[META-TREND 11] Web 3.0's</br>Paradigm Shift: The Digital Economy

Hello, this is Chris & Partners! 🤗 As part of the digital transformation accelerated by COVID-19, the metaverse was a key issue across all industries last year. As the world gradually stabilizes from the pandemic these days, Web 3.0—led by metaverse and blockchain technology—is the talking point. The Meta-Trends ahead won't be limited to the metaverse but will deliver issues related to a range of digital-economy topics—blockchain, NFTs, cryptocurrency, and more. 📫 Here's a Meta-Trend with news from various fields!

HOT TOPIC_01: ‘Closer to users’… retail companies launching NFT businesses in earnest

The retail industry is jumping into the non-fungible token (NFT) business—running NFT collaborations or creating characters to approach customers in a friendlier way. On the 13th, Shinsegae Department Store announced that 10,000 NFTs made using its own brand character ‘Puvilla’ sold out. The Puvilla NFTs were traded using cryptocurrency, and NFT sales were tied to department-store customer benefits. Holders receive benefits—Shinsegae Department Store lounge access, shopping discounts—by ownership-period tier. Also, on the 9th, Hyundai Department Store signed an official MOU with Blueberry NFT, announcing entry into the NFT business. Last month it also announced developing and adopting its own electronic-wallet service ‘H.NFT’ to store and manage NFTs. Hyundai Department Store plans to present unique, personalized NFTs—converting winning works from its recent ‘Hyundai Children's Drawing Contest’ into NFTs to give to winning customers' families, or producing customers' desired quotes or phrases as NFTs in collaboration with artists. Lotte Homeshopping, too, on the 2nd of last month opened an ‘NFT SHOP’ in its own mobile shopping app—a retail-industry first, investing heavily in the NFT business. Lotte Homeshopping successively launched NFTs based on its own brands and content—its own brand character ‘Belly Gom,’ the film ‘The Witch 2,’ and more. It plans to present new NFTs through collaborations with famous brands going forward.

HOT TOPIC_02: Nexon unveils its NFT-based game ecosystem applying blockchain technology, a first

Nexon is building a blockchain game ecosystem using the ‘MapleStory’ IP. At the keynote of the 2022 Nexon Developers Conference (NDC) held on the 8th, it unveiled ‘MapleStory Universe,’ an NFT-centered ecosystem, for the first time. Nexon COO Kang Dae-hyun, who led the keynote, candidly shared the points he has long pondered about the characteristics of blockchain technology and game design suited to it. Along with this, he announced a long-term plan to build an NFT-based ecosystem using the ‘MapleStory’ IP to advance Nexon's virtual world a step further. Speaking about blockchain's potential as an integrated platform that transcends the physical limits of existing virtual worlds, he explained that creating a successful blockchain game requires transparently disclosed rules, rewards for open participation and contribution, and the storage and movement of value—and meticulous design fitting those characteristics. He then introduced the plan to realize the value of blockchain and NFTs using its core IP, ‘MapleStory.’

01

Kangwon National University unveils a web-based ‘metaverse platform’—a national-university firstRead the article

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Showbox reveals a creator-centered business model… also entering NFTs and the metaverseRead the article

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Web 3.0, turned into a big-tech battlefield—Naver and Kakao join the fray tooRead the article

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Cheil Worldwide joins hands with an NFT artist group… pursuing marketing and IP businessRead the article

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‘Faster than Zuckerberg’… Microsoft charging into the industrial metaverse That was META-TREND, with the latest metaverse and digital-economy trends. 😎 Digital events & marketing—prepare your event with the industry's Digital Transformation leading group, Chris & Partners, specialized in it. With proven, outstanding capability, we'll create a satisfying event from planning to operation.