you are able to pay fee in any token you want, you can even mint NFT from the brand you love without paying any fee, because the brand will pay for you. It's possible because of paymaster - one of the key components in Account Abstraction. Paymaster was created by Visa.

Using fiat money linked to their Visa cards, users can cover their on-chain gas fees using Ethereum's ERC-4337 standard. In this approach, a paymaster contract is a specialized smart contract account that sponsors gas fees for Contract Accounts, viewed as user-centric smart contracts.

As a result of this solution, users do not need to possess native blockchain tokens or navigate token bridge processes to cover gas fees.

As a founder of Web3 startup or traditional business, you can allow you customers mint NFTs, use benefits from the blockchain and pay fee instead of them.

Also, instead of forcing customers remember seed phrase, you can allow them enter blockchain account with using email only.

What about personal wallets? The wallets with seed phrases will be replaced by ones with Account Abstraction with different options for authentication and managing security.

The wallets using Account Abstraction become the trendsetters for mass blockchain adoption. I can highlight Clave, Argent, Safe and Ambire Wallet. You can read more about AA as a true path to mass blockchain adoption in the article by Andrii Bondar, Product Designer at zkSync.

Open Brands with Community Governance

If you haven't heard about Open Brands, don't be disappointed. Now, it's a niche, but shortly, it will be a trend.

The brands are called open because they belong to a community, not to a single person or company. Such brands are managed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with its own governance and treasury.

Estevan Vilar, Community Manager of zkSync, created a great article for California Management Review describing the case of the Nouns brand.

Nouns is an open brand with serious ambitions. The defining aesthetics of the brand are cartoon characters with square-framed glasses that can be used as avatars in online communication channels and social media.

Nouns have appeared in a Budweiser Super Bowl advertisement and the contexts of e-sport teams and products such as streetwear, skateboards, and comics. The project's success lies in its highly memeable aesthetics in the public domain, its use of blockchain protocols, and its decentralized governance mechanisms.

Each Noun is the product of a generative algorithm that creates 'one Noun every day, forever.' Glasses, backgrounds, bodies, accessories, and heads of Nouns were designed by a group of artists, including Gremplin and the collective eBoy Arts.

All the proceeds go to a treasury managed by the Nouns DAO.

Conclusion

Many future- and tech-oriented organizations will use these three trends to raise the awareness and engagement of their brands.

It's safe to say that blockchain will influence the future of product marketing and brand growth despite the bear market. Artificial intelligence (AI) is trending now, and I expect this technology, combined with blockchain, to deliver outstanding results in 2024 and beyond.

I have covered this topic on my YouTube channel if you prefer the video format.