Adidas Launch Web3 Loyalty Program, ALTS

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Introduction 🔌🔧

Last week we hosted our inaugural US Sporting Crypto meet-up during NFT NYC.

We had 200 RSVPs and 100+ attendees from leading brands in sports, media, entertainment and tech such as Google, AWS, Avalanche, ATP Tour, City Group, Red Bull Racing, LinksDAO, Krause House, Calaxy, Snapback Sports and more.

It was absolutely awesome and thanks to everyone who showed, and huge thanks to our partners at The HBAR Foundation and Wachsman for making it happen.

If you want to join the next one, just hit reply and send me an email!

Adidas Launch Web3 Loyalty Program, ALTS

Adidas have launched ‘stage 3’ of their Web3 proposition, and people are excited.

Up until now, most will have classed Adidas’ activity in Web3 as a success.

In 2021, their Into The Metaverse drop of 30,000 NFTs sold out and drove $22m of revenue.

In 2022, they made $10.94 million in revenue from NFTs and saw over 51,000 transactions on the secondary market, with $175.65 million in volume generated.

The Into The Metaverse NFT allowed users to claim physical products designed in collaboration with Adidas Originals, Bored Ape Yacht Club, PUNKS Comic and gmoney. A cool idea in theory and the ‘phygital’ trend is one that is definitely here to stay.

But Adidas actually received some criticism for their proposition, mainly from holders. The physical claim by many was met with a sense of bemusement considering the price of the NFT, which was at the time $700-800. I think some of this was unwarranted because, let’s be honest, limited edition merchandise and premium fashion is expensive as hell. But it did show that the primarily Web3 audience that Adidas had attracted were perhaps expecting more from the Web3 perspective.

At the same time, Adidas aren’t a digital asset company. And so perhaps in hindsight, they would have reduced the cost of entry and attracted a market more appreciative of art and fashion, rather than monkey Jpegs.

The Adidas Web3 story so far has largely been a success. The commercials have been exceptional, although I’d hazard a guess that the resources invested in these propositions are substantial.

ALTS by Adidas, their third step in April 2023, is their most exciting yet, though. 

ALTS by Adidas is a Web3 loyalty program with a digital collectable avatar at the heart of it.

And whilst it still looks exclusive from a pure number perspective, the ability to scale beyond just selling more JPEGs is pertinent here. I hesitate in saying this but I think this is a pivot by Adidas, albeit a soft one.

They’ve also created a rebranded collect.adidas.com platform which acts as the Web3 portal for users with Adidas NFT holders.

So what is ALTS by Adidas?

ALTs by Adidas is on the surface another NFT drop. The ALTs are ‘unique interoperable avatars’ that look a little bit like ghosts. The most interesting feature is their dynamic evolution, based on the decisions user makes and the engagements they have.

It’s usually not my thing, but the pre-reveal of these look pretty awesome.

To get one of these, holders of phases one and two of Into The Metaverse NFTs can burn their token and in exchange mint an ALT.

You receive a General Manager (rare) or Universal Key, and can check into a digital motel room of your choice, representing your ALT[er] Ego. Your ALT metadata will update with your selected room, the first part of the dynamic proposition.

There have been ~17,000 mints so far.

So what does all the marketing jargon actually mean?

Exclusive access, interoperable avatars, interactive experiences and dynamic NFTs — we’ve heard many of these terms before from projects, with little sustainable value created.

So let’s look at some of the ‘utility’ that these NFTs give you: 

Some of the ALTS utility includes:

• Specific commercial IP rights for your ALT

• Customising and enhancing your ALT

• Exclusive partner offerings and ALTS by Adidas physical and virtual products

• Premium access to the Adidas Collect Platform

• Co-creation opportunities

Furthermore, specific ALTS will have specific utility depending on the trait type. The traits correspond to various sports or lifestyle-based genres. For example, Strikes (soccer), Sole (sneakers and skate), Hoops (basketball) and so on.

Clearly, Adidas are trying to aggregate their brand and conjoin it to the Web3 experience. There’s something for anyone, and you can easily move laterally from a digital perspective which offers an interesting cross-selling opportunity for Adidas.

🧠 My Thoughts

According to Erica Wykes-Sneyd, a VP at Adidas: 

What a quote. It encapsulates basically everything I want to write in this section.

This part is especially pertinent: “Instead of diluting the market or short-term fixes”. Many brand NFT projects so far have had fairly decent starts but struggled to sustain beyond their first drop.

Adidas for my money are shifting from NFT collectables as the proposition, to more functioning assets that empower superfans while allowing the brand to scale appropriately and sustainably.

Big brands have started to default to Web3 loyalty programs or fan clubs and it seems Adidas are no different. They are, however, combining this idea with aspects of digital identity, ownership art and storytelling all wrapped into one.

This soft pivot from selling one-off NFT collections to a more all-encompassing digital loyalty program is smart. It makes much more sense for a brand of scale and size to go this route. The idea here is to create a platform that engages millions, all the while monetising super fans in more traditional Web3 means through collectables, exclusive digital experiences and so on.

The aspects that most interest me here are the co-creation and dynamism (or customisability) of these NFTs. This ability to abstract something beyond a simple, static image that just sits there into a service or loyalty product is fascinating. In many ways, NFTs have been looking for product market fit and big brands like Nike, Adidas, Starbucks and more are betting that loyalty is where digital collectables develop at scale.

It remains to be seen whether this will be a niche part of Adidas’ business, or scale to millions of users. in the future They’ve promised a lot with their utility so it’s imperative they now execute at a top-class level and create a sticky beta userbase that they grow out from, using their feedback as fuel to do so.

More Sports & Web3 Stories

• DraftKings exec joins Web3 horse racing startup Silks (Link)

• Jeffrey Jordan, son of NBA GOAT Michael, has launched a community-focused app for Gen Z sports fans (Link)

• Dot Swoosh and RTFKT are making moves. From May 8th, you can purchase their first drop — the Air Force 1 Sneaker (Link)

• Nice graphic from NFT Tech showcasing which sports brands have ventured into Web3.

• OpenSea co-hosted a 5-aside soccer tournament during NFT NYC this month (Link)

• Watch Tony Hawk skate on an Azuki skateboard (Link)

• A post from LawInSport about whether Spotify’s NFT integration could inspire the sports industry (Link)

• Moongate has integrated Avalanche to create NFT ticketing and membership propositions on their platform (Link)

General ‘Stuff’ that Could Impact You

• Great stats here from Andrew on the number of active users on OpenSea, and showing the increase in the number of total users, (Link)

• LAFC have taken a stake in Austrian Club FC Wacker Innsbruck, pending association approval. Super interesting move by the MLS team. (Link)

• ekos, are launching soon. It’s from the founder of Marvel Studios, David Maisel. (Link)

• A16Z launch their 2023 State of Crypto Report and introduce the State of Crypto Index (Link)

• Mastercard Drops Free NFTs, Launches Web3 Music Accelerator (Link) 

Thank you!

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