RESPONSE - Marketing Strategy
Thank you for the questions.
As mentioned in the financial response, the Decentraland Foundation is a non-profit, independent entity that plays an ancillary role in the larger ecosystem. The Foundation’s purpose is to hold the intellectual property assets of the Decentraland platform, protect the decentralization of the platform and stimulate the platform’s development for the benefit of the Decentraland community.
The property rights that the Foundation manages include intellectual property, trademarks, web domains, open source repositories and social media accounts within the legal framework.
Marketing, as its own function and team, is newer to the Decentraland Foundation and has been “officially” around for about a year. Kim Currier has recently taken on the role of Marketing Lead and has been with the Decentraland Foundation since September 2022. It is a small team focusing in 3 key areas: Brand Awareness, Product Marketing, and Community Content. The Marketing team’s communications are the primary source of official information from the Foundation to the larger community.
As of right now, the Marketing Team does not do any paid advertising. During this market, the strategy is to focus on proactively building the foundational content needed for future growth. For platforms, the Foundation Marketing team primarily creates content for the Decentraland owned channels: website, blog, and social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). The team also routinely engages with media organizations, journalists, event organizers, and students, to drive general awareness and showcase Decentraland as a leader in virtual worlds.
We are all aware that one of the main gaps currently in Decentraland’s marketing is a brand campaign. This is high on the team’s priority list and will be developed in the near future. At the moment, there is no official tagline for Decentraland. Given the community interest in brand marketing, the Marketing team will be having a community Brand Workshop session to gather inputs, bring ideas to the table, and develop campaigns that ring true to this community.
Being a decentralized, community-driven platform, it is essential that the Foundation builds the branding, assets, infrastructure, and open communication needed for a flywheel effect. This enables the content that is created by the community to be at the forefront and amplified to showcase what’s possible in Decentraland, thereby growing the DCL community as a whole. The community’s work can then become the focus and driving force of future marketing.
As the Foundation continues to build necessary infrastructure for onboarding and growth, there are a few key relationships that enable the Platform to work effectively. Decentraland’s only official partnerships are with technology providers such as Unity, Polygon and Metamask to build the platform foundations for creators and users. Throughout Decentraland’s operating history, the Foundation has assisted brands and corporations, such as Coca Cola, Netflix, La Liga, and Dolce & Gabbana, in making their metaverse debut and promoting the Decentraland Platform. The partnership team manages this whilst at the same time supporting projects such as Woodies and adidas as they onboard their communities into DCL.
The team is not familiar with the specific partner example of XOasis other than knowing they held an event in DCL earlier this year so no, this is not an official partnership. Please note that the Foundation flags any misuse of the DCL IP to the Legal Team when the situations arise. If you see any misuse of the IP, please flag it to the Support Team in the Foundation Discord.
For any brands, marketing agencies or projects that would like to onboard into the metaverse and Decentraland Platform, they should share their ideas via this online form and the Foundation team will review and respond.
The marketing team’s main objective is to ensure that when someone is ready to enter a virtual world for the first time, they understand what Decentraland is, how it’s different and why they may want to jump in. This is an exciting challenge for the entire Decentraland community, not just the Foundation. To collectively showcase what’s so special about Decentraland and the amazing community of builders, creators, and explorers that are here, bringing it to life every day.
