NFTs (the famous Non-Fungible Tokens) are a reality that cannot be ignored anymore—and it seems like pioneering brands are learning this more and more.

Even though some people are still getting to grips with the concept (if you don’t fully understand what an NFT is, don’t feel like an alien: polls show that one in four Americans don’t either), the fact is that this technology is in meteoric rise (in 2021, NFTs grew by 11,000%). And some brands are adopting very creative strategies with it—and generating results just as meteoric for themselves.

Coachella, Super Bowl, Adidas, Dolce & Gabanna and MAC are just some of the many examples of brands and companies that used NFTs in a strategic way to achieve higher results in its campaigns and provide a different and unique experience for it customers. 

In this article, we’ll explore more of these examples, and show you how brands have been using NFTs, what results they are having and what insights can you absorb for your brand—using, or not, this news tech.  

Just to remember… What are NFTs again?

NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are unique, distinct and irreplaceable codes registered by the blockchain system, the same technology used in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

If you want to explore more about the topic, I highly recommend you to read this article. Now, let’s explore how NFT has been used by brands as part of their strategy!

Coachella Music & Arts Festival and the NFT Blooming Flower

If you’re one of those people who, like me, likes a good music festival, then you’ve probably noticed that the big hype this April was the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. This is a festival popularly known for its duration, held over two full weekends, and for the wide variety of artists from all over the world.

This year, in addition to the great attractions and guest artists, a specific attraction caught the attention of the participating public: the NFTs. The festival offered all paying participants an NFT digital image of a flower that bloomed on the two Fridays of the festival.

Coachella 2022 also brought other technologies, like metaverse and cashless payment, to mix up in-person experiences with virtual marketing, and it became a good example of the importance of engagement Marketing in the post-pandemic era.

NFTs as event tickets

As you saw on the previous example, NFTs offer advantages for the entertainment market today, such as concerts, cinema and sports as they are unique, distinct and irreplaceable codes. 

One of the gains that brands can have is the generation of a collectible item for fans, such as a ticket. From matchboxes to luxury cars, the collectibles market moves billions of dollars annually and arouses the curiosity of people from around the world. Some companies realized the attraction of their consumers towards collectibles from their brands and decided to join the passion of collectors of physical items to the world of NFTs.

In order to provide the experience of collecting tickets from their consumers, some brands have already decided to launch their tickets in a fully digital version. This is the case of the NFL franchise, which decided to turn tickets from its biggest annual event, the Super Bowl, into collectible NFTs.

Brazilian soccer club Vasco da Gama recently partnered with Block4 (a Brazilian company specializing in the creation of NFT collectibles) to issue NFT tickets for the team’s fans.

When you think about it, digital tickets aren’t really a huge leap if you’ve used your phone to get into a concert or game before. But throwing NFT tech into the mix gives fans something more than just a QR code—they’re getting a kind of digital souvenir that sticks around. It’s not really about owning a piece of the stadium turf or anything, but plenty of people like having a unique badge of honor to show off, especially online. I’ve seen people add their NFT tickets to digital wallets, post about them, talk about them like you would with old movie stubs, except not scrunched up at the bottom of a bag. That memorabilia aspect is actually driving some serious fan engagement, at least for now.

On the business side, there’s this transparency play that a lot of organizers harp on. Since you can check authenticity on the blockchain, there’s less room for fraud and scalping shenanigans that tend to ruin ticketing for everyone else. But honestly, not everyone’s totally sold on using NFTs for all events. Smaller concerts or shows sometimes find the tech a bit overkill, and troubleshooting “where’s my NFT ticket?” can be a new headache at the gate. Still, given the scale of something like the Super Bowl, the benefits seem to outweigh the quirks, at least in 2025.

Not to mention, it’s kind of fascinating how this has shifted the economics around tickets. Suddenly, people aren’t just buying entry — they’re speculating that these digital stubs might actually rise in value. A handful of Super Bowl NFT tickets from past years are already floating around on secondary markets, being traded not unlike limited-edition baseball cards, though the prices aren’t exactly jaw-dropping yet. Whether this creates a real secondary market or just fizzles into another odd crypto fad is anyone’s guess. Quite honestly, the unpredictability is half the appeal for some collectors (or thrill-seekers, depending on who you ask).

In the entertainment universe, the AMC cinema chain distributed 86,000 NFTs to those who bought tickets for the movie Spider-Man: No Way Home. In the case of the Coachella festival, NFTs were launched that guarantee lifetime access to the event. This was only possible thanks to blockchain technology.

What’s less talked about, but worth a quick mention, are the environmental debates attached to all this digital hoopla. Plenty of skeptics point out the energy use around blockchains—yes, even now, when some platforms have gotten better at it. Still, for brands eager to show off a green image, there’s pressure to prove their NFTs aren’t costing the Earth just so folks can display a digital badge next to their username. Some are experimenting with eco-friendly blockchain alternatives, but that’s a whole other can of worms, and not all brands are up for that tech switch yet.

Using NFT and blockchain technology for ticketing, brands and consumers benefit from security against counterfeiting of the items sold. With blockchain, a unique code is generated on the ticket and this code is easily verified by event organizers, and can even be created as a non-transferable and locked code for resale. This proves the ticket’s authenticity and verifies that it is being sold by a legitimate organizer, thus preventing ticket counterfeiting and providing traceability of the ticket for fraud control.

NFTs as digital merchandise

Companies in the fashion industry are riding high on the NFT hype. Last March, the virtual platform Decentraland held its first fashion show, creating a completely virtual and immersive Fashion Week. Brands such as Dolce & Gabanna, Tommy Hilfiger, Forever 21 and Paco Rabanne walked the runway at fashion week, and the platform generated fan engagement, opened new precedents for fashion shows and ways of approaching the public. In addition to the experience of participating in a fashion show, the event also sold NFTs of clothing and accessories from the brands present in the shows.

NFTs as exclusivity

Some companies have been using NFTs as a way to provide unique experiences to their customers. This is the case of the Californian winery Robert Mondavi, which decided to launch the first wine label sold by NFT in the world. There are only 1996 bottles collectible and traceable by blockchain technology. 

Each NFT of wine retails for $3,500 and has a key to unlock a bottle redemption. That would be a potential revenue of $6.9 million dollars. Not bad, huh?

NFTs as a fundraiser

Some brands are also known for their performance in social responsibility. NFT’s have opened up new opportunities for them to change the way they raise money for these social movements they support. MAC Cosmetics, for example, will sell collectible NFTs to raise funds to support organizations in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

NFTs open up new opportunities not only for brands but also for nonprofits. The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) started the sale of a collection of 1000 NFT’s to raise funds for the promotion of internet access for students in schools around the world. Hope for Haiti in partnership with FXG announced the launch of NFT’s to raise money for victims of an earthquake in Haiti.

What results are brands having with NFTs?

Hype or not, NFTs have been moving in high volumes since 2021, when $25 billion dollars were transacted, breaking the record since their creation. 

Attentive brands have jumped on the NFT hype and are cashing in on it. Adidas, for example, moved approximately 43 million dollars in NFTs in a partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Punks Comics and GMoney.

In addition to financial gains, brands have been achieving branding results with their customers, delivering exclusive experiences to customers, creating a sense of community and bringing younger audiences tuned into new technologies more easily. Breaking down barriers between the physical and digital universe has provided a series of penetrations into markets that were previously unimaginable for brands, such as the gaming and entertainment market, and even visibility in social impact actions.

If you want to start investing in NFTs for your brand, begin with your branding and digital marketing strategy. Define exactly what you expect with this new strategy. Do you hope to increase the reach of your audience? Strengthen the spirit of community? Engage fans in your brand? Support social causes?

Remember that strategy comes before tactics. Another important point to highlight is to understand if your audience engages with this new trend. Only then will you be able to delight your audience and increase your brand recognition.