Becoming Metaversal is now BRAND N3XT
Newsletter #12 - A roadmap for to developing the Newsletter
Hello again everyone -
I know I’ve been quiet recently, but I’ve been working hard in the background on building out the plans for how to evolve the newsletter and deliver more value and insights to all of you. This process has included a lot of travel, IRL meetings, a holiday where there was no cell signal and no internet access at all, and then most recently COVID - where being honest, little to nothing was done.
All that said, I am feeling better and ready to launch the next phase.
When I started Becoming Metaversal at the end of last year, I didn’t have a plan for what it would become. I didn’t really know where I would take it or how people would respond. What I knew was that there were too few quality conversations happening about the role that marketing and brands will play in helping people onboard themselves onto Web3, and capture value from doing so.
Instead, the conversations were almost exclusively focused on price. What coin prices are pumping, where the last Crypto Punk and Bored Ape sold, and what was likely to be the next project to moon. Price action made up both headlines and content. But while high prices capture attention and make great headlines, they are also a barrier to entry for a large majority of people who see the high prices and think they are too late, or alternatively, see the high prices and think this is a game for rich people only
My ambition however was to foster new conversations focused not on prices, but on the value that Web3 and Metaverse technologies offer to everyday people and to brands, regardless of price. I wanted to educate people about the future potential for these technologies, and outline a roadmap to on-boarding a broader range of people and brands. I believe that this technology has the potential to deliver tangible value at every level of the value chain. But for that to happen - we all need to know how to use it. Beyond shilling on Discord, and trying to mint and flip, real use cases need to exist in people’s minds - and even more to the point, they need to trust those use cases, and have access to them.
The truth is, and I will quote William Gibson here - “The future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed”. Web3 technologies represent that future in their ability to deliver foundational change, and as for distribution, I believe there is no better vehicle to accelerate that distribution than brand marketing.
I recently came back from the Cannes Festival of Creativity where one of the dominant award themes was brands doing marketing work that is good for their business while also being good for their people, good for the communities they serve, and good for society as a whole. Web3 will be a major force in aligning the incentives of all of these parties, and I believe brands and businesses can be a force for good in making that happen.
It’s with that insight that I have spent the past few weeks of silence building out a roadmap for the future of Becoming Metaversal. A roadmap that includes at its start, a rebrand/name change.
Introducing … BRAND N3XT
BRAND N3XT will be an educational platform focused on highlighting the ways in which Web3 technologies can be a force for good, and the role that brands and businesses will play in making that happen. BRAND N3XT is going to focus on 3 things:
Educating people and brands about the potential value that Web3 and Metaversal technologies offer to both business and everyday people
Highlighting use cases that are likely to drive scale and adoption, with a focus on the role that brands and marketing will play in accelerating and equalizing access to the value these technologies can offer
Spotlight the innovators (people, start-ups, and brands) who are leading and building in the space.
While the name Becoming Metaversal felt narrow and focused on virtual worlds, the truth is that I also write a lot about tokenization and Web3. BRAND N3XT as a platform will provide a view of how Web3 and Metaverse technologies will drive brand evolution and business value, how they will deliver consumers with a greater value for their actions, and how they will unlock broader social value.
In short, BRAND N3XT will help brands shape their understanding of what’s N3XT.
If that sounds ambitious, that’s because it is - and truth told, I am a bit intimidated by the scope of the ambition. It’s definitely not something any one person can do on their own, and for that reason, I have outlined 5 different components that together provide opportunities for a multitude of voices and perspectives to be heard - each highlighting different entry points to understanding this fast-evolving space.
1 - NEWSLETTER
These will stay true to the long-format thought pieces you are already accustomed to. The only change here will be the frequency (and the name) as I aim to start publishing them more regularly. The ambition will be one newsletter every two weeks as opposed to the ad-hoc schedule I have had up until now.
That said, at times there may still be 3 weeks between newsletters.
2 - PODCAST
I aim to invite and speak with the people who are creating, advising, and building new uses for Web3. These people are independent builders, they work with global brands, they are working with small start-ups, they are all different. But what they have in common is an ambition to make a positive difference in the world through these new technologies.
I know you probably already have too many podcasts you listen to. And I know everyone says theirs is different so you’ll listen. Ultimately you will have to be the judge of what I deliver. I can only ask that you give me a few episodes to find my voice and my style in doing this.
Like the newsletter, the ambition will be to publish a new podcast every two weeks or so.
I’ll wrap up this point by teasing the fact that I’ve already recorded my first two episodes and I couldn’t be more excited about the guests.
3 - USE CASE WRITE-UPS
What is a use case write up you ask?
The truth is, they will vary. Some will be industry-focused, some will be outcome-focused, and some might just be tech-focused. But all will include ideas that demonstrate what can be done with Web3 technologies today, and what I expect will be possible tomorrow.
As for frequency, these decks will be published every week or two. So in combination with the newsletter and the podcast, it means there will be something new from BRAND N3XT every week. The catch here is, that the Use Case write-ups will only be published on LinkedIn. Unfortunately, Substack isn’t very conducive to the slide deck format.
That said, this one time, I will publish a slide-by-slide example just to give you a better sense of what I mean when I refer to a use case write-up deck.
4 - PARTNERSHIPS
This is really exciting to me. When I started writing my newsletter, there weren’t many people talking about the breadth of Use Cases or the role that brands could play in making this a valuable technology for all. Today that has changed and there are some great voices out there who are busy building and educating.
I’m already talking to a few about potential partnerships and I am really excited about some of the plans that are in the works. Many are still a little ways off, so you will have to be patient.
But I am super excited to announce the first partner: Diego Borgo.
Diego is one of the most influential and accomplished people in the NFT space. He has worked with and advised a wide range of both Web2 and Web3 brands including Adidas, Unilever, L’Oreal, Skoda, Boson Protocol, The Fabricant, Salesforce, and more. More than that he is a true builder who has been involved in some great projects including:
He is also the founder of the Discord community #RightClickSaveAs
Most recently Diego has been busy consolidating all the insights and knowledge that he has built up, all the frameworks that he has developed, and turning them into a course that is available for all. Genuinely this is an opportunity to learn from a truly experienced builder.
I met up with Diego recently in Cannes and I can only say that his kindness and generosity of spirit are overwhelming. What got me really excited was when he offered to give this community an exclusive discount on his class.
You can learn more about the class by clicking on the image or by following this link. And to get your discount:
Use the code: BRANDN3XT.
In a world where most people are still trying to figure out how to succeed with a first project, Diego has developed the tools and approaches that have led to repeated success, and he’s sharing it all.
His class launches on July 15th, so if you think this is something that you or someone from your team would benefit from, then I’d encourage you to check it out.
If you want to learn more about Diego:
His Linkedin is here: Diego Borgo
His Twitter is here: Don Borgo
A recent podcast appearance is here: NFT Heat
His discord community is here: RightClickSaveAs - this is a community focused on educating people about how to be successful in the space, so you can see the synergy.
One thing to note, and I wish I didn’t have to say this – but I know I do - I am not getting paid or receiving any compensation from Diego as part of this partnership. Having gotten to know Diego over the past few months, I am genuinely excited by what he is building, and so I am genuinely thrilled that I can pass along a discount as a benefit to this community
And this is just the start. I’m having conversations with other communities and tech start-ups about prospective partnerships through which I hope to offer each of you a broader range of insights and access to emerging services. And again, I will always be transparent about what I get out of any partnerships and sponsorships (should there ever be any sponsorships).
5 - WEBSITE
Not sure when I will get to building this. For now, it’s just me working on BRAND N3XT, and I am already nervous about committing to creating all this content. That said, I will get a website launched in the not-to-distant future. That website will obviously include an archive of all the Newsletters I have written, but also there will be an archive of all the Podcasts, the Use Case write-ups and hopefully a list of links to some of the great research, tweets, and other content that some of you, and the brands you work for put out.
Educating people about the potential for Web3 needs to be a team sport. No - it needs to be a community sport if we are going to be successful.
For now, I thank all of you for joining me on this mission and sticking with me this far. I am energized and excited about what lies ahead. Next week we launch our first Podcast, and the week after, back to the newsletter.
As always, your feedback is welcome.
BRAND N3XT is about educating and supporting people and brands on their journey to web3 adoption and usage. We are just getting started. We are still early. Thank you for joining.
See you soon. 🚀
A few notes about how this name change will affect you. The short answer is that it shouldn’t really affect you, but here it is in a bit more detail:
If you were a subscriber to the newsletter under the Becoming Metaversal name, you should automatically remain subscribed to the newsletter under the new name BRAND N3XT.
Because of the name change, I will be sending this newsletter out twice. Once under the older name so that people recognize the sender and open it, and once under the new name to make sure it works. Apologies that you will likely get this twice.
All links to the old newsletters should automatically redirect to the new URL (fingers crossed that will work)
If you are new to the newsletter and want to subscribe, you can do so here: