"I hate the term 'PFP Project.' Despite their vast possibilities, the term can give a narrow view of an NFT project. The essence of a so-called 'PFP project' is to create strong brand power. Using it as a profile picture on social network services or metaverses is only a side effect. Is BAYC a PFP project? I do not think so." - Blocksage (2022)
When looking at the existing web 2.0 business, brand construction is only one of the numerous core tasks of successful business execution. As a utility maxi, my imagination for the real-world use case of an NFT was limited to only games and game infrastructure. However, I thought the usability of an NFT in games was persuasive due to the enforcement of a "digital ownership" and "ownership change."
However, yesterday, it was like a switch clicked in my head, and I could suddenly understand what NFTs were all meant to be. Am I doing any drugs? I assure you that there may be too little sleep and some dose of overworking, but no drugs. Suddenly, I can read between the lines of many NFT Degen blabbing tweets. Now that I am fresh to this point of view, I would like to elaborate with a little more rationally. Maybe I might crack the code to launch a successful NFT project.
It is safe to say that inducing irrational consumption determines the success of the NFT project. Therefore, The most crucial strategic question we have to ask in drawing a business roadmap is where and how to stimulate the mindless consumption?
Let us take a deep breath and read the following sentence, taking the topic of NFT out of your head for a moment. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Imagine something that you do not need but something you want.
Spending money or time on something you want for no reason is irrational behavior. Wanting something you do not need is derived from a very subjective emotion. The unreasonable and unconscious judgment is dependent on an individual's experiences, values, and feelings.
Typical examples are as follows (exclusives such as luxury watches and jewelry are excluded because of the utility of 'flexing'):
"A guy goes around convenience stores day and night to buy and collect Pokémon stickers."
→ Why? People have a strong desire to collect and complete things. He is the one with the stronger desire.
→ Then why Pokemon? He can collect other things. There are solid and positive emotions, such as nostalgia, memories, longing, vitality, etc., that the brand of Pokémon gives to this person. Unfortunately, many of those subjective emotions are linked to mindless consumption and behavior.
→ Other variables such as 'I want to look trendy,' 'Peer pressure,' and 'passive financial gains' exist but are not essential.
As such, mindless consumption is an area of emotion, and how to stimulate that emotion is essential. It is safe to say that the reason why most of the early NFTs came out as pixel arts or RPG-like is in a similar context. Cryptokitties were also very similar to the popular Neopets in 1999. People wanted to own them for no rational reason, even before the hype.
Rule #1: Aligning devices to trigger a set of mindless emotions is mandatory.
Some good examples of these emotions would be nostalgia, warmth, anticipation, and joy. Some good examples of the devices would be toys, cartoons, cards, games, and D&D. These might vary depending on the demographics you might want to target.
It will be defined as technical innovation to make what was previously impossible possible due to technology development. In this sense, NFT can be said to be an innovative device that allowed the brand to be created bottom-up.
In the past, to create a huge brand or IP, it was a top-down structure in which a product was evaluated in the market (content, games, consumer products). Content creators had no choice but to wait for the market's response. Then, market analysis and strategic elements were then placed to suit the market's taste, community management, media exposure, and strategy establishment.
However, NFT has created a ripple effect by allowing brand support groups, consumer groups, and production groups to align their interests with economic incentives. As a result, the inherent value of being able to create a brand from the bottom-up became the fundamental spirit of an NFT project in web 3.0. So naturally, it became the criterion for expressing an NFT brand as 'cool.'
Assuming a 10K project, the most important milestone is to make the first 1350 people (13.5% early adopter section) who are passionate about the project (FRANK!). He may be a person who sympathizes with the long-term goals with his heart and wants to buy them for no reason in the short term.
Rule #2: A vision to sympathize with a long-term goal with one's heart. Sympathizing with the long-term vision is a very logical thinking process. Having no long-term goal is sometimes better than having a bad long-term goal.
Some more rules and playbooks will be published in the next post. More details about the actual executions will be included as well. What are your cheatsheets? Tell me more! Check out and reach me out @subdev414, and let’s have a chat!