An NFT Brand Takes Flight
The Moonbirds NFT moves web3 brand-building to a higher standard
The Moonbirds NFT project has skyrocketed to elite status in crypto-land, harnessing an estimated $290 million in revenue just eight days after minting. And it is a fascinating example of how to launch a successful brand in web3.
For context, Moonbirds is a PFP project from a DAO-like club called Proof Collective, which is capped at 1,000 members. The current cost to get a Proof Collective NFT to join is 103 ETH -- or roughly $292,734. This puts it on par with the floor price of the often-touted Bored Ape Yacht Club, Azukis and CrytpoPunks. (Of course, all floor prices have plummeted lately.)
When the founders of Proof Collective announced a 10,000 NFT mint, the FOMO chatter in CryptoTwitter was at a frenzy. It was hyped by crypto-whales and retweeted by crypto-minnows. After first allotting the Moonbirds NFTs to the 1,000 Proof members, the rest were raffled off to those lucky enough to win and have 2.5 ETH (or $7,000) to mint. The collection sold out within 3 hours.
And before you mention that this sounds like some over-hyped NFT project that lights up the NFT and crypto crowd every week, it is. But it is also unlike the typical NFT drop so far, with some very pertinent lessons for marketers looking to toe-dip into their own NFT projects.
1. Work with a proven, credible and doxed team
The founding Moonbirds team was no more than six people. It has since grown after the mint. Moonbirds founder Kevin Rose also founded Digg years ago, which he sold for millions -- so he knows how to build community and establish credibility with investors and NFT owners. He and his team have been early investors and influencers in the NFT space for years and can therefore escape the online vitriol and derision aimed at carpetbagging speculators and wannabes. Rose and his team are in constant contact with the Moonbirds community, tweeting updates (both positive and negative), doing AMAs on the Proof Discord and releasing videos to explain the decisions being made on the project. This level of access and transparency catalyzes trust for the project.
2. Perfect the art of the mint
From the onset of the project, Moonbirds announced that the minting process would be carbon-neutral with offsets bought to account for the computing energy exerted on the project. The team also used a raffle mechanic for the mint which gated the bots, enabling humans to get a chance at buying the NFTs at floor price. Moonbirds also avoided the “gas wars” that occur during popular NFT mints where people with less ETH can’t afford the massive charges that come with buying, giving an unfair advantage to better-bankrolled buyers. (Bored Ape Yacht Club just went through this debacle with the Otherside metaverse launch and the feedback on that process has not been kind.)
3. Protect the floor price early
More interestingly, the project quickly allowed NFT holders – who were witnessing their 2.5ETH NFT balloon toward 40-50ETH in value within 48 hours – to choose instead to “nest” their Moonbirds and lock them up from the market for at least 30 days in order to “upgrade their status” to get more future drops, perks and access from the project. This mechanic helped protect the floor price by making Moonbirds more scare in the marketplaces. It is estimated that 64% of Moonbirds NFT holders decided to nest their birds and not sell them – foregoing 50x return on their purchase for the promise of something unknown but clearly interesting to come.
4. Stoke community with dopamine
Perhaps the most pertinent and powerful component to the Moonbirds brand comes in the form of a question posed interminably in the Moonbirds Discord and its Twitter feed: “what will Moonbirds do next?” What rewards will nesting unlock for Moonbirds owners? What investors are joining the community? (Recently, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian announced a $10 million investment from his fund into Moonbirds.) Is there a collab in the works? When will the metaverse be created? Will there be a Moonbirds movie? Will there be a physical clubhouse in NYC or LA? What is Moonbirds going to do next?
This community-wide future-facing expectations for the brand is its greatest allure. This is the connective tissue for the Moonbirds brand: powerful, dopamine-fueled interplay between audience and brand that’s driven by the expectation (and hopeful delivery) of a meaningful experience. And if it doesn’t, the community – and the floor price of the NFT – will react negatively.
So far, Moonbirds holders can access the utility of being newly-minted Proof collective members. That gives them a front-row seat into new NFT launches, web3 project and investment opportunities. That is utility enough for now, but as the perks get old, the floor price drops. The thing about dopamine is that people develop a tolerance to it. You need more and more to keep reaching that high.
5. Influence Helps
Moonbirds as a brand has no ostensible marketing spend. It’s strictly DYI. But the earned media on Twitter, Discord and the blogosphere that this project has received is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. It helps if highly influential NFT owners and collectors are behind your project and are tweeting about it. After all, the success of Proof and its authenticity within the NFT art and music community was enough to convince them. This conviction is passed from one influencer to another and, before you know it, there’s a conviction movement brewing around the project.
From a brand perspective, Moonbirds is a $290-million-dollar instantly-capitalized company with an ultra-loyal customer base, instant brand awareness throughout the web3 world with absolutely minimal marketing (if any), celebrities who pay you for participation and a salivating marketplace willing to spend a massive premium for access to the brand. The MoonbIRds brand-building takes advantage of web3 mechanics and the enthusiasm for it from a growing number of NFT adherents – despite the crypto winter that has significantly cooled the market. The way Moonbirds capitalized on these mechanics portends to the foundational changes on the near horizon for marketers and brand-builders alike.