Introduction

The success of Non Fungible Tokens (NFT) in various sectors has raised the attention of marketing departments in many industries.

Not only emerging sectors like those which are closer to the crypto space or technology, but also very traditional areas ranging from fashion, car manufacturers, retail companies up to art and sport.

Originally, NFTs were used as digital collectibles, and many brands stepped into the NFT launching their own collections. 

However, the situation has quickly evolved and companies in several sectors are now using NFT as product line extensions.

For instance, apparel companies can envisage digital versions of their physical clothing and accessories. 

Here are some examples of traditional companies that have developed initiatives based on Tokens.

Ray-Ban

The well-known sunglasses brand Ray-Ban entered the NFT space in October last year, auctioning off its first NFT featuring the brand’s iconic Aviator sunglasses. The NFT was auctioned on OpenSea. 

Ray-Ban is also aiming to become a major player in the metaverse. The brand is in fact collaborating with Meta (ex Facebook) on Augmented Reality glasses.

Kraft

American food manufacturing and processing company Kraft Foods Group has filed   NFT and metaverse patents for several of its popular brands like Philadelphia, Kool-Aid, Velveeta, Lunchables, Oscar Mayer and the Kraft brand itself.

The trademarks cover a wide range of potential services and products, including a virtual restaurant where users can earn rewards and virtual assets, virtual food and drinks, NFTs and NFT-backed media and marketplaces for virtual goods and NFTs.

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo’s new hybrid SUV, the Tonale, will come with a complimentary NFT.

Each purchase will be linked to a digital certificate that will continuously update with information about the car. Alfa Romeo says that this record will keep track of maintenance and milestones (like when you hit 100,000 miles) and provide extra data and a well-documented history if you ever sell the car.

The Italian carmaker claims it’s the first to attach blockchain technology to a vehicle purchase.

Gucci

Gucci is also in the NFT world: it recently launched an “experimental online space” with NFT called Vault. This is not Gucci’s first experience with NFTs. In May 2021, the brand conducted an auction of NFTs based on the Gucci Aria collection.

Dolce&Gabbana

D&G has recently launched the “#DGFamily NFT Community”. The community provides an exclusive ecosystem of benefits for its members in both the physical universe and the metaverse. This includes access to special drops and collaborations, as well as the chance to participate in unique Dolce&Gabbana events.

The community launch follows Collezione Genesi, Dolce&Gabbana’s debut in the NFT world, 9 creations by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.

Coca cola

To celebrate International Friendship Day on July 30, Coca-Cola released a series of four NFTs, animated, one-of-one digital artworks delivering multi-sensory experiences – unlocking surprise items upon purchase for the first owner. 

The surprises included a ‘Coca-Cola Bubble Jacket Wearable’ that can be worn in virtual reality platform Decentraland. 

The Coca-Cola Friendship Auctioned over 72 hours, the winning bidder also received an in-real-life, fully stocked Coca-Cola refrigerator. Coca-Cola also issued a new set of four branded NFTs in December 2021, a collection of festive digital collectable snow globes featuring falling snow and the iconic Coke polar bears.

Football teams

Also football teams have entered the Token space. Most of the major european football teams have joined socios.com offering fan tokens. So far, across the five major European leagues 24 different clubs have launched fan tokens, including Manchester City, AC Milan, PSG, Rangers, Juventus, etc

Most offer tokens similar to a club-specific crypto-currency. Virtual coins can be bought and sold and their value rise and fall depending on supply and demand.

Some of the tokens offer real-world perks to the buyer. Some clubs also sell digital collectibles in the form of NFTs.