[Closed] NEAR Merch store

Marketing DAO Marketing DAO
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1

NEAR Merch store, powered by Alter

Funding scheme: One-time.

TLDR:

This proposal is to help kick start a NEAR merch store powered by Alter, we have already received the green light from the foundation for us to go ahead and make a NEAR Merch store, however we are seeking some funding to help kickstart it.

Merchandise is a powerful method of marketing however we at Alter take this to another level, to start our merchandise utilises the technology it represents, we do this by utilising the blockchain via NFTs to help verify and authenticate our products, for example our caps are able to be scanned via an NFC tag linked to the exact on-chain version, so not only are you representing NEAR you are able to show off/ demonstrate a use case of the technology itself.

We also create unique, stylish and modern designs, in other words we don’t just slap the logo on a top and that’s it, we create designs that stand out and make people want to wear it out no matter where they are. This results in more engagement and awareness for NEAR. (we will of course offer more generic designs along side)

Why Alter?

Alter is a streetwear brand and we have been sampling products for our brand for around 2 years and we have previous experience in the fashion industry. One of our main focus was quality and attention to detail, we have many people and projects that can vouch for us, that we have achieved this extremely well.

All of our products are amongst the best in terms of quality in the fashion industry and definitely one of the best, if not the best in the crypto industry (will happily send out one of our caps as a sample).

All products come with custom packaging, so for NEAR we would be having custom packaging designed around the NEAR branding kit, same goes for the website.

NEAR is our second blockchain merch store, we have our first blockchain merch store launching soon for the ICON blockchain (trailer video below). We have also partnered with 8 other projects to introduce merchandise into their project, 3 of these are currently going through mass production.

As mentioned, we also utilise the actual technology, so each sale will generate an NFT on NEAR to verify and authenticate the product which links to the physical via NFC tags or QR codes. The purchaser is able to claim this NFT if they wish at checkout (acting like a receipt and we also plan on adding more utility to this down the line)

We are extremely well positioned and already have the foundation in place to execute this to a high quality and professional level.

Estimated time line: We have already begun planning, we estimate to launch the NEAR Merch store by the end of April. This date could be sooner, the main wait will be production time for some of the products and custom packaging but we can update our progress as we go, for example we can share designs for the merch, website, marketing etc.

Milestone 1 ($2500)- Planning website design and integration of NEAR payment.

Milestone 2 ($2500)- Finalised website & NEAR payment integration, progress on merch design creation and marketing material (general graphics, intro trailer), start sponsoring twitter spaces.

Milestone 3 ($2500)- Sneak peak of the merch designs and bulk order placed, launch date announced, more sponsoring events/ twitter spaces.

Milestone 4 ($2500)- Fully launched by the end of April.

Funding- Total $10000 (3700 NEAR)

$5000 - Initial bulk inventory & supplies (caps, jumpers, hoodies, tops, custom packaging etc)

$5000 - Towards creation and marketing (designs/graphics, website development, giveaways, sponsoring events/ twitter spaces, marketing material)

The grant will help properly kickstart the NEAR merch store as we will be able to offer more products on launch, such as the caps and better marketing but more importantly we plan on sponsoring events such as NEARCON with $5000 worth of merchandise, the quality of this merch will definitely have people talking positively about it and sharing it on their socials.

Note, we are also open to give a donation of profits back into the grant program or using a % of profits to carry on sponsoring events. Similar to what we are doing with ICON in terms of donating a % of profits each quarter.

Alter links:

ICON Merch store trailer

Alter streetwear website

Alter caps authentication & verification demo

About Alter

Alter twitter

Thank you for taking your time to read the pre-proposal, if you have any questions, suggestions, queries or more information needed, please let me know.

Thanks.

(gathering feedback & addressing questions before filling out the form)

2

Hello! Thank you for your proposal.

Actually we already have Near and Aurora swag stories.

Are you planning to use Aurora and Near tokens in your store?

3

Hey, thanks for the response and question!

Yeah, once we integrate with and set up a blockchain store we also integrate said token as a payment method for all our stores.
So you will be able to pay with NEAR on the NEAR store and all other stores we run.

We also focus on creating unique designs, so our merchandise wont simply be the NEAR logo on a top, for example we have just shown off one of our designs for the ICON blockchain, this design combines their saying and logo (our most recent tweet, still unable to post images etc)

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4

Ok, could you please share list of milestones? Thanks

Milestone one …. $2500

Milestone two …. $2500

Milestone three …. $2500 (Near and Aurora tokens integration)

Milestone four …. $2500

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5

Sorry for the delay, i had a time limit until i could respond however i did update the original post with the timeline, i shall also post it here:

Milestone 1 ($2500)- Planning website design and integration of NEAR payment.

Milestone 2 ($2500)- Finalised website & NEAR payment integration, progress on merch design creation and marketing material (general graphics, intro trailer), start sponsoring twitter spaces.

Milestone 3 ($2500)- Sneak peak of the merch designs and bulk order placed, launch date announced, more sponsoring events/ twitter spaces.

Milestone 4 ($2500)- Fully launched by the end of April.

Thanks!

6

I can now post links, so here are all the links to things mentioned:

Alter links:

ICON Merch store trailer

Alter streetwear website

Alter caps authentication & verification demo

About Alter

Alter twitter

Thanks again!

7

Payments in Near and Aurora tokens?

8

Sorry, just updated it. To start we will be accepting NEAR as payment and this will be implemented in milestone 2.
We are currently exploring implementing Aurora but this might be at a later date, however NEAR payment will be live on launch of the merch store.

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9

Hi @Alter thanks for your proposal – a couple of questions as I review the form submission, etc.

  • What is the team’s previous experience with NEAR and the NEAR ecosystem?
  • Have you received grant funding or other funding from either the NEAR Foundation or Aurora community for any part of this project?
  • What does “greenlight” from Foundation mean?

Thanks!

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10

Thanks for the questions and your time-

  1. Till now, we have simply been investors and observers in the NEAR ecosystem. Our project as a whole will be a MultiChain project, our first chain being ICON which we have been established on for over a year and the second chain we have chosen to start integrating with is NEAR.

  2. No, we have not received any funding from the NEAR foundation or Aurora community.

  3. We did not just want to go ahead a create a NEAR Merch store without the foundations approval/ permission, so we got in contact with them via the NEAR discord mods and they said it is okay for us to go ahead with it.

Merchandise has always lacked in the crypto industry and we are making a point with these Merch stores by offering extremely high quality products, stylish designs, custom packaging and more importantly utilising the actual technology the Merch represents.

It can be done, others just choose to take the path of least resistance, we do not.

I hope this answers your questions well, if not/ or if you have any other questions let me know! Thanks.

11

Thanks for answering the questions – I’ve reviewed this proposal, your social links, background, etc., and while your team looks capable of executing on this project as outlined, I’m not able to support this proposal. I want to share my reasons:

  • You’re requesting funding to build out a web site and produce a run of merchandise, but there’s no proof of product/market fit and demand included here. I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist, but for us to allocate $10K (which is 1/5 of our monthly cap) to one project, I would need to see more evidence that it was going to be a good use of funds. I think you could demonstrate this by doing a smaller trial run at an upcoming event, prove out the concept and then go bigger with it incrementally.
  • I’m also conscious of the fact that there are numerous groups and projects that have produced NEAR merch in the past, and it’s not clear yet how your team would “own” the market with your product.

Perhaps there is another way forward for your team in the future – maybe if you offered pre-sales and were able to show that there is demand, that customers like the product, etc.?

I’d also want to understand how you’re thinking about your business model, customer acquisition and marketing going forward. What you’ve outlined is more like a request for seed capital to produce an initial run of product, not a marketing proposal as such.

Hope you understand the feedback – not personal, just need to make sure we are allocating community funds towards the right kinds of projects. Thanks!

1 Like
12

Hey, thanks for the response and you make some very valid points in which i hope i can address.

  1. All the years i have being in the crypto space, merch has always been relatively sought after as people love to represent what they support. It is why we see so many NFT projects have merch in their roadmaps.
    We have already seen a lot of demand for the blockchain merch stores within the ICON ecosystem which is ranked 150 in market-cap, NEAR has a much larger ecosystem in which i am sure the demand is even stronger. We could do a poll or something similar to try show the interest but the way we operate is a more stealth approach until we have the website and teaser trailer ready, this adds to the marketing in building up hype for when we drop.

  2. There have indeed been others attempt, i have also purchased from many others in the past and none of them are at the quality or level we are doing it at, the reasons we will stand out are following:

  • Quality and attention to detail: Most fall very short on this where as for us it is what helps make us stand out, we only sell top quality products and have customised packaging which adds to the buyers experience and strengthens our brand.

  • Utilising the actual technology: Nearly all merch stores i have seen, do not accept payment in crypto (not even the native token that the store represents) whereas we accept payment in the native token of the merch store, in this case NEAR.
    We also verify and authenticate all products via NFTs, so each time a product is purchased an NFT is created to help verify and authenticate the product. We do this via NFC tags and QR codes, i do not think there is another crypto merch store doing this at all.
    It makes the merch much more than a visual attraction, it makes it a talking point for the wearer to physically demonstrate a use case of the technology.

  • More than a simple Merch store: Most merch stores are just that, just a merch store with no passion. Alter is passionate about blockchain and fashion, we only give 100% in everything we do, as we are much more than a singular merch store.
    We have and continue to build a community around the Alter project and one of our aims is to also bridge blockchain communities via Alter and our services, we already have members in our community wanting us to come to NEAR.

The funding is more to help kick start the merch store with a bang, once set up and running we would be self sustaining so would not need nor want to keep coming back for additional capital.
In terms of marketing going forward, we would cover this, as mentioned one thing we can do is set aside a % of profits and allocate that to sponsor events such as NEARCon, twitter spaces or giveaways, this would be alongside our actual marketing plan for Alter as a whole.

I do apologies as i did not realise the funding amount was cut back this much, if i did i would have revised the funding amount before putting it in the proposal.

We have already made progress on setting up the NEAR merch store and due to the new funding amounts you have mentioned, i would happily drop the requested amount down to $5000 and we would cover the rest.
We will also still sponsor NEARCON with $5000 worth of Merch for them to use as marketing, giveaways etc at the event.

The $5000 would be spent on bulk orders, allowing us to launch with the caps which are a serious talking point, due to the quality and the fact you can scan it with your phone is great for marketing/ demonstrating the technology. These caps will definitely be great marketing at NEARCON

I really appreciate the feedback and reasoning, i would love to know your thoughts on the revised amount and if you have any more questions.

Thanks!

13

Ok, thank you! Please re-apply when you will be ready to implement the feature.

14

Hey @Dacha Just checking if you see the above reply regarding revised amount.

We will cover the development costs & marketing and only require $5000 to be able to launch with the caps in which we will sponsor NEARCON with $5000 worth of Merch for marketing.

NEAR payment will also still be implemented on launch, which i do not think any other store has, we will also still explore implementing Aurora.

Thanks

15

Hi @Alter thanks for your proposal.

I think you have an interesting project and would like to see this come to fruition. However, i have some reservations:

If you are able and willing to cover the development costs to create a fully working online store with the ability to pay in NEAR tokens (and Aurora in future) this would be a great first step to demonstrate to the Near community what you are capable of.

I also like your idea to sponsor the supply of caps at NEARCON this year. This is something the Marketing DAO would consider funding nearer the time of the event.

Unfortunately i am unable to support this proposal in its curent form. Moving to Closed.

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16

Hey @cryptocredit hope you are well!

Completely fair, as mentioned we are going ahead regardless as NEAR is the first chain outside of ICON that we want to integrate and set up our second blockchain store with.

You are right, it is only fair that first we show the NEAR community what we are capable of before seeking funding, so once we are set up and running we will then revisit for a grant to sponsor NEARCON with the caps!

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

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