Top 5 brands in NFT space in 2022: Adidas, Reddit and more

The key was in how it marketed the platform, never actually using the letters “NFT” but instead branding its tokens as “collectible avatars.” The name is simple and conveys precisely the purpose of the assets: To be collected and shown off as one’s identity on Reddit. By avoiding “NFT,” the company avoids any negative baggage associated with the term, as well as causing confusion over its technical meaning.

“We made the decision to make [the experience] more approachable,” Neal Hubman, Reddit’s global head of client solutions, told Ad Age in November. “It’s really about what [the assets] can offer more so than all of the jargon and back-end technology that gets thrown around.”

Going into 2023, Reddit will aim to onboard more users through new drops and utility. Whether it can sustain its success is unclear given the declining health of the NFT and crypto markets, but a solid start is more than can be said for most newly launched marketplaces.

No. 3: Fox Entertainment

Fox Entertainment, through its Web3 studio Blockchain Creative Labs, has spent 2022 preparing audiences for its NFT-based TV show, “Krapopolis.” The animated series is created by Dan Harmon, co-creator of fan-favorite “Rick and Morty,” and has been billed as the first show to be curated using blockchain technology.

Look back: A guide to the ‘Rick & Morty’ marketing multiverse (from 2021)

While season one of “Krapopolis” isn’t set to premiere until May 2023, Fox has been aggressively marketing the show behind its NFT value prop. The media company has teased the novelty of the model at events such as the Upfronts, espousing NFTs for their potential to create new pathways of fan engagement. To audiences, Fox has pushed the technology as a means of content distribution, using social channels including Twitter to show how holders could actually own moments from the series.

In August, Fox dropped the first collection of “Krapopolis” NFTs—“Krap Chickens,” a set of 10,420 tokens that grant access to events and private screenings, meet-and-greets, merchandise and—most interestingly—voting rights over aspects of the show. This latter detail saw its first application for a special presentation of the pilot episode just after Thanksgiving, for which token holders were allowed to vote on which character would be eaten by a kraken.