Blockchain marketing news in February 2019

There was a really nice mix of stories in February after a fairly limited January. Given the on-going crypto winter, we expected the news cycle to take a bit of time to pick up this year and have been pleasantly surprised that it did so quicker than expected.

But what's changed? Well maybe we were just failing to take note of the anecdotal assurances from our contacts inside projects who told us that, regardless of crypto prices, a lot is being done behind the scenes. Or, conversely, maybe we are jumping the gun in spotting some rays of hope at the moment. We'll just have to wait and see.

For now though, get stuck into what's been great about February. Top of the news agenda has to be the latest incarnation of the blockchain marketing technology landscape and the continuing growth that's happening there. After that, we've got a great video interview on Blockchain Branding with Erica Blair that featured on Hackernoon, another case study from Lucidity that reinforces the benefits of blockchain in programmatic advertising and the industry's view on Facebook's first blockchain acquisition.

And finally...we couldn't send out this month's update without some mention of one of the most talked about topics of the month, tippin.me. We've got a funny feeling that there'll be a lot more for the designers, devs and marketers involved in blockchain to get their teeth into with this micro-tipping tool for social media.

Enjoy and don't forget, we are the pioneers!

From Us

What is blockchain marketing?

Agreeing on a precise definition of blockchain marketing can be hard, especially as it is still an emerging field. Having reviewed what happened in blockchain marketing in 2018 for Hackernoon, we've followed up with this explanatory guide for anyone that wants to get their head around the basics. It includes the difference between blockchain in marketing and the marketing of blockchains, as well as the key elements of a solid marketing strategy for your project.

News and Reports

Blockchain marketing tech landscape grows 13x in 18 months

Regular readers will have seen mention of Never Stop Marketing's landscape before and it continues to be a useful barometer for progress in the sector. What's interesting about the latest news is not just the obvious growth in the sector that has occurred in a relatively short space of time, but also the fact that Brave, the ad-free web browser that utilises the Basic Attention Token (BAT), has sponsored the guide this time around.

Lucidity, IAB Tech Lab uncover programmatic ad fraud in blockchain pilot

Combatting programmatic ad fraud is one of the most established use cases for blockchain when it comes to fixing issues in the world of marketing and advertising. Lucidity, the blockchain advertising platform, seems to be doing a great job of generating meaningful case studies to prove this - in this case identifying that nearly half (48%) of clicks in the pilot campaigns were discrepant.

NEM Foundation almost broke after $23million worth of marketing

The foundation that was developed to support the NEM blockchain platform is planning to raise a further $6.8million, after it revealed that it has just one month of cashflow remaining "due to the mismanagement of the previous governance council". As readers will know, many crypto and blockchain projects spent big on marketing after successful ICOs, with the report suggesting NEM spent $23million on marketing in just 14 months.

Arsenal FC teams with Fantastec on blockchain collectibles app

Throughout last year, there was lots of talk about non-fungible tokens being used as digital collectables and the many branded marketing opportunities that these could bring. While a healthy dose of scepticism is probably the best approach for now, it's undoubtedly worth watching how a partnership between one of the biggest sports brands in the world and a blockchain technology company develops.

Features and Interviews

Effectively Marketing Blockchain Technology with Erica Blair

Having a clear brand identity that will stand the test of time is even more important in the blockchain industry than others, as networks, protocols and communities take time to develop. In this video interview, Erica Blair does a great job of explaining how brands can achieve this and also delves into the unique value and incentive mechanisms in the industry that make great blockchain branding different to anything we've seen before.

Industry Opinions

How could Facebook's use of blockchain affect marketing?

Undoubtedly a big blockchain marketing story on its own, we could have included Facebook's first acquisition in the space simply as a piece of news. However, this article from Martech Today gives a useful range of views from across the blockchain and marketing industries as to what the move really means.

The security token market needs better lingo

While it's not strictly a blockchain marketing story, this Coindesk opinion piece about the growing STO market tackles some important points about messaging in this emerging industry. While STO was termed in order to make an important regulatory distinction, this article points out that further, better descriptions are needed now to clarify what different tokens are for different audiences.

And Finally...

Tippin.me, a panacea for social media economic models?

This free app, built by Sergio Abril, has taken Crypto Twitter by storm this month, with support from Jack Dorsey and Erik Voorhees helping it along. While it may just be a passing fad, we have a feeling this could be (as the headline suggests) the start of a wave of micro-payment for content models that could totally shift how blockchain marketers use social media in future.