How Pudgy Penguins building an NFT empire:
Vaibhav Singh?
Web3 Marketer | Founder of TagWag | Growth Hacker | Influencer Marketing
How Pudgy Penguins NFT became the greatest underdog story in web3:
Pudgy Penguins instantly went viral.
Pudgy Penguins launched in July 2021, in the middle of the NFT bull run.
They minted out in 19 minutes and pumped 10,000% just two weeks later.
So the NFT collection of 8,888 NFTs was off to a solid start.
But, there was a problem...
The team behind Pudgy Penguins was constantly underdelivering.
And holders were losing faith in the team.
However, there was one thing that could turn Pudgy Penguins around.
Pudgy Presents
These were free-to-claim NFTs for all Pudgy Penguin holders.
Which were set to reveal on Christmas Eve.
After months of speculating on what's in the Presents.
They finally revealed into…
Fishing rods?
People were confused.
Why is a fishing rod coming out of an egg?
And to make things worse...
The team also misspelled the word "Rod."
Holders were extremely underwhelmed.
This was the final straw. The community demanded a change in leadership.
And luckily for them...
The founder responded.
He created a poll on if he should be removed from the Pudgy team.
And the community voted yes.
But, this wasn't enough.
People didn't just want Cole removed, they also wanted a whole new team.
And so...
A bidding war started.
- 9x9x9eth
- Luca S.
- beaniemaxi
- TungstenDAO
Were all competing to buy Pudgy Penguins
Just 3 months later...
Luca S. acquired Pudgy Penguins.
And the community became extremely happy and excited for the future.
So, why did Luca spend $2.5m on Pudgy?
Well, he thought there was something magical about the IP.
Since the art is family-friendly, it can appeal to so many people.
He thought all the project needed was a solid team and then the sky's the limit.
Luca started to turn the project around.
He completely rebranded Pudgy Penguins.
And shortly after released a Quest Map.
The team started to build at an extremely high speed.
After buying the project for $2.5 million, the new founder Luca S. informed holders that the project had zero funds.
The bear market was hitting hard, and NFT sentiment was at rock bottom.
For the past year, Luca and his team had to be ‘really scrappy’ to grow the project.
Since he joined the project, the Pudgy Penguins team has:
- Gained 4 billion gif views
- Grew an IG following to 538k+
- Hosted a few amazing IRL events
- Recruited a stacked advisory board
- Auctioned off the first SBT at Sothebys
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- Partnered with Retail Monster & Kelloggs
- Launched Pudgy Media, a clothing line, and a marketplace.
- Launched a physical toys project
- Created new ways for holders to unlock new revenue opportunities.
- And so much more…
Luca assembled a rock-solid advisory board featuring:
? Alex Svanevik - CEO of Nansen
? Sanjay Raghavan - Head of Web3 at Roofstock
? Jordan Sterling - Partnerships at META
? Jess Richardson - Head of Licensing at Hasbro
? Paolo Moreno - Adviser at SFX Ent & Fashion Nova
Here're their plans for 2023:
Price Action:
While most blue-chips like BAYC and Doodles have gone down 60-80%, Pudgy Penguins climbed its way from 0.6 ETH to above 5 ETH since April 2022.
In the past 30 days, the collection has generated $4.2 million in sales, and the floor price sits strong at 5.9 ETH.
Last week they announced raising a $9 million seed round of funding from VCs.
Why did VCs invest?
Pudgy Penguins has made it through a major part of the bear market without raising funds.
That says a lot about the team's abilities to deliver.
Luca has created a solid brand and is now using the help from VCs to take the Penguins out of their Igloos.
Lessons for NFT Founders:
1?? Raise for growth, not survival.
I speak to NFT founders raising money with zero revenue, when they should be focusing on creating sustainable revenue streams first.
Despite an empty treasury, Netz did not raise funds when he took over in 2022.
2?? A strong community is your biggest blessing
Pudgy Penguin's community was its biggest asset, not its community vault.
Netz saw that and really, he paid to acquire the community, not the IP.
Prioritize creating a strong community above all.
3?? Create a brand for the masses, not for Web3.
With the launch of Pudgy Toys and GIFs, the PP team wants to create a mass-appeal brand with sustainable revenue streams.
The Penguins doubled down on their social media strategy, reaching over 3 billion views on its official GIFs.
Taking advantage of the social media views, and family-friendly IP, Pudgy launched their own toys - Pudgy Toys.
The toy launch was a wild success, selling over 20,000 toys (worth over $500,000) on Amazon in the first two days.
Pudgys appeared on Kellogg Company , and have also partnered with WME | William Morris Endeavor for the growth of their media brand.
Observations:
In an extractive NFT world where builders are focused on extracting value from their holders, Pudgy Penguins is allowing its holders to monetize their IP.
They are empowering their holders to create digital content leveraging their NFTs and even use it for physical toys.
Conclusion:
The story of Pudgy Penguins is one of remarkable resilience and triumph.
From facing the brink of extinction, they have not only survived but flourished in the competitive NFT market.
With strong leadership, and a solid community, they've attracted investors and are poised for mainstream success.
Tagging some Web3 marketing friends for feedback:
Saiteja Challapalli ??,?Aditi Singhal,?Ayush Panchmiya,?Tanya Amesar,?Prateek Singh,?Aakash Kubavat,?Suganya Ramasamy,?Pranab Kabiraj,?Pratik Shigli,?Akanksha Saxena,?Mahima Jain,?Manashi Bharati,?Manpreet Singh,?Mansi Shukla, Ashish Kumar Jain , Payal ghosh , Komal Bhamu , Abhishek Singh , Geetika Gahlot , Alexandra Nicorici , Vir .. , Virti Jain , Elora Nath , Pari Tomar
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