Diving Into Web3 With Marc Beckman

By: Dustin Brown

Whether he’s running his branding and advertising agency DMA United, teaching at the NYU Stern School of Business, or developing NFT platforms, Marc Beckman is always fusing present day culture with the future of business and technology. With the publication of his book, The Comprehensive Guide to NFTs, Digital Artwork, and Blockchain Technology, Marc invites us to see for ourselves what that future looks like. Our team caught up with Marc for a quick chat ahead of the Michigan Fashion Media Summit, where he’ll be speaking about digital fashion and Web3. Our conversation touched on blockchain, art, music, and more. Check out what he had to say below. 

Conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

How did you first get introduced to blockchain technology and NFT’s?

My advertising agency, DMA United, was approached by a restaurateur about three years ago, and he asked us to create a digital platform with the Tezos blockchain foundation. During that process, I was very curious as to why we were doing this. And as I got to know the folks from Tezos and learned more about this space, I quickly realized that Web3 technology is superior (to Web 2) in many ways. Since then, it’s where everything is going. We're about to launch our fifth marketplace, which is surrounding the Academy Awards, and we've onboarded over 40 brands. So we've been really busy. But my first experience was with this restaurateur that really wanted to create a luxury experience that would allow for a like-minded community to have shared value through the use of cryptocurrency or NFT tokens.

That’s so interesting. So how do you view NFTs, and their purpose in our society?

I believe that with Web3 in general, which includes blockchain, cryptocurrency and NFT's, we're going through this shifting moment, similar to what we saw from, let's say, traditional Web 1 into Web 2, where proven businesses like Amazon were able to beat Barnes and Noble to the punch. NFT’s are providing the commercial business sector with the opportunity to take advantage of tried and true business models, but bring them into this new modern technology. I think we're seeing that right now. But what’s really interesting is, as I go through the world and have these conversations, I see different people are using the technology of Web3 for different things. One of the most exciting things that I'm seeing is that in certain territories, including China, for example, where an individual's liberties aren't the same as we have here in the United States, they're literally using Web3 blockchain and NFT’s for freedom. Young people are looking at the decentralized nature of Web3 of giving them access to commercial markets, access to freedom of speech. It’s amazing to me to see. So to me, Web3 is a new sort of freedom that unlocks potential for the individual without the restrictions of governments or third party entities such as distribution platforms like Netflix or Amazon.

That’s amazing. The conversations that I've been a part of so far have been much more focused on the digital art realm, which is awesome within and of itself, but hearing about it for this purpose, that’s very interesting to me.

The digital art piece of it is just the beginning. In my opinion, we’re gonna see the utilitarian nature of NFT’s supersede the digital art craze going on right now. We’re going to see other business sectors including, for example, music, leapfrog digital artwork in the next few years.

In what ways do you see the technology being utilized in that space?

Right now we’re only scratching the surface. When it comes to music, the industry no longer needs to rely on Ticketmaster for tickets, or on Apple and Spotify for dissemination. Bands like Metallica can now go ahead and directly link with their fan base for music distribution and access to unique experiences. We’re working with several Grammy Award winning artists right now to create what we're calling the “Golden Lanyard.” And effectively what we could do is offer an NFT that unlocks lifelong concert experiences, ongoing first access to music, limited edition merchandise, and beyond. Direct connection between the creator of the NFT and their fan base is going to be huge. And of course from a business perspective, it unlocks greater commercial value, because now they have a bigger profit margin. A lot of the profits today are being given up to these third party middlemen, like Ticketmaster.

So it’s essentially streamlining the process.

Totally. Creators can take the power into their own hands. It’s a new level of freedom, right? Kanye is kind of doing it right now, but he’s just not using Web3 yet. This is why I’m saying we’re just scratching the surface. Most people don’t understand Web3. Kanye could be capitalizing and communicating with all of his fans on a much greater level than he is right now.

From that perspective it feels like Kanye is a strong case study that proves there’s a need for this form of communication between the creators and the consumers. So, now is it just a question of creating literacy around how you actually use this technology?

Exactly.

So then how do you see this becoming more accessible to a wider audience? Because there's a lot of jargon involved with it.

It’s becoming much easier. I’ve been involved in this category now for almost three years and there are certainly daunting parts to it. So what we're working on is creating more intuitive, approachable user experiences. For example, our agency worked on the global NARS cosmetics NFT campaign, and during that we were very cognizant of our audience. Most people that are participating with NARS probably don't use cryptocurrency. They're intimidated by it. So we designed the platform to accept credit card payments. It made the experience very, very simple. We’re moving into this next phase of Web3 where there will be more important use cases and it’s just going to be easier to use.

What advice would you give to people who are eager to get involved with Web3 but don't know how to start?

I love that you asked that question. My recommendation for young people is to just start getting your hands dirty and get some experience. If you want to work in the music space, real estate, insurance, or entertainment space as it relates to Web3, it's a great time to do so. But you need to get yourself involved. Take a job, be an intern, and learn as much as you can. Focus on the long term aspect of your career. Don't worry about building your resume or making the most money you can right now. Just don’t wait, get involved right away.

To learn more about NFTs, the Metaverse, and Web3 from both Marc Beckman and the founder and CEO of Metaverse, Francine Ballard, secure your tickets to the 2022 Michigan Fashion Media Summit here.