Gary Vee is no stranger to Web3. After launching VeeFriends, one of the most successful NFT brands in early 2021, the project grew to nearly 60,000 ETH in trading volume and spawned several follow-up and collaborative collections, including VeeFriends Series 2 and VeeFriends Mini Drops. In the past six years, Vee’s holding company VaynerX, which focuses on contemporary media and communication projects, has grown significantly and now encompasses subdivisions such as Vayner3. Formerly VaynerNFT, Vayner3 is a Web3 consultancy that has helped major brands like Stella Artois, PepsiCo, and JP Morgan Chase & Co. develop strategies to profitably connect to the Web3 space.

But Vee and company are, as always, focused on the long-term future. To gain a better understanding of how the entrepreneur and his many Web3-focused entities view the Web3 landscape, as well as how they are positioning themselves for the fast-approaching 2023, nft now caught up with VeeFriends President Andy Krainak; Vayner3 President Avery Akkineni; and Gary Vee himself at Vayner X’s Art Basel activation in Scope Beach, Miami, last week. This is what they had to say.

Andy Krainak on the lessons learned from Web3 in 2022

The NFT and crypto spaces continue to grapple with the tangible and emotional fallout from the scandal surrounding the FTX crash. Success in the Web3 space came as NFT projects and brands were already struggling to find ways to stay relevant and justify their own price floors, even in the short term.

For this reason, VeeFriends President Andy Krainak advises enthusiasts and projects in the space to take some time to seriously reflect on what these landmark events taught the industry, and whether the strategies that marked the bull run of 2021 NFTs will once again be relevant or profitable. .

“[In 2022,] everyone learned what it means to have moments in time,” Krainak said while speaking to nft now, referring to the right and wrong times for actions in Web3. “There is a moment in time to launch a project. And now may or may not be the time to launch a project and really maximize the opportunity. [in Web3]. You couldn’t have had a worse scenario [with FTX]. That’s the truth. But I am confident that within two or three years, there will be more and more adoptions, and the latest FTX fiasco will be like a good movie that everyone saw. The terms we are using today are not going to be the terms we will be using for years to come. I don’t think we’re going to say ‘NFT’ anymore.”

Given the lack of trust that has permeated the space in recent weeks and months, Krainak stressed the importance of community building and transparency for NFT brands that want even the slightest bit of longevity. The excess of communication, she said, will always be the fundamental basis of the success of any project, both in good times and in bad. For Krainak, one of the best ways to build that trust is to make sure you have a real-life physical presence from community members, which can be achieved through both large and small-scale community activations.

“[Doing events] it is a very important and practical strategy, because it is a value that you can experience”, continued Krainak. “And I think that bringing the digital to the physical with events is really important. It can be a big event with 10,000 people, but you can still create small networking opportunities through different activations.” Offering a bit of a hint at VeeFriends’ next moves in the NFT space, Krainak echoed Vee’s comments from the day before: that deflationary dynamics could play a role in creating a “chips disappear” scenario. .

“We have a lot of time and it’s a lot of fun to be able to creatively play with technology based on storytelling, deflationary mechanics, and collaboration falls in parallel paths with what is the singular focus of VeeFriends, which is creating the IP for the characters,” Krainak explained.

Avery Akkineni on the success and strategy of Web3

The president of Vayner3 knows her stuff when it comes to helping brands branch out into the world of Web3. The consulting firm has helped companies like Johnnie Walker and Stella Artois develop strategies to meaningfully (and profitably) engage with the space while avoiding scaring off parts of their existing consumer base that are wary of the crypto world. Non-Web3 native brands are not ignorant of the potential of the blockchain in this regard. However, with NFTs and cryptocurrencies still nascent and comparably volatile, these companies are hesitant to dive in without proper guidance. That’s where Vayner3 comes in.

“We do not convince [brands] on Web3, we test what we’re doing and show them the use case,” Akkineni explained while speaking to nft now. “What we’re doing here at Scope today, for example, is really designed to help demonstrate the power of tokenizing and the power of what you can do by leveraging all of the amazing Web3 technology to link loyalty through VeeFriends. ”.

Vayner X’s Art Basel activation at Scope Beach featured a party for VeeFriends Series 1 Epic and Access NFT holders, allowing them to network, explore art installations and gain access to exclusive performances. The common thread for companies approaching Vayner3 looking to explore Web3 options, Akkineni said, is a kind of wary curiosity. Less common is when the people who make up the marketing teams of those brands are personally interested and involved in crypto and NFTs.

Akkineni distinguishes traditional brands like Gucci and Nike, which have had wildly successful forays into the Web3 space in the past year, from others that fail to attract crypto-natives. “[Those companies] they are really targeting existing crypto-native communities,” Akkineni explained. “And, because they’re looking to do very endemic activations, they’ve done very well and earned a lot of respect in the crypto-native community.”

Gary Vee on the future of VeeFriends and phygital products

A day after Gary Vee addressed crypto winter concerns on nft now and Mana Common’s The Gateway: A Web3 Metropolis in Miami during Art Basel, the entrepreneur revealed that VaynerX would be opening a permanent office in the city and expanding its presence in America. Latin and South America. , during a panel talk at Scope. Speaking with nft now after the event, Vee emphasized that the development of Spanish and Portuguese-speaking characters is a priority for the VeeFriends team.

“It gives me the advantage of being able to expand the intellectual property there,” Vee explained. “I am not trying to be in a hurry, but I am on a journey to communicate in all parts of the world. You know, I have 450 employees in APAC Asia, 200 employees in Europe and EMEA. And I travel to the Middle East quite a bit to set up shop. I am on a 50-year journey to communicate in all parts of the world.

It’s no secret that Vee is pushing the VeeFriends intellectual property to new heights, having announced a partnership with Toys “R” Us and Macy’s in October to sell collectible VeeFriends plushies. The entrepreneur also explained that he has three or four business development ideas in the works regarding further expansion of VeeFriends IP.

“Animation is a great play,” Vee offered as a preview. “Collectibles is a great play. We want to continue building a trading card platform. We want to continue to build on the toy platform with Toys R Us and Macy’s. We need to quadruple character development. I need people to fall in love with these characters. We’re going to do that through comics, through cartoons. I have to do the storytelling. And I would say this: a children’s book.

Wine and Spirits NFT

Known for his love of wine, Vee also discussed the long-term viability of spirits NFTs in the broader Web3 market. The ability for users to have a token representing ownership of spirits physically located in places where they can be properly stored presents a powerful dynamic for project developers and spirits enthusiasts, the entrepreneur said.

“I’m actually very intrigued by the concept of having NFTs representing ownership of wine and spirits,” Vee explained. “Alcohol is incredibly challenging to move. But the value of alcohol goes up in these limited edition NFTs. I would love to issue an NFT and have a high end Japanese whiskey or burgundy but never take ownership. And then if I wanted to drink it, I can burn [the token] and make him come to me.

Vee went on to say that the concept of high-end spirits has a lot of validity, given the legal limitations regarding its storage and movement around the world. NFTs present a way to own and trade without having to deal with such laws. “It is not very different from the high-end art found in temperature-controlled, fireproof facilities,” Vee offered as an analogy. “And so, I think [spirits NFTs] they will be a thing.

When asked if Vee’s optimism for phygital products like NFT liquors extends to other industries, Vee was enthusiastic.

“It’s always ‘and,’” Vee stressed. “Physical Y digital items will be collected in perpetuity from now on. I love mixing the two. And I think VeeFriends has always been very aggressive with that.”

No doubt the Vayner empire’s approach to IP development will be something to watch. Vee will face stiff competition from other highly successful NFT brands like Pudgy Penguins, a project that has also begun to establish a foothold in the family IP market with physical toys and publishing. Regardless, it is clear that an NFT project that simply abandons a PFP project and depends on the primary and secondary sales of its avatars to stay afloat and provide value to its community is no longer viable. VeeFriends and others are proving that, once again, success in the NFT arena comes down to one thing above all: adaptability.