Whatever you do, don’t call Nike’s latest collection an NFT, web3 or crypto project.
It’s not that those descriptions are wrong per se. On the contrary they’re right in many ways. Nike did end the first digital sneaker drop on its web3 marketplace .Swoosh last week (May 16). The release of the digitized Air Force Ones are NFTs for all intents and purposes i.e. a digital thing someone can own.
And yet, that term — and the other two most commonly associated with it — were nowhere to be found on any of the marketing for the collection. Instead, Nike called the sneakers a series of “virtual creations”.
Sure, there’s an element of marketing hokiness to this moniker, but it’s also a nod to something more profound: the average consumer only cares about experience. They’re not interested in the underlying technology that makes this possible. And in this instance, they’re especially interested in the power of collective ownership.
Four virtual shoe designs from .Swoosh members were picked by Nike to be part of the sneaker drop. And Nike worked with…