Part 1 — Pop Culture & Celebrity Endorsement
The best way to make something popular is to literally incorporate it into popular culture. Pop culture is defined as a dominant set of beliefs + values (non-material) and objects + tools (material) within society at any given time. It’s usually perpetuated through mass media, such as magazine articles, social media, TV, published photographs, radio, ads and books. The majority of today’s pop culture is derived from four industries — Music, Fashion, Art and Sports. Each industry is an ecosystem of its own, containing networks of celebrities and influencers. The prestige and desirability that they possess has positioned them as the tastemakers of our society, ultimately deciding what’s hot and what’s not. As expected, their decisions trickle down to consumer level and determine what we buy into with our money, time and attention. Recent examples include: women hopping on the Pilates wave because of Lori Harvey (model and entrepreneur) and the resurgence of Crocs courtesy of Nicki Minaj (music artist).
Therefore it is logical to assume that the crypto industry follows the same pattern. Celebrity endorsement causes an exponential increase in crypto adoption, establishing the buying, selling and transferring of cryptocurrencies as a popular activity. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple:
Celebrities lack credibility — It is not foolish to assume that some celebrities may advertise crypto solely for a paycheck, with little regard for what it is that they are actually endorsing.
Moreover, excessive dependence on celebrity endorsement by crypto companies can be a red flag. Celebrities can be used as a marketing ploy to distract people from high-risk investments, shady developers and false promises. Kim Kardashian is among multiple celebrities being sued for their endorsement of the speculative EthereumMax currency. According to the class action lawsuit, it was an alleged “pump and dump” scheme, where misleading celebrity endorsements inflated the price of the digital tokens, which were then sold to the unsuspecting investors at a profit. Such occurrences create doubt about the viability and transparency of digital currencies. While consumers may be impressionable, they are still attentive. If they sense a scam, they won’t invest.
Celebrities are not relatable — how does Drake’s $1.3million bitcoin bet on the Super Bowl encourage a young graduate, on a low starting salary with limited disposable income, to invest?
Celebrities do not have universal reach — According to CNBC, crypto has a higher participation rate amongst younger adults than older adults. 15% of those aged 18–34 own cryptocurrencies, compared to 11% of those aged 35–64 and just 4% of those aged 65 and older. Unlike Millennials and Gen Z, the Baby Boomer generation are far-removed from social media, so their adoption of crypto is unlikely to increase based on celebrity endorsement. The same notion applies to individuals living in underdeveloped communities with limited internet access. This begs the question, how can we make crypto mainstream within marginalised communities and demographics?
In summary, while there is no doubt that celebrity endorsements can be effective, it is evident that they can not be the sole method for making crypto mainstream. A technological advancement that a) enables people to send money across borders with negligible transaction fees, b) provides protection from inflation, c) is self-governed and decentralised and d) provides better privacy and security than traditional third parties and middlemen (banks, PayPal, VISA) requires strategic promotion and branding in order to be truly appreciated.
Part 2 — Practical Solutions
To me, the core issue preventing crypto from becoming mainstream, is that it is a fundamentally unusual concept that is not easy to understand in its entirety. After all, we’re talking about virtual money, powered by invisible blockchain technology, accessible through awkwardly designed interfaces. Here are three solutions:
- Accessibility — make crypto mainstream by improving the poor usability of crypto wallet apps and exchange apps (eg Metamask and Binance). This can be achieved by creating a Web3 UX/UI Design guide, so that there is a professional standard to adhere to. Crypto app designs should be comparable to the design of existing apps, so that people intuitively know how to interact with them. Check out the Web3 Designers Hub for more on this. It’s likely that I’ll dedicate a full article to UX + Web3 in the near future.
2. Educational Resources — make crypto mainstream by teaching people how to use it, in a digestible and beginner-friendly way. I was (still am) quite overwhelmed by all of the jargon and acronyms used in the industry; it does take some getting used to. Since entering the Web3 space last summer, I’ve primarily relied on newsletters like Fomofix, YouTube videos and Twitter (spaces, communities and lists) for clarity and all-round crypto knowledge.
The social media method has been great for meeting fellow enthusiasts online and in person. Plus, the educational experience is much less daunting when you’re learning in tandem with other people, and social media keeps up with the latest crypto developments in real-time, so you’re not stuck reading a “crypto book” that becomes outdated soon after its published. However, mis-information is rife on social media as fact-checking and regulation is flimsy. Unsuspecting newbies can be easily mis-led. A structured curriculum is needed to bridge the knowledge gap and teach people what the value proposition of this technology is. That’s why it is particularly encouraging to see so many educational programs being developed in the space.
One notable initiative is The Bitcoin Academy. Funded by Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter), the academy provides “free Bitcoin education classes presented by Crypto Blockchain Plug and Black Bitcoin Billionaire”, online and in-person, exclusively for Marcy residents (the housing residency where Jay-Z was brought up). As cheesy as it sounds, education really is power and a smooth onboarding process is what we need to make crypto mainstream.
3. Tangibility — Make crypto mainstream through tangible clothing, accessories, products and brand collaborations that people can wear, hear, see and hold. Benefits include:
- It moves crypto from a confined digital environment to a physical environment, improving visibility and awareness.
- It makes it easier for people to understand what crypto is and how it can fit into their everyday lives.
- It creates the opportunity for customised crypto products that can provide sentimental value for the user, who will associate those positive sentiments with crypto itself.
- Branded apparel is visible to anyone passing the person wearing it. This free exposure is more cost-effective than social media marketing.
- It fulfils the material element of pop culture — “a dominant set of…objects and tools within society at any given time”
This solution excites me the mosttt because giving crypto physicality means that it can take any shape or form. Maybe we’ll get to the point of asking what crypto should smell like, feel like, sound like, taste like and look like. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s start with what exists already:
Physical Products — Ledgers
One of the most popular physical products associated with crypto is the hardware wallet. It’s a tool that allows you to buy, exchange and grow your cryptocurrencies securely, with different models available to purchase from companies like Ledger and Trezor. While most people keep their hardware wallet at home when not in use, Ledger transformed it into wearable fashion and debuted it on a global stage. In partnership with the company, American rapper Gunna wore a custom diamond-encrusted Ledger Nano X fixed to a white gold chain necklace, at the 2022 Met Gala.
This isn’t Ledger’s first music partnership. You can see YG using a Ledger in his music video for his song “Scared Money” (1:00–1:08).
Both examples demonstrate crypto making its way into popular culture through the magic formula — tangible products + hip hop/rap endorsements. (Note that this formula is much more strategic and engaging than a social media ad from a verified account). It would be cool to see some data on YG and Gunna’s impact on Ledger sales to see how lucrative these partnerships really were.
In my opinion, YG’s product placement was the superior execution. Yes the clip is short, but it shows YG using the product in the correct context, giving the viewer an insight into the ledger’s purpose and function. And remember, when people understand something they are more likely to use it. Additionally, the music video has much more longevity and visibility than a one and done accessory at a single event. It was smart for Ledger to build on this with the #ScaredMoney competition on twitter— YG’s wealth may be out of reach, but you get the chance to own a physical Ledger just like his.
Gunna’s diamond ledger suited his aesthetic and it was a really cool concept in theory. I saw a lot of buzz about it on social media from people in the crypto space and fashion publications like Vogue. But the actual piece didn’t demonstrate the wallet’s purpose and the Ledger itself wasn’t particularly noticeable. I, like many others, thought he was wearing a regular diamond pendant until the ledger was pointed out to me. I think there was a missed opportunity to make it a bolder statement piece that would have really put the spotlight on crypto. Ledger could have amplified the partnership through a phygital brand activation, a competition, pop-ups, an IG filter, a GQ-style interview with Gunna about the crypto bubble in the hip hop industry or even a behind the scenes video on how his ledger was made. Without these, it’s just a bedazzled ledger.
Customisation
On the plus side, it stirs up an interesting conversation about using customisable products to make crypto mainstream. In 2018, Ledger released The Ledger Nano S Color Edition — available in saffron yellow, flamingo pink, jade green, blue lagoon, matte black and transparent — to celebrate “the uniqueness of all individuals that make up the community”. In terms of appealing to the masses and accommodating consumer aesthetic preferences, this was a step in the right direction. But as far as customisation goes, the offering is not very adventurous. The colour range is too limited, so owning a unique ledger is highly unlikely.
Alternatively, imagine owning a pod-shaped ledger in an aquamarine blue and off-white colour gradient to reflect your love of the sea, with a subtle embossed texture and a matte finish, embellished with intricate venetian beading. With individualism on the rise, people crave such exclusivity, relishing the opportunity to design, own and flaunt a unique product that stands out from everyone else’s. Keep in mind that the customisation of Crocs with Jibbitz significantly contributed to the resurgence of the controversial footwear. The same strategy could be applied to wallets and any other crypto-affiliated products. Broadening customisation options ensures that there is a wallet to suit everyone’s taste, enabling crypto to appeal to a wider audience. Who knows, maybe customised ledgers could become the new status symbol.
Conclusion
By nature, disruptive technologies (eg AI, VR, Blockchain and Crypto) threaten a well-established process or product — so of course they are going to be received with doubt and unease. But I think that improving accessibility, education and tangibility will subside some of these fears. According to the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, cryptocurrencies appear to be near a hyper-adoption phase, with the crypto adoption curve showing close similarities with the early stages of internet adoption in the 1990s. There’s still a long way to go before we see the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, but we’re definitely on the right path.
I hope you enjoyed reading my tech ramblings. Happy to answer any questions via email (toniojo15@gmail.com). Feel free to check out my website and work 💗
