Which brands have gained the most from NFTs? Nike, Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffany & Co. have figured out how to monetize virtual products

Amidst general skepticism and fear of being left out, brands' turbulent early approaches to Web 3 have certainly been exploratory. Indeed, the idea of jumping into a market that is still unexplored and, above all, still under construction, may arouse uncertainty, but despite the volatility of cryptocurrencies and a much younger target audience than the usual costumers, brands have had to find the best way to approach the Metaverse. Nft drops, video games, skins and assets for their avatars: virtual releases have dominated the past year and even the most skeptical have given it a try (remember Bernard Arnaulti's words last March declaring he wanted to "proceed with caution"?). Today, almost a year after the announcement of Mark Zuckerberg's new Meta, the question arises: how much have brands gained from NFTs? According to a Dune Analytics survey reported by The Fashion Law, Nike, Dolce & Gabbana and Tiffany & Co. topped the list of big brands that are generating revenue from non-fungible tokens.

Looking at primary sales, secondary transactions and royalties, Nike tops the list for generating a total of $185.31 million in token revenue, largely through RTFKT, a leading trainer, collectibles and virtual experience company acquired by Nike in December 2021. Noah Levine, who compiled the data, explains that «among the individual Nike/RTFKT collections that have generated the most revenue to date, the CloneX NFT tops the list, with a primary sales volume of $779.08 million based on a total of 21.66 thousand transactions and $38.95 million in royalties; followed by RTFKT's MNLTH collection, which was released in April and resulted in 12.79. 000 transactions and $242.19 million in volume, along with $24.22 million in royalties.»

Huge sums that nevertheless pale in comparison to the total revenue of the big brands, as in the case of the $10.7 billion in total revenue that the Kering-owned colossus has billed in 2021, of which Gucci's $11.56 million NFT revenue is only a small part. The same example applies to Nike for whom the $185.31 million generated by NFT represents only 0.4 per cent of the $44.5 billion in sales - of tangible goods and services - it reported for fiscal 2021 alone. But the return of digital products and experiences is not limited to the economic factor, it is part of a new understanding of customer engagement and loyalty in a landscape where brands are increasingly configuring themselves as complete and independent ecosystems, a narrative in which Web 3 and the next generations with it will be a crucial piece.