Part 1/9:
Summary:
- As a kid, the speaker collected baseball cards, football cards, and basketball cards- emphasizing that collecting is an emotionally and intrinsically valuable endeavor.
- Brands have primarily found success in creating physical goods or providing discounts to engage customers with their products, both of which are expensive endeavors.
- Forum Three is working on creating digital assets as part of loyalty programs that can be emotionally valued but also have utility like coupons and access passwords- making it a powerful combination for brands to use.
- Adam Brockman was the Chief Digital Officer at Starbucks in 2008/2009 when the company was looking for ways to reinvent itself during The Great Recession period; his mandate was to create a great digital strategy that would help drive the company’s business forward and enhance customer relationships with Starbucks products and services.
- At this time, there were hesitations around taking risks with new technologies since Starbucks had only been using gift cards prior; however, they decided to slowly build up platforms such as mobile ordering and skip lines brick by brick over time- eventually leading Starbucks’ app becoming one of the most successful mobile payment apps until Apple Pay surpassed it recently .
Part 2/9:
- Starbucks needed more market share and wanted to make the customer experience better.
- To do this, they created digital collectibles to give customers convenience, rewards, utility and access in exchange for frequency of use.
- The three founders of Forum Three (Adam, Andy and Joe) have known each other since 2000 and all have backgrounds in web development or venture capital.
- In January 2020 they started playing with NFTs with the launch of Top Shots which eventually led to their founding of Forum Three in June 2020 on a crazy NFT project involving Infinity Stones from Marvel Comics.
- Joe got into crypto/NFTs back in 2017 when he was trying to find ways to make bank deposits into sportsbooks without his bank's permission that led him down the rabbit hole which he never came out of it until meeting Adam & Andy at a small NFC conference/party thrown by Drew Austin in 2021 while Joe was still working as a regional sales director for a medical company but quit his job the Friday before so he could attend this event - believing it was an opportunity for him not to be missed out on .
6 . They then began doing play-to-earn endeavors as an incubator test ground which evolved over time into what we see now at Forum Three - including podcasts about crypto/NFTs since 2018 by Joe for people wanting to learn about it too .
7 . The equation is basically trading things off between giving customers convenience & rewards versus getting them to love the brand more & become frequent users - like Amazon did with free shipping despite no written contract being involved here either .
8 . It is advised brands should survey customers firstly as well as pay attention & give them more of what they love about your brand using digital tools e..g digital collectibles etc...so you can create network effects that unlock flywheels too thus creating loyalty over time through storytelling techniques etc... 9 . Finally, if successful this will lead towards gaining market share for your business overall!
Part 3/9:
Summary:
- Play to earn testing revealed that traditional ways of thinking about play to earn are extractive, leading to an unsustainable ecosystem.
- The value in something like Odyssey comes from the brand, providing users with experiences, rewards and digital assets for their participation rather than their investment.
- When entering play-to-earn games, it is important to set up tokenomics or programmatics so that users authentically want to spend and not just sell.
- Digital collectibles have an intrinsic emotional value and utility as coupons or access passes which are scalable for brands compared to manufacturing physical goods or giving discounts which are expensive and not scalable.
- Blockchain allows digital assets to be owned with decentralization, immutability and security - there is no easier way than blockchain for this purpose currently known of yet still allows for a spectrum of decentralization depending on the platform used such as Polygon or Bitcoin.
- Building loyalty programs with a blockchain element can include storytelling elements as well as shop-to-earn games offering discounts in exchange for loyalty points earned from frequent shopping at a company's store(s).
Part 4/9:
- Form Three is a company that fundamentally changes the idea of participation in loyalty programs by making them more interactive and fun for the consumer.
- Starbucks Odyssey is an example of how this can be done - to make customers more loyal and engaged with their brand.
- Brands can now leverage their intangible Goodwill to collaborate with other brands, artists, musicians or Creators, which was not possible before with traditional loyalty programs due to technical complexity.
- Blockchain allows for easier collaboration between brands as well as air drops of digital assets into customer inboxes - making it easier for customers to benefit from multiple brands at once without any effort on their part.
- Brand collaborations are becoming increasingly necessary in the current economy because consumers are competing for attention against more options than ever before and need experiences that make them love a brand even more than they already do in order to stay loyal customers instead of just being consumers or customers who shop periodically at different places..
- The pandemic has caused a massive shift in consumer behavior - particularly among Gen Z and Millennials who are now hyper digitized and appreciate digital Goods much more than physical ones since they spend just as much or even more on digital fashion such as game skins compared to regular fashion items
7.. Customers no longer want just followers, likes, pictures etc., but rather want experiences where they can co-create and participate with a brand’s story which is what loyalty should be about according to Form Three's thesis
Part 5/9:
- People are starting to see the value of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and how they can be used in loyalty programs and even gaming such as Pokemon Go, Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite.
- Influencers such as Mr Beast have been able to create their own companies through relationships with their audiences, which has furthered understanding of the potential of NFTs.
- Starbucks is one brand that has recognized the potential innovation in loyalty programs through blockchain technology and digital collectibles.
- Loyalty marketers need to consider key metrics such as active memberships, total memberships, spend per member and incremental spends per member when evaluating the success of a loyalty program - regardless of the technology being used for it.
- Technology like blockchain or web3 or digital collectibles unlocks new tools for brands to strengthen customer relationships and extract new surface area between them both parties - something customers appreciate if done correctly by a brand like Starbucks did with its mobile app in terms of mobile payment & ordering etc..
- The challenge for brands is finding ways to reward customers without discounts alone - which can be expensive - but rather using digital merchandise that customers enjoy (like Nike does).
- Starbucks is currently running an Odyssey program in beta mode open only to select waitlist members who can explore a game behind it with rewards attached too!
Part 6/9:
- Starbucks Odyssey is a customer experience loyalty game, that is always on and engages customers to earn points and rewards by completing journeys and checkpoints.
- Starbucks For Life is an example of this where customers can buy things at Starbucks for a chance to win rewards each December.
- Upon entry into the Odyssey platform, users will create their profile and be presented with Coffee Heritage Journeys, Holiday Journeys, Challenges and Activities to engage with the brand.
- Points are earned when completing these journeys or checkpoints which can be used to claim NFTs (Journey Stamps) with embedded points as well as access different customer experiences, claimable rewards eligibility for Airdrops & exclusive Starbucks only stuff.
- The custodial aspect of Odyssey will be provided through partners Nifty Gateway & Gemini as well as being able to pull stamps off through normal wallet connect or selling them on open marketplaces such as OpenC etc .
- Chainlink has been working closely with Cryptex Finance for months ensuring accurate price feeds for true exposure in order to produce synthetic tokens that provide broad exposure to the total crypto market cap of all crypto assets & jpegs gives exposure to the entire NFT Market tracking all collections in real-time . 7 . Minting & trading of jpegs will open at the end of Q4 so users should stay up-to-date by joining Cryptex Finance’s Discord , Telegram or following them on Twitter .
Part 7/9:
- Starbucks has created a loyalty program that allows customers to earn rewards in the form of digital assets, called Journey Stamps.
- Rather than using the term "NFT", which has accrued a certain amount of baggage, Starbucks is using their own terminology to refer to their digital assets.
- NFTs are seen as data layers and will be referred to in terms other than just “NFT” in the future, such as tickets, stamps or receipts.
- Education about NFTs will be an important part of this endeavor and those who have gone through the NBA Top Shot experience have learned more about decentralization and ownership of these assets through blockchain technology and web 3 experiences.
- Specific rewards for collecting Journey Stamps have not been fully revealed yet but may include things like tours of coffee plants or other experiences that were mentioned in initial press releases by Starbucks upon launching this program.
- The Beta test stage is meant for learning and engagement with customers while also getting something out quickly without rushing it too much so that it can eventually become part of their main app experience down the road when perfected enough for doing so safely without any glitches or bugs present within it's system .
7 .The wait list process for getting into Beta involves prioritizing heavily loyal rewards users as well as Starbucks employees/partners with some sort of formula being used to determine who gets accepted into being a part of this testing stage first before going public with it later on down the line when everything is up to standards they want them at..
8 .As Community features begin rolling out , there will be opportunities available for people wanting to join these communities which could potentially allow them skip ahead on waitlists if they meet certain criteria set forth by Starbucks leadership during this period..
9 .Starbucks leadership has been leading the way when it comes to integrating NFTs into their Loyalty Program, giving people hope that other big Brands such as McDonalds may soon follow suit..
10 .Though there is some hype around Brands entering Blockchain space with NFTs being utilized , there are still many questions left unanswered about what exactly these programs involve , including how people access rewards , what kind they are receiving once unlocked etc...
Part 8/9:
- Adam and Joe are betting their careers on Experiential Loyalty, the unlocking of Digital Collectibles and partnering with Starbucks to pave the way for brands of all sizes to use loyalty programs.
- Adam suggests that companies should focus on creating customer strategies before implementing a loyalty program or digital strategy.
- Form Three is building a platform that helps augment existing services businesses and they are getting a lot of interest from brands watching what Nike and Starbucks are doing as well as Instagram and Reddit.
- For small/medium-sized businesses, Form Three advises them to create a brand access pass for their super fans with artificial scarcity in order to surprise/delight customers without cash grab tactics or inauthentic experiences.
- Digital collectibles can be used as Lego blocks by creating an activation first then continuing if it works; this is something Form Three can help brands with by thinking through the activation strategically on Web 3 side before launching it publicly so brands don't have to boil the ocean for success stories like Ben Mesrick & The Boston Globe, who have partnered with Form Three already .
Part 9/9:
- Foursquare previously attempted to create a platform where people could check in to locations, however this was not successful.
- The idea of being able to contain digital collectibles from each location that can be owned by the user is different than Foursquare as it has a feeling of ownership and is different psychologically.
- Blockchain technology allows users to own digital collectibles and be able to program and play with them, which Foursquare could not offer its customers before.
- Pictures are here to stay but businesses are now beginning to take notice of this concept, with previously people using matchbooks as mementos for places they went or ate at instead of photos which can become overwhelming when taken too often and shared on social media platforms like Instagram etc..
- This creates more uniformity for people wanting souvenirs from their travels rather than just relying on pictures from each place they have visited or been too as it can create a scrapbook-like wallet showing all the places visited in one place without having the pressure of taking perfect pictures everywhere one goes because there is no pressure on them when it comes down to owning digital collectibles such as pull-ups etc..