Tl:dr: Tiffany NFTiff Cheat Sheet
- NFTiff was the most successful luxury NFT collection in Web3. Those lucky enough to buy an NFTiff will receive a handcrafted pendant made from 18-carat gold and housing at least 30 gemstones.
- NFTiff was only available to 250 CryptoPunk – highly collectible, iconic pieces of digital art – holders. CryptoPunk #5822 sold for $23.7 million in February 2022.
- By targeting this very specific and exclusive community, Tiffany were able to replicate the history and culture of the brand with their Web3 collection.
- Tiffany used a cross-functional strategy internally and collaborated with Web3 experts Chainlink to make sure the project ran smoothly.
- Tiffany demonstrated how to be innovative in this new space. They fused the digital and the physical while staying true to the story and heritage of the Maison.
On July 31st 2022, Tiffany launched NFTiff, its debut NFT collection. It quickly became the most lauded luxury collection in Web3. Within hours the Web3 community tweeted 110,000 times and global news corporations were discussing exclusivity, luxury and the impact of NFTs on the industry. The launch generated over 1.4K editorial placements. #NFTiff was trending worldwide.
And that’s only the beginning. Our team sat down with Martin Lynch – Director of Marketing & Partnerships at Tiffany – and Victoria Bluvstein – Vice President of Global Product Collaborations and Licenses at Tiffany – to find out how the collection came to life, how Tiffany planned and reacted to the launch and what your brand can learn from their experience.
In what turned out to be a very insightful and brilliant first step, Tiffany targeted NFTiff at a very specific and exclusive community, perhaps the most exclusive and wealthy in Web3: the owners of a CryptoPunk. (Don’t worry, we’ll get to what CryptoPunks are in a moment). Although 10,000 CryptoPunks exist, only 250 NFTiff Passes were created, each costing the equivalent of $50,000 in cryptocurrency. Using a custom designed website for the collection, CryptoPunk holders could buy the NFTiff Pass, connect it to their CryptoPunk and claim their exclusive Tiffany pendant.
What are CryptoPunks?
In 2017, Matt Hall and John Watkinson, two American software developers, built an algorithm to create 10,000 unique jpegs. Those images became The CryptoPunks, and they were given away. Today, they are highly collectible, iconic pieces of digital art.
CryptoPunks are also very expensive. How expensive? You may need to be sitting down for this. CryptoPunk #5822 sold for $23.7 million in February 2022 and nearly 30 Punks have exchanged hands for over $1 million each. Would you like a glass of water? Now, if you’re wondering what this has to do with Tiffany, the answer is exclusivity, access to new markets and a vision for the most iconic jewellery maker in the world to be aligned with the most iconic NFT collection in the world.
What is Tiffany’s Web3 Philosophy?
Charles Lewis Tiffany started the Maison in 1837. From there, it grew into a global design house at the forefront of innovative jewellery design and expert craftsmanship. Tiffany’s jewellery is iconic, its story and heritage inimitable. Making the step into Web3 was a fine balancing act that had to embrace the technology, but stay true to the DNA. “Tiffany is always trying to stay at the forefront,” says Martin. “We’d been thinking about our Web3 strategy. It was about finding the right dialogue.”
Where did the idea for NFTiff come from?
Finding the right dialogue began with Tiffany Executive Vice-President Alexandre Arnault. He owns CryptoPunk #3167. In April, he tweeted that he had transformed his Punk into a jewellery piece featuring rose gold and enamel along with sapphire and Mozambique baguette ruby glasses and a yellow diamond earring. The idea sparked interest from the CryptoPunk community, most notably, Deepak Thapliyal, CEO of Chain and Punk collector. Remember the Punk that sold for $23.7M? Deepak Thapliyal was the one who bought it.
Chain became Tiffany’s end-to-end technical partner. With such an ambitious project, Chain’s involvement and collaboration was essential. But what about in-house? Did Tiffany exercise cross-functional teamwork? “We involved all of the functions and created a group of people that were aware of the information and understood their contribution,” says Martin. “It was a balancing act. To make it to market quickly, we had to streamline many organizational processes.”
With an incredible idea and the team ready, the next step for Tiffany was to make the NFTiff gateway – the website where customers buy the NFT – as simple, intuitive and seamless as possible. To accompany the public facing technological marvels, behind the scenes, the buying experience had to mirror the elevated white glove service Tiffany customers are accustomed to in real life.
What role did the CryptoPunk community play?
As well as Alexandre Arnault, Jay-Z, Serena Williams, Logan Paul and Heidi Klum, a host of A-list celebrities and pop-culture icons own a CryptoPunk. Non-famous owners are usually powerful and influential individuals. With NFTiff, Tiffany had access to this well connected community, indirectly targeting the wider Web3 world, all the while maintaining the exclusivity of the collection.
Simultaneously, because Web3 is such a new space, the whole Tiffany team were learning the marketing, IT, PR and community building strategies needed to succeed in Web3, in real time. With one eye on the future, they used these lessons to educate and inform internally. “Now that we have a great understanding of it,” Martin says, hinting at things to come. “We can reach the market in a quicker and more efficient manner.”
What strategies did Tiffany employ for Launch?
“The days and hours leading up to the launch were very exciting,” reflects Victoria. To keep the project secure, safe and simple at launch, all the moving parts had to be working seamlessly. The smallest mistake could derail the whole project. “It was crucial for us to be agile when we needed to pivot,” continues Victoria. “Both sides had to be ready for that.” Chain developers were in constant contact with the Tiffany IT team to offer insight and advice. There were Web3 ambassadors on hand to answer any technological questions potential buyers had in the hours before and during launch. No stone was left unturned. Launch was a resounding success. NFTiff sold out in 22 minutes, with the entire collection generating approximately $12.5 million in revenue.
What KPIs did Tiffany use to measure the impact?
Whilst the Tiffany artisans set to work on the pendant, Victoria and Martin analysed the KPIs. What were they measuring? On the surface it was an obvious success, but there was data that could be used to fine-tune, improve and enhance future projects. How many clients had been on the whitelist? How many tweets had been sent? How was the sentiment on Discord and Twitter? What was the Web3 community particularly impressed with? What kind of customer service questions were the owners asking?
How is the NFTiff Pendant created?
“The NFTiff pendant has to reflect the heritage and exceptional craftsmanship Tiffany is known for,” says Victoria. Tiffany’s Jewelry Design and Innovation Workshop (JDIW) created a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) library for all the pendant attributes – color, pixel location, suggested stone placement.
Each pendant will be handcrafted, made from 18-carat gold and house at least 30 gemstones. Clients will receive a first rendering and a digital twin of the pendant later in the year. Will there be any surprises? “We want to make sure that every touchpoint is authentic and relevant to the community,” says Victoria. One of those is a Twitter-optimized preview of the pendant.
An optimized Twitter preview may not sound extraordinary, but it’s a very astute piece of marketing strategy for Web3. With the rendering and digital twin, Tiffany are providing a comprehensive collection of images that owners can use to track the creative process of their physical pendants. With the Twitter optimized preview, they are giving holders the means to share these images with their fans and community in beautiful, high-definition.
What lessons did Tiffany learn and what advice do they have for brands?
Tiffany demonstrated how to be innovative in this new space. They fused the digital and the physical while staying true to the story and heritage of the Maison. Using the community and the fame of the CryptoPunks, they had incredible indirect reach, opening a new and wealthy client base that understands the culture of exclusivity and luxury.
What did Martin, Victoria and the Tiffany team learn? The success was down to product market fit, a Maison understanding Web3 and building a team to execute on a brave idea. “You need an ‘in-the-know partner’. It’s important to make sure you have an expert lens on the crypto aspect.” Tiffany chose Chain for this collection. But in many other use cases, Maisons chose Aura who play a similar role.
“It’s about adopting a test & learn mentality,” says Martin, echoing the words of Sophie Chennai on Le Parisien Crypto-Unes. “We see it as engaging with clients in a new way.”
Do Tiffany have any last advice for Maisons? “As brands look to establish their foundation,” Martin says. “They need to consider what their long-term goals are.” “Everything is public,” says Victoria. “So clients are expecting a strong vision from brands.”
