Blurred enters the metaverse with Coca-Cola’s first NFT collectibles

NFTs have been making headlines over the last few months, and last month Coca-Cola entered the space with the launch of its first-ever NFT collection. Launched on International Friendship Day, with all Coca-Cola proceeds donated to its long-time friend and partner, Special Olympics International, the four-piece collection was inspired by shared moments and designed to reflect the multi-sensory experience of an ice-cold Coca-Cola.

If you’ve missed the memo, NFT stands for non-fungible token, and an NFT can be anything digital, from a video, image or GIF to a song or a piece of digital art. Ownership of the item is tracked using blockchain, and high-profile offerings have sold for millions at auctions held by big players like Christie’s as well as specialised digital marketplaces.

The move into digital collectibles was a natural evolution for Coca-Cola, an iconic brand that is synonymous with pop culture and a long-time favourite with collectors. But as a first for the brand, it was important that the collection and our accompanying launch strategy would engage the NFT community whilst staying true to Coca-Cola.

We worked with the Coca-Cola communications team to bring the story to life by leaning into the shared values that unite Coca-Cola with the NFT community. The metaverse is a thriving new frontier, populated and curated and loved by millions of people, from all walks of life, all backgrounds, and from all over the planet. It is a world without borders, bringing people together through a shared love of technology and a shared excitement for now and the future.

The NFTs themselves were distinct expressions of these themes of friendship and unity, reimaging core elements of the Coca-Cola brand for a virtual world in new and exciting ways.

Our launch strategy was community-first, and we worked closely with Coca-Cola and their partners – OpenSea, the digital marketplace that hosted the auction; Tafi and Virtue, who designed the NFTs; and Decentraland, a decentralised virtual reality platform that allows users to create, experience, and monetise their content and applications.

The auction was trailed across OpenSea, Tafi and Decentraland channels to alert the community ahead of the announcement to mainstream and crypto media, which revealed details of each of the NFTs alongside the charity partnership. On the day of the auction launch, Decentraland hosted a can-top party with Coca-Cola. Partygoers were given the chance to win Mythic polygon NFT t-shirts, whilst they danced on the top of a Coca-Cola can to the sounds of DJ RAC. The NFTs were also on display, including the NFT wearable, a custom Coca-Cola Bubble Jacket that can be worn in Decentraland.

Throughout the 3-day auction, the teams collaborated to host community events on channels like Discord, and the community responded. Coca-Cola’s first NFT collectibles sold for more than $575,000, raising valuable funds for Special Olympics International, and is currently listed on the resale market for almost $2.5 million.  

With more than a few metaverse-curious / obsessed team members at Blurred, it was a joy to work with our partners at Coca-Cola as they made this first step into the virtual world. But what’s next for the world of NFTs and the metaverse more broadly, and what does this mean for brands?

To quote Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, “the Web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past”. At just 30 years old, the Internet is still in its infancy, and the metaverse is the next chapter, marked by a move away from the homogeny of Big Tech to a decentralised system that places more control in the hands of the user – epitomised by platforms like Decentraland. 

By giving individuals ownership of their data and allowing creators to engage directly with their audiences using channels like OnlyFans and Patreon, the metaverse and innovations like cryptocurrency have the potential to create a more equitable virtual world. 

Brands looking to engage with this new frontier - and with PwC forecasting the value of the metaverse economy to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, dismissing it as a fad or a niche preserve of gamers would be remiss - need to play by these new rules.

This means an acceptance that they can no longer assume total control over their brand or the user experience; instead working with creators and even open-sourcing platforms to develop products and services in collaboration with their users and giving them a share in the success. For progressive brands like Coca-Cola, this marks an exciting opportunity to truly put people at the heart of your business.

It’s a brave new world, and there will no doubt be some stumbles along the way, but I for one am excited to be a part of the journey. And if you want to raise a glass of ice-cold Coca-Cola to that, you’ll find me on the can-top in the metaverse.