Meet the 8-Figure eCommerce Art Company That’s Changing The Future of Art through NFT
How one company’s landmark NFT launch serves as predictor for the future of online commerce.
A Digital Collage that sells for $69M.
A Tweet from Jack Dorsey that sells for $2.9M.
NBA Game Highlights driving $300M+ in volume.
Today, we deep-dive the creation of a new digital asset class & how one innovative eCommerce company is paving the way for a new era of online retail.
It All Starts with Physical Art
Over 50% of all physical artwork in circulation is presumed to be duplicated or fake. Imagine being an art collector who spends $1M, $5M, or $100M on a piece of art … only to find out later that you’ve purchased a fraud?
Brands struggle with the same concerns of authenticity. Designer fashion brands are plagued by knockoffs, book publishers try to prevent online uploads of text by pirates, and digital artists find their work copied and distributed to the vast corners of the internet without consent.
Consumers want to own the real thing and producers want to be compensated for producing the real thing. How do we cross this chasm of ownership?
Proving Digital Ownership
There’s some new tech in town, and for once, it’s not spelled FAANG.
It’s spelled NFT.
‘NFT’ stands for ‘Non-Fungible Token,’ which is a fancy way to describe digital proof of ownership behind something.
That something could be anything from a song (3LAU), a piece of digital art (Jack Butcher), or a televised sports moment (NBA Topshot). Most importantly, this digital copy cannot be duplicated once created, meaning you know exactly how many copies of it exist in the world.
Why Brands & Consumers Should Care
But why would digital ownership so drastically impact the future of eCommerce & retail?
It’s a great question, one that’s best explained via example.
Say Nike decides to release a quantity of 100 limited-edition Air Force Ones, a classic take on a storied bestseller. With such a scarce quantity, fans of the Nike brand quickly descend on the launch to get 1 of 100 shoes. Some buyers may hold onto their rare shoes (store of value) and some may flock to secondary markets to mint a profit (transfer of value).
But what’s stopping an enterprising scoundrel from manufacturing “similar enough” shoes to dupe unsuspecting buyers on the open market? All of a sudden, 1 of 100 becomes 1 of “Uh, how many?” and it becomes impossible to tell what’s real and what’s fake without an expert eye.
NFTs Establish Authenticity, Which Creates Value
When a brand or artist releases art, not much stands in the way of copycats stealing the art and reproducing the designs onto a t-shirt, a canvas, a product, or any other visual medium.
NFTs establish clear and unbroken proof of ownership of digital assets that previously were impossible to distinguish or protect. An owner can either hold an asset or transfer it by selling it on a secondary market.
A High Flying History of NFTs
The rise of NFT from 2020 –2021 has been characterized as obscene by some, and confusing by many. A high-flying crypto–market found warm shelter in the hands of digital artists, as they finally unlocked a way to directly sell their art to loyal communities.
Onlookers soon gaped when the digital artist Mike Winkelmann, better known by his pseudonym ‘Beeple,’ sold a piece of digital-only art for $69.3 million with fees. Working with famed auction house Christie’s, the one-of-one auction served as a true watershed moment for the flurry of NFTs to follow later in the year. The work, titled “Everydays — The First 5000 Days” was a collage of all of Beeple’s online art posted since 2007.
Rather than buying an physical piece of art that sits in a temperature controlled room under heavy scrutiny, Beeple’s work was digital-only. It was the only one of its kind created, and the only one that will be created.
“Hmm, this all sounds pretty neat Tom” you wonder, “but how does all of this connect to the future of retail?”
We’re almost there, I promise!
For top eCommerce brands who rely on their copyrights & designs to scale, being able to prove what’s real and what’s isn’t is everything.
And for one brand on the cutting edge, NFTs may even enable customers to own royalty streams on sales of products.
Ikonick: Masters of Digital Art
Ikonick, the 8-figure leader in canvas art, sells high-quality canvas prints online, with free shipping baked into every order. Founded by superstar duo Mark Mastrandrea and Jeff Cole, Ikonick has constantly pushed themselves to be on the cutting edge of commerce & technology.
My readers know I’ve written extensively about Ikonick in the past, but today we’re diving into how this canvas art company is adding a brilliant new layer to their business by stepping into the world of NFTs.
As leaders in the canvas art world, they release story-based, eye-popping designs to an audience well into the millions, but are often imitated, knocked off, and copied by aspiring competitors. Their response? To dive into the world of NFTs to establish ownership of digital art and create new income streams for their community based on artwork sales.
“This now allows us to play in limited units because we’re confident that there’s going to be value in the secondary market. People sorely underestimate the importance of secondary sales.” — Mark Mastrandrea
Ikonick is setting out to draw a verifiable line between the physical products they sell and the digital ownership behind their pieces. Just like your Facebook profile serves as a digital version of your physical identity, Ikonick envisions a physical world that runs exactly parallel to the digital world (within art ownership).
The Future of Retail is NFT
To link these two worlds together, Ikonick is launching a first of its kind NFT derived from a best-selling art piece, which drove over $750K in sales in 2020. Now, they’re leveraging the art to create a NFT, which they’ll be distributing back to their audience.
“The Ikonick Eternal NFT collection is our most celebrated and classic art piece reimagined into digital NFTs.” — Ikonick
The Ikonick NFT launch offers two ways for the community to participate: you can place a bid in the ‘Eternal Auction’ to own a 1-of-1 NFT of their best-selling piece, or you can purchase a $500 gift card to the Ikonick store to unlock a second NFT, the quantity of which will be determined by demand. Both editions are only available for 48 hours and will never be sold again.
“Our consumer base is going to create the amount that is in the market. From there, we’ll layer in different game mechanics where if you have one of these [NFT] editions, then it will get you [future benefits].” — Mark Mastrandrea
Each NFT-holder will unlock future benefits from Ikonick, such as the ability to buy exclusive canvases, gain access to premium media, and continued participation in future NFT releases.
But The Real Prize Is…
In addition to getting the underlying NFT, the winner will also unlock points that place them into a secondary ‘Collaboration Contest’ to design a piece of Ikonick artwork with their team, which unlocks a 10% royalty on all sales of that art! The winner of the Collaboration Contest will be decided based on who has the most amount of points at the completion of the campaign.
“It’s a brand play. The person that wins can basically position themselves or their brand however they want, within reason.” — Mark Mastrandrea
Seems like pretty good company to be in.
Want to be a part of NFT retail history? Check out the campaign HERE, which begins at 2PM PST on May 3rd, 2021 and ends May 5th!
How Commerce Will Evolve As A Result
Today’s NFTs are bought primarily because of scarcity and as a store of value, which often perplex those trying to understand the true function behind them.
Ikonick is setting the stage to mint the concept of the functional NFT. The winner of Ikonick’s ‘Collaboration Contest’ will work with the design team to put together the next piece, which will be released to an Ikonick audience numbering into the millions. Post-collaboration, the holder of the NFT will unlock a 10% commission on all future sales of that artwork.
Woah, that’s huge. Pause. Let me repeat that.
Ownership of this Ikonick NFT will unlock a real, cash-flowing revenue stream for the holder. For the first time, an eCommerce company will tie a measure of economic performance (royalty) to the underlying NFT.
By doing this, they fundamentally upgrade the NFT from simply a certificate of authenticity that carries secondary-market value into an asset that bears actual cash flows. With the right artwork, the cash-value of the NFT could grow significantly over time. If the average canvas print (adjusted for range of dimensions) sells for $200 and 10000 units of the print are sold each year, the holder would be contractually entitled to $200,000 of revenue per year.
As adoption increases, NFTs have the potential to evolve from flat stores of value to concrete representations of value, whether that means unlocking royalty income streams or granting access to the holder.
So, with all this being said, how can other founders and tech-savvy brands learn from the Ikonick NFT launch?
Big Takeaways from the Ikonick co-founder
Elements of a Successful NFT Launch
“Have a storyline, build relationships with key players, and bring your own community.” — Mark Mastrandrea
Bring Your Tribe With You:
“You’re not going to be able to rely on these marketplaces. For them to sell units through their distribution, you’re going to have to bring your own distribution.”
Pay It Forward:
“Make sure there’s value in there for people to unlock future things.”
Educate the Consumer:
“Be a conduit to get people more invested into the space. We really want to take the stance of educating our audience on how serious this is.”
All quotes above attributable to Mark Mastrandrea.
Witness History in the Making
Thanks for making it to the end of this month’s brand teardown! The potential to store and trade the value of digital assets through NFT opens up a near infinite world of possibilities, which in turn will reward early adopters and drive the evolution of commerce forwards.
So, do you want to see what the future of eCommerce looks like?
Check out the Ikonick NFT campaign here, and see for yourself.
