[Approved] SXSW Marketing support - Event Date 11th March

xFFox_iiNDYVERSE · February 21, 2023, 5:22pm

Dear community and @Dacha @satojandro @David_NEAR,

Introduction: iiNDYVERSE has recently been invited into the SXSW pitch program as part of the Web3 / Metaverse cohort (40 out of 760 applicants) and are now seeking funding to help promote

Official Links: www.iindyverse.com / Twitter / Instagram

Funding: One-time

Link to announcement: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2023/events/PP1142641

Vision: bring NEAR to a global tech & music conference.

Mission: To promote that a NEAR project is in the finals and showcase NEAR technologies to a US tech/music/VC audience.

Last year we ran the Kids in Conflict fund raiser to support kids in Ukraine, thx to the support from the Marketing DAO. We also ran a side event at NEARCON with Few & Far.

Team: The founders, Robin and Bryan have a strong combination of entertainment-marketing, data and Web3 platform expertise. Other contractors will include

PR expert REMOVED
Copy Writer CHANGED to Designer for merch products
Travel + Accommodation

Project overview:

The project splits into 2 areas.

Visual Merchandise - generate long term brand awareness
Travel + Accommodation + Food

Visual merchandise - Using our partnership with Terrible* we will create unique and standout pieces of merch to give attendees, increasing brand loyalty and recognition. Each piece will have a QR code which links to our product, creating NEAR wallets and collecting sign-ups.

Travel + Accommodation

1 x flight (London to Austin RTN)
Subsidy of $100 per day for accommodation and food

SXSW is an incredible opportunity to showcase our product (built on NEAR) to industry experts on the judging panel, at the awards ceremony and ‘Meet the start-ups’ event.

We will capture content at the event for socials, post event wrap ups and future promotion. Alongside this we’ll make new connections and deepen relationships with music managers, labels and artists who if we bring on to iiNDYVERSE will use NEAR wallets to deliver Engage-to-own NFTs to their fanbase.

SXSW is a unique opportunity to spread the word about NEAR and showcase how NEAR’s technology can be used to bring on the next 1bn web3 users. As far as we know we’re the only start-up attending the pitch event which is using NEAR Protocol.

iiNDYVERSE is the only Customer Engagement platform that powers ROI driven NFT rewards and metaverse experiences. As a growing start-up based in the UK and with clients in the US, SXSW provides an opportunity to empower creators to learn how to easily launch Web3 powered customer activations that are proven to increase customer engagement and loyalty.

Impact / Value:

Develop positive sentiment by highlighting NEAR as a leading technology within the entertainment and music tech sector.
Show music industry peers and the wider fan/music/creative community that web 3 is at the forefront of industry change for good.
Increase visibility for iiNDYVERSE ahead of our product releases in Q2

Marketing Tasks + Funding

Designer (Merch): $400

Merchandise: $1000

Accommodation: $900

Flights: $850

Total Requested Amount: 3,150 $USD

Success Metrics

Give out 150 pieces of unique merchandise (NEAR logo included)
Connect with 10 music managers, marketers or labels
Secure 5 calls with music managers, marketers or labels post SXSW
Connect with 10 angel investors, VCs or family offices
Secure 5-10 investor calls post SXSW
Collect 10 pieces of content for socials
Evangelise the power of using NEAR Protocol to music and tech companies at SXSW
Win the SXSW Web3 & Metaverse alternative pitch category!!

Timeline

SXSW pitch event: 11th March

SXSW music conference: 13th-17th March

NEAR Wallet ID: iindyverse.near

Wallet Owner: iiNDYVERSE Ltd

@marketingdao-council Any questions pls do reach out

xFFox_iiNDYVERSE · February 22, 2023, 10:48am

thx for the @Dacha

@Klint @satojandro @so608 @cryptocredit - lmk if you have any questions

satojandro · February 22, 2023, 5:52pm

Thanks for the proposal and congratulations on achieving this milestone.

I am happy to support this proposal* and note the following.

We’ve spent a lot of time recently asking ourselves - what is the type of messages we want to project, and what are the types of people we can attract to the ecosystem with this message? It seems clear to me that one of the strongest messages that can be broadcasted are stories of success. Look what we have done on NEAR.
The message above has two equally important parts: highlight your product your product and achievements and hopefully attract new clients and even investors AND highlight how NEAR has enabled you to do this - several possible narratives here: demystifying blockchain (grea user experience, affordable, scalable, etc.). The latter is just as important, specially when tapping into community funds.
SXSW is the Mecca of (mostly web 2) conferences - highly valuable and targeted audience.
I do want to note that PR is something that we have some limitations around, as this is usually the realm of the Foundation. However, I do believe that in this specific scenario, we can make that allowance*.

(*)Pending confirmation on the final amount which may change depending on whether we can indeed include PR, you have my full support.

cotmusic · February 22, 2023, 8:46pm

The proposal appears to be focused on securing funding to attend SXSW and promote NEAR technology to a wider audience. However, it would be helpful to clarify the specific goals and outcomes that the team hopes to achieve through this initiative. What are the primary objectives and how will success be measured?

As with any marketing initiative, there are risks associated with attending events like SXSW. For example, there is no guarantee that the team will secure press coverage or make valuable connections with investors or music industry professionals. It would be helpful to acknowledge these risks and describe how the team plans to mitigate them.

And is the marketing Dao not focused on proposals strictly around “CONTENT CREATION”

cotmusic · February 22, 2023, 8:48pm

The last I checked a similar proposal was turned down just because it was PR based

xFFox_iiNDYVERSE · February 22, 2023, 9:59pm

Thank you for the feedback @satojandro . We’re very excited to be part of such a high profile event and to be able to showcase that NEAR is the the platform we’re doing this with.

I understand that PR may have its limitations and we truly believe its a key part of ‘normalising’ web3 to a web2 audience. although it is only one small piece of a much larger marketing puzzle.

Looking forward to hearing feedback from the rest of the council

xFFox_iiNDYVERSE · February 22, 2023, 10:17pm

thanks for sharing your thoughts @cotmusic. I agree with you that there is no guarantee
in securing press coverage and there is a risk around securing the right meetings to deliver on our objectives. PR coverage is a great signal to traditional and non-traditional investors of credibility and trust. Post our press coverage in the past (paid for by a partner) we saw an influx of new client opportunities and interest from investors.

That said, the value of marketing can be hard to track as some payback cycles take between 3-6months and potential customers / investors can need to see your brand 5-7 times over different touch points before moving down the funnel to purchase.

We’ve outlined the below goals / impact and success metrics for this particular project. Measuring the campaigns awareness, engagement, conversion and advocacy is expensive to do at this scale so we’ve tried to keep these metrics attainable within the current resource we have. I hope that helps to answer your questions and pls shout if if it doesn’t

Impact / Value:

Drive user adoption through increased project reach and engagement in globally renowned publications.
Develop positive sentiment by highlighting NEAR as a leading technology within the entertainment and music tech sector.
Show music industry peers and the wider fan/music/creative community that web 3 is at the forefront of industry change for good.
Increase visibility for iiNDYVERSE ahead of our product releases in Q2
Target web 2 communities and bring them onto NEAR through press and PR opportunities.

Success Metrics

Secure 3-5 press stories with high domain authority
Give out 150 pieces of unique merchandise (NEAR logo included)
Connect with 10 music managers, marketers or labels
Secure 5 calls with music managers, marketers or labels post SXSW
Connect with 10 angel investors, VCs or family offices
Secure 5-10 investor calls post SXSW
Collect 10 pieces of content for socials
Evangelise the power of using NEAR Protocol to music and tech companies at SXSW
Win the SXSW Web3 & Metaverse alternative pitch category!!

xFFox_iiNDYVERSE · February 24, 2023, 11:27am

Hi @satojandro i checked with the foundation and they won’t be able to support. They suggested to ask for the support from the @marketingdao-council

Thx
R

xFFox_iiNDYVERSE · March 1, 2023, 4:49pm

Hi @Klint @so608 @cryptocredit - just checking in here to see if you have any questions.

SXSW is kicking off next week and it would great to know either way

so608 · March 3, 2023, 6:51pm

Hi @xFFox_iiNDYVERSE – thanks for the proposal and your patience in the review process.

I think this is a great opportunity for your team and project and having been the the meet the startups event in the past as a journalist covering the event, I think that alone is a worthy platform through which to showcase NEAR (not to mention the whole of SXSW).

I understand the points from @satojandro around PR, but I can’t support the PR portion of this proposal. We have turned a number of proposers down for PR funding since our relaunch in November (at which time, PR was deemed out of scope after conversations with the NF), and I think it would be problematic to fund PR for your team given that history.

We also have had to tread lightly with approving proposals requesting funds for flights, accommodation and food – as I am sure you can imagine, if we regularly approved those line items around popular events, things could get crazy as many people want help with international travel and conference/event costs.

That said, you’re the only proposer that’s submitted for SXSW, it’s a high-profile event, and you’re featured in it beyond simply attending or hosting a single booth.

If you remove the PR funding from the proposal, I will support it.

Note that if approved, funding could take an additional 2 weeks to reach out. Can you confirm that the team will still be able to use funds for this purpose given the payout circumstances?

xFFox_iiNDYVERSE · March 8, 2023, 11:44am

Hey @so608 - thx for your feedback. All noted and i’ve updated the proposal removing Press & PR.

I appreciate the support for the other parts.

We’ll cover the funds and claim back post the event.

Pls lmk if there is anything else I need to do?

Looking forward to getting this approved and signed off

so608 · March 9, 2023, 11:37pm

Okay noted – thanks, happy to support the revised version of the proposal. You need one more council member to support in order to move this to approved.