Discord's Journey to Becoming the "Soho House of Web 3.0"
The invite-only social media network has become a tool for NFT projects to generate hype and reach audiences.
In February, luxury sneaker startup Cult & Rain will offer its first official presale for the brand's $1,200 Italian-made sneakers. There is a lot riding on this right now. The brand's sneakers are only created once they have been ordered, and they come in high-end packaging that doubles as a trophy case and a shoebox.
The brand used Discord, a six-year-old platform that began with gamer chat rooms, to generate buzz for the impending presale. Because of Cult & Rain's NFT tie-in, it is more fitting than Instagram or TikTok, according to founder George Yang, who worked as a designer at Theory and Costume National. Starting with 3D animations offered as NFTs, the brand is digital-first. Each NFT from the 2,000-piece collection that is purchased comes with a physical counterpart (only 100 of each "skin" will be sold).
Yang describes Discord as "the heart and soul of an NFT project.? Discord is its own ecosystem, combining Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, and LinkedIn into one, with global engagement 24/7. Our backbone is the community."
Discord, which has its origins in gaming, is not open to the public; unlike other social platforms, it requires a link invitation to join each server. It boasts over 150 million monthly active users and over 19 million weekly active servers. For businesses looking to legitimise NFT projects, cultivating a feeling of exclusivity and desirability might be lucrative — if they can gain the requisite "clout" to be accepted by the NFT community, Yang argues.
"If there is a Soho House of Web 3.0, it is on Discord," says Amanda Cassatt, CEO of Serotonin, a venture studio and marketing agency that assists Sotheby's and luxury fashion brands with metaverse debut. Cassatt further claims that its software makes it simple to implement a token-gating mechanism, which means that having a specific NFT may automatically provide access to specific servers. "Influencer marketing in Web 3.0 is leveraging Discord. "Brands who are seeking to develop a community realize the value of building relationships within these gated communities because it is the current communities that seed the new ones," she explains.
Brands can develop their own servers on Discord to both attract NFT enthusiasts and share NFT projects with current followers - either strategy gets the NFT project noticed by a hungry audience. Similar to Slack, each server can have several configurable threads or channels, and Discord also enables for audio and video communication. Brands typically have an "announcements" channel for official announcements, a "general chat" channel where members may discuss upcoming drops and meet one another, as well as other themed channels of the brand's choosing. Conversations on Discord aren't always related to the brand's products.
Rtfkt has a memes thread. Giveaways, fashion contests, movie nights, and member-created art all have their own threads on Cult & Rain. Adidas offers a suggestion thread where people can explore how an Adidas DAO may work, how to make a fitness channel, and ideas for a fashion show in Decentraland or The Sandbox. Gucci Vault has a thread dedicated completely to people saying "gm," short for "good morning," which has become the NFT community's standard all-day greeting. According to Oudinot, Gucci wants to be a part of an authentic conversation and is investing in the community with the new hire. Overseeing a community of artists and "megafans" of its NFT initiatives, as well as being on the "bleeding edge" of community platform trends, are among the responsibilities. In lieu of a typical resumé, Gucci is requesting applicants to provide information such as their Twitter account and favorite NFT-related memes.
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According to Rick Ling, group product manager at Discord, Discord was created specifically for fast-paced, collaborative communication, making it a perfect fit for NFT and metaverse projects which operate collaboratively and with community feedback.
Brands frequently tease products by holding contests that promise an additional VIP tier. Members frequently join in the hopes of being added to the "white list," which is a group of people who have unique access to NFTs, whether it's buying them at a discount, receiving early access, or learning more about them.
"Getting added to this white list is like being ushered behind the velvet rope," explains Cassatt of Serotonin. "The people you chat to behind that velvet rope might give you access to opportunities you would not otherwise have access to, and being behind the velvet rope of one of these Discord servers is a backdoor to even more opportunities." There are numerous entry points, each of which leads to other entry points. That is why it is known as the crypto or Web 3.0 rabbit hole."?
Still, Discord has become a hub for digital fashion projects. DressX, the digital fashion marketplace that just partnered with Fendi, recently hired a full-time Discord manager. The digital fashion business Rtfkt, which was acquired by Nike in December, has 136,000 members. The Fabricant, a digital fashion house, is using its Discord server to keep users up to date on its transition to a studio where people may make their own digital apparel. The Red DAO, the group of collectors who paid $1.9 million for Dolce & Gabbana NFTs, has its own Discord channel.
Most supporters do not believe Discord will become the next Instagram, but it is a potentially powerful option for connecting more intimately with devoted fans while exploring metaverse projects. Brands have already begun to diversify their social media strategies as dominant platforms become more expensive and ad targeting becomes less specific. Other emerging fashion spaces include Amazon-owned Twitch, Triller, a video-sharing app, and Clubhouse, which lost traction after Twitter launched the competing voice-chat service Twitter spaces. According to Amber Atherton, Discord's head of strategic communities, the company does not make money through ads; instead, it sells paid memberships that grant access to features such as custom emojis and enhancements, as well as "server boosting," which provides premium perks to server members.
Discord is also not the only platform for the NFT community to communicate. Twitter is also a popular place to talk about drops, share links, and invite people to Discord servers. Some brands also publish longer-form content on the platform Medium. While Instagram is great for sharing visual content, Yang believes it is not the best place to promote NFT projects.
"It is important for brands to know and understand their purpose for being on our service," says Atherton, when developing a Discord marketing strategy. "Building a community is not the same as running a campaign; it is an evergreen space where fans, customers, and users can come together around shared interests”.
It may assist brands in abandoning their marketing mindset entirely. "When luxury brands say they want to enter Web 3.0 or launch an NFT and do not even have Discord up and running, that pretty much contradicts what Web 3.0 stands for, which is community," Yang says. "Different brands will attempt to enter the NFT space, but the majority will most likely fail due to a lack of community support." They will approach it as if it were a standard fashion marketing strategy, or they will use it as a public relations stunt. And you might get one hit off of it. Long-term, however, if you are not home-grown and do not have a community behind you, it will be extremely difficult for a lot of the big brands”.?