Decentraland
Brand, marketing and content strategy for the world's first fully decentralised virtual world. Translating blockchain, Web3 and an entirely new category of platform for mainstream audiences and major global brands.
Brand & Comms Strategy • Brand Partnerships • Content & Community Strategy • Media Relations
The Brief
I joined Decentraland as Marketing Lead in 2019, ahead of the platform's official launch in February 2020. The marketing function was in its early stages and needed developing. My job was to shape it, build it out and help the world make sense of something it hadn’t experienced before.
The Problem
Decentraland was the world's first fully decentralised, blockchain-based virtual platform, built on technology that most people had never encountered and couldn't easily picture. Blockchain, crypto wallets, NFTs, virtual land ownership, decentralised governance. These were genuinely new concepts that needed translating into language and opportunities that mainstream audiences, brands and commercial partners could grasp and get excited about.
Decentraland Showreel | Content Development • Creative Strategy
The Solution
The strategy had to work on three levels simultaneously: positioning the platform for mainstream audiences, educating commercial partners on the opportunity, and building a mainstream creator community essentially from scratch.
The first strategic decision was positioning. While the term 'metaverse' was beginning to circulate, I advised using 'virtual social platform' as our description and selling point. This was terminology that a broader audience could understand without needing a lengthy explainer.
From there, the work was about bringing the world to life across every channel and stakeholder group.
For community and general audiences, I took over the blog, newsletter and social channels, using Instagram specifically to champion the creator community and showcase the extraordinary structures, experiences and games being built in-world.
For commercial partners, the challenge was deeper. Major organisations needed to understand what a virtual presence could actually mean: fans owning part of their brand experience, immersive always-on activations, and new forms of long-term community engagement. I worked with Coca-Cola, Hot Wheels, Sotheby's, JP Morgan, Dow Jones, TIME, Samsung and Atari, among others, to develop in-world activations that went beyond simply showing up.
For US retailer Ben Bridge, working with Web3 agency Verse Digital, I co-created a three-day activation during Metaverse Fashion Week. Understanding that changing content, regular challenges and daily collectibles were the key to sustained engagement, we built the most popular attraction at the event, outperforming activations from DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach and adidas.
Ben Bridge Virtual Experience | Concept • Creative Strategy • Content Development
I also helped devise the Metaverse Music Festival, Metaverse Fashion Week and Art Week, advising on content and building and running the full marketing programme for each, including artist promotions, landing pages, daily social content, blog and PR.
Throughout, I served as Decentraland's media representative, appearing in mainstream outlets and on industry panels to translate the platform's vision for the wider world.
The Outcome
Through my curation, Decentraland’s Instagram account grew from low thousands to over 100k followers
Decentraland attracted mainstream media coverage through interviews with the New York Times, Dow Jones, NBC and Euronews, reaching audiences far beyond the crypto and gaming communities the platform had started with
The Ben Bridge activation achieved an average 14-minute dwell time, topping the Metaverse Fashion Week engagement charts as reported by Vogue Business
When Mark Zuckerberg announced he was ‘building the metaverse’ (he wasn’t, and didn’t) at the tail-end of 2021, we were in prime position to capitalise on the tidal wave of interest, becoming the premier destination for all things metaverse
