N. F. T.

If ever there were three letters to get eyes rolling with cynicism, it’s these.

We’ve long moved past the glory days when Beeple’s NFT was auctioned at Christie’s for $69-million. This was a mere 18-months ago, but the excitement around this potentially fertile new medium has already turned to scepticism.

This story isn’t new. We often see this trajectory happening when a game-changing new piece of technology is launched upon the world. It’s why Gartner came up with the hype cycle, whereby new technologies mature into genuine problem solvers, but only after a period of over-excitable hype. When it comes to NFTs, we’re currently at the peak of the hype.

When NFTs broke onto the scene they offered so much: the evolution of ownership and intellectual property, the notion of a built-in "smart contract", the democratization of art via a new digital distribution model, and the transformation of collectibles.

But fast-forward a year and we’ve seen a glut of low-rent NFTs saturate – and devalue – the market. After the Bored Ape Yacht Club smashed into our collective consciousness, the opportunist copycats got straight to work. And a medium that initially offered much promise soon became the poster child for opportunism.

So it’s time to rehabilitate the NFT. And it’s why the crew at BCN Visuals so thoroughly enjoyed working with iconic football brand, FC Barcelona, on their first ever foray into the NFT market: a record-breaking 40-second digital artwork – called  In a Way, Immortal – that poetically retells Johan Cruyff's legendary 1973 goal in molten gold animation.

The first question any self-respecting marketer will ask is: why should a football club invest in an NFT? The answer is surprisingly simple. It’s part of the club’s strategic commitment to adopting technology and innovation as a way of creating unforgettable cultural moments that educate and inspire millennial, xennial and Gen Z supporters.

But if FC Barcelona were to embark on this mission with yet another lacklustre 10-second GIF NFT, they would have turned this hard-to-reach audience off. And a globally-famous football brand can’t risk coming across as just another bandwagon jumper.

Redefining the NFT

To make NFTs work for FC Barcelona, the idea of an NFT had to be redefined by bringing it back, full circle, to become an item of cherished value. From the get-go, the goal was to go beyond the buzzwords, the media hype and the saturation of ape GIFs.

The club sought to create a genuine piece of digital art, something more akin to a Renaissance sculpture than a CG animation, by using a 40-strong team of Hollywood’s best-in-class VFX talent. But even this wasn’t quite enough to help NFTs evolve beyond ownership tokens of digital art. To really reach the next level, we baked money-can’t-buy VIP experiences into the NFT’s smart contract.

In a Way, Immortal is the first ever NFT to be produced by Hollywood VFX and CG royalty. An all-star team was assembled to cover everything from digital sculpting to fluid simulation, from texture and shaders to cinematography and camera work. We even composed an original soundtrack, played by a 30-piece orchestra, that incorporated real sounds from the Camp Nou stadium and club supporters.

Eschewing the conventional production-focused pipeline in favour of a more artistic approach, we drew on inspiration from Renaissance master sculptors. Every element of Johan Cryuff’s digital sculpture was designed, shaped and crafted by hand, with no re-useable pre-made assets. Every splash was hand-sculpted, every scratch was individually crafted. This runs counter to everything we’ve learnt in the VFX world. But the result is clear: a digital artwork that conveys warmth, rather than synthetic perfection. It’s equivalent to the difference between a hand-chiselled sculpture and a 3D printed sculpture. And it’s what elevates the NFT from digital content to genuine artwork.

Incorporating experiential 

With a brand like FC Barcelona, ‘money-can’t-buy’ and ‘VIP’ experiences aren’t hard to find. The NFT’s buyer not only owns a unique and ground-breaking digital artwork, they will also be the beneficiary of meet and greets, hospitality rights, the right to play at the Spotify Camp Nou stadium and official ball handovers at friendly matches.

In a Way, Immortal is definitely no 10-second monkey business. And it deserves an auction that befits its elite status. This is where Sotheby’s stepped in. When redefining NFT content and benefits, it’s only right that we also completely redefine the way it’s all experienced. By engaging Sotheby’s, the unveiling of the NFT at auction became an event in itself, creating fanfare similar to how Hollywood studios release blockbusting movies. The live auction became such a cultural moment in and of itself that it broke the record for being the most watched live auction in history. Not bad for an NFT.

For brands that can put the NFT backlash to one side and instead appreciate their potential in connecting the brand to its audience in an exciting way, the take-outs have become apparent: make the content fresh and valuable; bake bespoke experiences into the NFT’s smart contract; and make its sale an event in its own right. In the same way that ‘smartphones’ were in fact dumbphones until the iPhone came along, I very much hope that In a Way, Immortal will reawaken brands to the true potential of next-gen NFTs.