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Adidas, the popular sports and fashion brand, is reportedly exploring ways to integrate cryptocurrency and Web3 technologies into its community-driven marketing and sales strategies. Erika Wykes-Sneyd, Adidas\u2019 Web3 lead, stated that simply adding a payments plugin is not a sufficient use case for crypto. Instead, Adidas may consider gating exclusive drops for specific communities and specific currencies, promoting communities, and doing unique digital drops. The company could leverage token-gated tactics to white-list users into their favorite sneaker drops, beating the bots and not having to play the waiting game. This would align with Adidas\u2019 larger corporate strategy of leveraging Web3 technologies to create a sense of community and inclusivity among its consumers.<\/p>\n
Adidas has already made significant strides in the Web3 space, purchasing a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT in December 2021 and issuing its own 30,000 NFT drop the same month. The sportswear giant generated $23.4 million in a single afternoon from the \u201cInto the Metaverse\u201d drop.<\/p>\n
Adidas is not the only non-crypto firm delving into the Web3 space. Co-founder of Salesforce Web3 Studio Marc Mathieu recently stated that connecting crypto wallets to brands will become the \u201cnew cookie,\u201d referring to data blocks that identify user activity on the internet. Other luxury brands, including Prada, Gucci, Balmain, and Balenciaga, have also started exploring all things crypto.<\/p>\n
As more companies enter the Web3 space, it will be interesting to see how they utilize crypto and other emerging technologies to create new experiences and engagement opportunities for their customers.<\/p>\n