Episode 10 | Understanding Open Loyalty with Brent Annells

03/10/23 • 34 min

“My member can get cool stuff because you can treat them like your member”

-Brent Annells

Last year we saw the world of web3 shift from talking about speculative value and flipping NFTs to obsessing over utility. The elephant in the room though was always that no one could really define was “utility” meant.

Welcome Brent and the team from Smart Token Labs.

While most people have been busy focusing on the art, Smart Token Labs has launched multiple open-source web3 products including Token Script and Alpha wallet. What are those you are asking ... well listen in. You will hear about what Brent and the team have been up to. But really, what you will hear is how they have been building a foundation for the future of loyalty - or Open Loyalty as they call it.

It’s an exciting discussion, and one that I hope will be of particular interest to all the brands and marketers who are listening in.

SPECIFIC TOPICS WE DISCUSS:

Brent has been at the forefront of emerging tech and channels for a long time. He built his reputation working with and helping to scale brands like Uber and Facebook to name just a few. He’s also worked on the agency side working directly with brands so he knows what they need. Now he’s busy showing the world how web3 is going to deliver value and what it offers to all of us. More specifically what we cover in our conversation is:

The products that Smart Token Labs has created and how they are being used.
Use case around tokenized car ownership and what benefits it will offer
How web3 solves many of the PII challenges associated with brand partnerships
Developing ticketing solutions and open perk solutions that both consumers and brands can leverage as a marketplace
The importance of wallets and tokens as reverse cookies in enabling Open Loyalty
The upcoming release of a Cricket membership - $20 for 20 pieces of utility
Open edition utility
How Marketers should think about Open Loyalty and token gated sponsorship

CREDITS & LINKS:

Host: Justin Peyton

Guest: Brent Annells

For more insights and deeper dives into the content, subscribe to the BRAND N3XT newsletter at https://brandn3xt.substack.com/

“My member can get cool stuff because you can treat them like your member”

-Brent Annells

Welcome Brent and the team from Smart Token Labs.

It’s an exciting discussion, and one that I hope will be of particular interest to all the brands and marketers who are listening in.

SPECIFIC TOPICS WE DISCUSS:

The products that Smart Token Labs has created and how they are being used.
Use case around tokenized car ownership and what benefits it will offer
How web3 solves many of the PII challenges associated with brand partnerships
Developing ticketing solutions and open perk solutions that both consumers and brands can leverage as a marketplace
The importance of wallets and tokens as reverse cookies in enabling Open Loyalty
The upcoming release of a Cricket membership - $20 for 20 pieces of utility
Open edition utility
How Marketers should think about Open Loyalty and token gated sponsorship

CREDITS & LINKS:

Host: Justin Peyton

Guest: Brent Annells

For more insights and deeper dives into the content, subscribe to the BRAND N3XT newsletter at https://brandn3xt.substack.com/

Previous Episode

Episode 9 | Understanding Subscriptions and Membership with Patrick Workman

“The technology isn’t the challenge, it’s the imagination that we need to inspire in order to think about why we are actually doing this, what’s the purpose and who [we’re doing it for]” - Patrick Workman

There are builders in the world, and then there is Patrick Workman and the team behind Unlock Protocol. What makes talking to Patrick special is that has such a clear understanding of the technology that he is able to explain concepts in simple easy to understand ways. Talking to him was really refreshing because even though he understands the tech, the focus isn’t on how we onboard millions / billions of people into crypto, but on how we unlock value for people through experiences what are intuitive. Most likely by getting rid of talk about wallets, keys and crypto babble and just making a brands app the wallet.

This is really a fun discussion that goes into the world of music, retail, customer experience, and so much more. One thing that’s clear from the conversation is that they are building the technology needed to unlock opportunities, to unlock value, but to get there, as Patrick implies in the quote above, you just need to unlock your imagination.

SPECIFIC TOPICS WE DISCUSS:

Patrick is a builder who built his reputation and know how in the world of Web2 and comes to Web3 with a clear understanding of the challenges of the past, and the opportunities that the emerging web3 ecosystem provides. In our conversation he shares about:

His perspective on FTX, the and how he sees the difference between Crypto and Web3
How Unlock is giving NFTs super powers and additional functionality
The difference between a subscription today, and what added value a tokenized subscription will enable
How new business models for the internet will be created that migrate the economic models from attention to membership
Moving past intermediaries through open blockchains and how this will inspire new areas of creative innovation
How Unlock Protocol is taking people on a five stage membership journey, and how it relates to the memberships people have and value today (eg. Prime)
The value of Open Memberships - starts around the 26.30 mark and this part is really important and really insightful so don’t skip it
Experience vs. Tech and how they work together, and the types of experiments brands could take that are fit for purpose today

LINKS TO UNLOCK AND OTHER SERVICES WE DISCUSS IN THE PODCAST:

Unlock Protocol: https://unlock-protocol.com/
Advent Calendar from Unlock Protocol: https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/advent-calendar-2022
Patrick’s Twitter: @PatrickWorkman

CREDITS:

Host: Justin Peyton
Guest: Patrick Workman

For more insights and deeper dives into the content, subscribe to the BRAND N3XT newsletter at https://brandn3xt.substack.com/

Next Episode

Episode 11 | Tokenized products and tokenized relationships with GMoney

"Imagine the data from the 5 biggest companies in the world. What happens when you start to democratise their data?" - GMoney

It’s a big question and you’ll have to like to this special GMoney podcast to get his point of view on the answer. And I guess that’s how I’m introducing our guest on this episode. GMoney. For those of you who don’t know him already, he initially made headlines early in the NFT speculation phase of 2020 / 2021 for buying a Cryptopunk, but it’s not his NFT collecting that we are talking about today. Rather it’s his luxury fashion company 9dcc, and his vision for where tokenized products can take business and the relationships that people have with brands.

You might recall an article I wrote at the end of last year about his company 9dcc and their Iteration-02 drop which allowed people wearing his clothing to distribute tokens from the NFT chip in the clothing item. If you haven’t read the article, you can find it here, but this Podcast is the follow-up to that article.

In our conversation, G shares a bit more about his vision for both 9dcc and for the potential of tokenized products to transform brand relationships in general. It’s a great conversation with one of the true pioneers, builders and deep thinkers in the space. I am certain there is something for everyone in this Podcast so give it a listen.

SPECIFIC TOPICS WE DISCUSS:

GMoney has been innovating and building in the web3 space since early days and he shares details about what’s influenced, what inspires him and a few hints on what his vision is for the future and what’s next for 9dcc. But more specifically what we cover in our conversation is:

Introductions
The vision for 9dcc as a tokenised product company
A social graph built on POAPs
Tokens as the bridge between digital and IRL connections
The potential this offers to marketing funnel
Scaling and transporting reputation across brands and channels
POAP Leaderboards at IRL events and how this gamifies things not just for marketing, but for human connection
Advice for brands
Where you get the best croissant in Paris

CREDITS & LINKS:

Host: Justin Peyton
Guest: GMoney