episode 43 - (It's Big!) NBA Top Shot and the Digital Collectibles Revolution
Episode Summary
2021 is barely three months old and there's already a huge winner in eCommerce: the NBA. In October, they launched NBA Top Shot, a digital sports memorabilia platform that is already on pace to make over $1 billion this year – all done with little to no advertising. How did they do it?
During this solo episode, Stephen will go under the hood and walk through how the NBA innovated common eCommerce concepts such as owned media, product drops, customer service, lotteries and secondary markets to create a highly-engaged community experience that over 800,000 people regularly use. And how online businesses can make these concepts their own and what in the near future to look out in the exciting world of virtual eCommerce and NFTs.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
[5:24] Origin story of how Stephen found out about NBA Top Shot and how to spot emerging trends via Twitter. From Twitter to Bleacher Report to Gary Vaynerchuk.
[11:15] The building blocks of NBA Top Shot: the “Moment”, the pack drop, serial numbers and circulation size, secondary market, payment options including cryptocurrencies.
[14:00] The history of Dapper Labs, from CryptoKitties to major sports leagues. And the start of NBA Top Shot.
[16:45] How NBA Top Shot innovated its new arrivals: Pack Drops
[19:40] Marketplace: the NBA’s version of the stock market
[21:30] Using Discord as the next-level of customer communities (and what businesses use Facebook Groups for)
[25:15] The new communities that NBA Top Shot has created: Influencers, appraisal software for Top Shot items, Discord community.
[26:40] How the Top Shot community uses neo-lotteries to make shopping fun.
[29:11] Owned media strategies used by NBA Top Shot – discord, Twitter, SMS and email marketing.
[31:35] The rise of digital collectibles and why people will spend thousands of dollars on an NFT.
[33:15] The future of digital goods: the many places where someone can show it off.
[32:17] Known media/importance of community building and how it affects the e-commerce
[34:40] What is a “flex”?: the consumer psychology factors that make for a winning product
Links Mentioned
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