FANZ in the Wild | Ep. I - "The Most Powerful Brand Loyalty Potential in History"

FANZ in the Wild

In the FanChain ecosystem, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the Mints, who stamp and distribute the tokens, and the fans, who put them to use. These are their stories.

IN THIS EPISODE

The Most Powerful Brand Loyalty Potential in History

Brand loyalty programs date back to the days of Claude Hopkins,[1] the author of what is widely considered the essential Marketing 101 handbook. Before cross-continental highways, before television ads, before modern refrigerated transportation, mail-by-air, and certainly the internet and smart phones, marketing consisted of little more than making the residents of your town aware that you’ve got hats for sale. Naturally, as communication technologies and transportation matured so did their exploitation. Our local haberdasher could reach customers across the state, eventually across the country and, in time, across the planet. Loyalty programs evolved in parallel with this expanding reach in order to satisfy two fundamental purposes: first, to retain a customer and second to prevent any competitor from stealing a customer - or even just syphoning their mindshare. This is all common business sense now. But mom-and-pop shops, regional retailers and international conglomerates nonetheless continue to wring their hands over customer loyalty. The internet has simultaneously disintermediated the process of developing brand loyalty – that is, the internet has made it easier - and given rise to generations of increasingly fickle customers, customers who are wont to disappear should a checkout cart require one more click than expected.

While a traditional loyalty program anticipates that Since you bought my beer once you will likely buy it again, such systems are not designed to make predictions based on anything much more advanced that this. But a decentralized mechanism has potential to unlock a universe of customer behavior, or, even better, empower a brand to instantly and meaningfully reward a customer. Any customer, be it current customer or one loyal to a competitor.

Clever brands can invert costly customer acquisition procedures by utilizing the FanChain ecosystem. Let’s say my friend sends me a picture of himself with our favorite player:

“How the hell did you meet Odell Beckham?!”

“Bud Lite knows I’m a Giants fan, so they sent me an alert that anyone who stakes at least 50,000 Giants tokens and 10,000 Bud Lite tokens will get to play catch, on the field, with Odell. Trying to get my hands on more Bud Lite coin!”

There are endless permutations of this scenario where customers seek out the brands that will ultimately reward them for being loyal. And this reversal presents a bold new paradigm for brand-customer relations, a paradigm that is truly engaging, truly rewarding and truly mutual.

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[1] Hopkins, Claude. My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966