Nissan Launches Web3 Rewards, as Nike, Adidas Take Different NFT Paths

More than two years have passed since the height of the non fungible token (NFT) boom. Yet Nissan has just announced plans for a new Japanese web3 loyalty program involving NFTs. While NFTs are way past their peak in Europe and the US, they are continuing to prove popular in Japan.

We’re speculating there are cultural reasons for this. Japan is home to the graphic novel and anime cartoons. The visual nature of NFTs is a good match and there’s a deep pool of content to leverage. Japan also has a culture rewards such as Yuutai, the practice where stockholders receive rewards. For example, airlines will provide shareholders with discounted flights. Hence, the combination of the visual nature of NFTs and rewards programs is a good fit in Japan.

Nissan Passport Beta is starting with an NFT lottery that will run until January 14, during which it will give away 5,523 membership NFTs. They’re divided into four types representing futuristic cars, performance cars, classic cars or ‘smart life’. The latter is for those that choose their transport based on practical preferences such as comfort. However, the lottery will allocate the memberships randomly.

In addition to cool pictures and a Discord community, users can earn badges based on activities ranging from posting pictures of cars on social media to providing feedback on the planned reward program. But the ultimate benefits are some attractive potential perks, such as test driving cars on a special course or the ability to take a spin in limited edition cars. 

While Nissan is exploring a new program, Nike is shuttering one. Nike was one of the first brands to embrace web3 when it acquired RTFKTStudios in 2021. This week it announced plans to shut it down. “RTFKT isn’t ending. It’s becoming what it was always meant to be – an artifact of cultural revolution.” The creative brand was known for artistic sneakers and two NFT collections not directly associated with Nike – CloneX and MNLTH. Data from 2022 showed it earned $185 million from initial NFT drops and royalties on re-sales. In late 2022 Nike also launched Web3 platform .SWOOSH which is still active.

Also this week, adidas announced its latest collaboration with the STEPN web3 app, which allows people to earn tokens for walking or jogging. The brands have previously made two joint NFT drops. Now they are doing a third, but this time for 1,200 co-branded physical running shoes. Two thirds will be raffled to genesis NFT holders, with the balance raffled to other NFT holders or via contests. That’s another good example of a reward that fans of the brands will value.