Universal Studios theme parks in California and Florida are adding non-fungible tokens to their roster of attractions.
Until October 31st, park visitors can participate in a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt that could net about 7 million NFT in total. Seven QR codes will be hidden in each park, and each will mint an NFT when scanned. Visitors who find and scan all seven will receive a special NFT, which Moonpay, the crypto payments service partnering with Universal on the project, said will unlock additional benefits.
But the new NFT experience isn’t just for park visitors, said Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO of MoonPay. the fortune—provides the company with actionable customer data.
“If you’re a CMO (chief marketing officer), you’re thinking well, how can I increase LTV?” he said, referring to the lifetime value of a customer. “How can I deepen the engagement with my end customer? And this is a very good example.”
The rise of NFTs last year was bolstered by their use as digital collectibles. According to data from Dune Analytics, major brands such as Nike, Dolce & Gabbana and Tiffany have sold hundreds of millions of dollars in NFTs over the past year.
But NFT sales have soared since then. In July, the global market hit a yearly low, according to Be[In]Cryptographic research. In the past 30 days, transaction volume on the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, fell 13% to around $252 million, according to analytics platform DappRadar.
Soto-Wright said the fortune that Universal’s NFTs should not be affected by declining markets; the use case is more about customer engagement and creating repeat visitors.
“For me,” added Soto-Wright, “this is the next wave, 100 percent. I mean, I think this is a natural progression.”
