Anshul Ailawadi, Youth, Music, and English entertainment Cluster Head, Viacom18 and Keyur Patel, Co-Founder, and Chairman, GuardianLink.io share insights on what went behind in creating Fully Faltoo and its future plans in tandem with Web 3.0 revolution.
Viacom18’s Youth, Music, and English Entertainment Cluster has set its foot in the rapidly growing digital space of non-fungible tokens with the announcement of the NFT marketplace Fullyfaltoonft.com, which has been set up by GuardianLink.io.
The marketplace will offer digital art conceptualized and created by the team that brings to life iconic brands like MTV, Vh1, and Comedy Central in India.
In a conversation with Social Samosa, Anshul Ailawadi, Head – Youth, Music, and English Entertainment, Viacom18, and Keyur Patel, Co-Founder and Chairman, GuardianLink.io share more on how the global media and entertainment industry has recognized the power of NFTs and Viacom’s positioning with the new marketplace.
NFT, essentially blockchain-certified digital art, has been gaining immense popularity among brands, artists, and celebrities in India and globally. Viacom too has been tracking the NFT space for a while and having realized how younger people are interested in blockchain and blockchain-based applications, it decided to enter this space.
“As an entertainment powerhouse, we have a lot of legacy IPs, and projects and properties connected very well with younger audiences. To give our fans a way to sort of own a piece of our legacy for perpetuity is an interesting way for us to engage more deeply with them. One thing is very clear NFTs and blockchain are here to stay. They might pivot and change but they will obviously be an entry point to understand this world of Web 3.0. So, there was a consumer push, and there was strategic thinking that led us into this space. Fully Faltoo isn’t a conventional launch, it's more a category that we're trying to create,” Ailawadi says.
The company with its in-house teams of artwork, graphics, and design has been working closely with Guardian on the launch for about eight months.
This initiative will also mark the extension of the Fully Faltoo franchise that went on from being a show on MTV and a brand solutions studio, to now an NFT marketplace, that will launch its diverse range of digital collectibles. The exclusive collectibles will also have creations inspired by iconic pop culture properties like Roadies and Bakra and will be up for auction across the globe. With industry-standard security layers enabled, users will be able to buy the NFTs at a set auction price.
“The phase one of this launch is to see how these artworks perform, the next subsequent drops will be bigger and better,” he adds.
Ailawadi believes that the marketplace will also strengthen the company’s bond with its consumers while it consecutively is looking at how the space evolves from a monetization perspective as well.
“We do feel that monetization could be an opportunity when the utility value of NFTs goes up. Today it is more about collecting stuff, but tomorrow NFTs could be about some sort of utility value. We're building this platform for all sort of NFT transactions or initiatives,” he adds.
Upon being asked how Indian brands can benefit from NFTs, Ailawadi says, “Indian brands are already ahead of the curve in many ways. It's something that every category can do as long as you have an iconic presence in that category and can reap bigger engagement since the younger audiences today are already at ease with the concept of virtual ownership.”
Global media brands have seen a rise in merchandising as a clear revenue stream. In coming times, he foresees brands having no physical products but extensions of their on-air IPs, wherein blockchain technology can help authenticate and validate the ownership.
To ensure widespread awareness of its maiden NFT marketplace, the cluster has rolled out an elaborate integrated marketing plan that will leverage digital and linear TV.
The Fully Faltoo campaign will also aim at educating consumers about non-fungible tokens and digital collectibles while attracting viewers to bid on the platform.
“The brief to the creative team was how we can simplify this whole concept for all sorts of audiences. While there are NFT enthusiasts, there are people who still are not sure of its credibility and we need to get them to this side of ours,” Ailawadi adds.
All of the assets on the platform have been protected by Guardian’s Anti.RIP technology and legitimacy protocol.
Patel shares, “Our technology doesn’t allow NFTs to be counterfeited, therefore protecting the original art. It also has a high-value custodial wallet system and a legitimacy protocol, which means that the bids are not fake so that people don’t artificially spoof the prices.”
While Guardian aspires to really develop the NFT market in India and lead the market, it recently has also signed close to 60 brands worldwide including celebrities, athletes, music bands, and more.
Patel adds that Guardian not only works with brands to create regenerative art, which is the key to what an NFT should be but also supports monetization and the community management part for the brands.
Fullyfaltoonft.com is all geared up to offer 3013 valuable tokens to its end users. The artworks will be available to purchase globally across two categories Loot and Rare.
The loot category will allow digital art patrons to bid for interesting digital collectibles like ‘Bakra urf G.O.A.T’, ‘Rangu The Champ’, ‘Winging it aka Wing it like Wingnesh’ amongst others starting at 10$ which they will get to own basis a randomizer. The rare collection will be available to bid for at a reserve price of USD 50 with many art pieces like ‘Dunk That Junk’, and ‘A Panda’s Grey Anatomy’. Owners of the rare collection will win the collectible at the end of a seven-day bid period. The minimum wallet top-up is to be at USD 25.
Sharing the way ahead, Ailawadi adds, “Our first drop of 3013 NFTs is just the beginning of an interesting and exciting journey in the Web 3.0 universe. We are confident that this quirky collection will deepen our existing relationships with our dynamic consumers and help us build fandom and increase engagement for our iconic brands in the virtual world.”
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