Lauren: 0:00

By leveraging AI and Web3 together, brands are going to create systems where customers receive rewards in real-time, exclusive content or products that are perfectly tailored to themselves.

Joeri: 0:15

Hello everyone and welcome to the Web3 CMO Stories podcast. My name is Joeri Billast and I'm your podcast host, and today I'm really happy to be joined by Lauren. Hey Lauren, how are you?

Lauren: 0:29

Hey Joeri GM. Great to be here doing very well today.

Joeri: 0:34

Doing well too. You know, every time I get to record a podcast episode, you know, with new people, I'm really excited, guys. If you're now wondering who is Lauren, well, lauren Halstead. She's a crypto veteran who led business development for the entertainment sector at Chainlink Labs, as well as Chainlink Labs program for early stage blockchain projects, before she joined Mojito, and so she's passionate about helping brands unlock the full potential of Web3, demonstrating how it can enhance and extend their efforts beyond the traditional Web2 solutions. And also, lauren, like me, you love to speak on stage. Now you get to speak on this podcast episode. So, lauren, yeah, welcome to the show. So, to start with, what inspired you now to focus on transforming Web 2.0 loyalty through Web 3.0 at Mojito? And then, of course, you're in the role of head of ecosystem. How does this contribute to this mission?

Lauren: 1:41

Yeah, so happy to jump in. This is one of my first podcasts I've ever done. Everybody's always told me I should be a podcaster, but I always feel a little different than being in person. So what inspired me? Yeah, coming from Chainlink, I focused on all the entertainment sector, so it seemed like a supernatural bridge to come over to Mojito to help onboard Web2 brands to Web3. After surviving the last NFT super cycle, I wanted to focus on solving problems that Web2 currently doesn't solve, and that's where we settled on trying to really focus on solving Web2 loyalty problems. Traditional brand engagement relies on outdated models that fail to foster long-term consumer relationships. I don't know how many times I've signed up for a loyalty program and stopped using it. Probably the best example is going to a nail salon, stamping my nail card twice and then after that throwing it out and restarting it. So I wanted to really focus on the problems in Web2 and how we can solve them with Web3, especially in the Web3 loyalty space.

Joeri: 2:45

Yeah, for me Web3 offers really great possibilities for loyalty. But yeah, can you explain how ownership, trust and personalization in Web3, how do they redefine the traditional brand-consumer relationship compared to Web2 strategies?

Lauren: 3:07

Yes, in Web3 technology, consumers actually own their data At one point in time. In the future, the roles will be reversed, where a user can actually sell its own data to a corporation or gain reputation by offering information to the Web2 company. I love to use the music industry as a good example. Right now, when you're buying a ticket off a Ticketmaster, ticketmaster doesn't know anything about the end consumer. They have a large list of emails, but they don't know who they are, how frequently they go to the concerts. You'd think that they would know this information, but this is simply not the truth.

Lauren: 3:38

So I've spent a lot of time in the music industry as a fan of an artist, and something that brought me to the Web3 world was that the artists that I've always loved and followed let's take Rufus DeSoul as an example I was probably their 10th like on Facebook. I don't receive any rewards. They don't know that I was a super fan Went around and told everybody about them in the early stage. But now, using Web3 technology, the promoter can actually know that I was one of the first artists by collecting data on me through the NFT, through blockchain technology, and give me a verified credential that I was there as a first fan. This will only continue, and I think this really is showing how it redefines the brand to consumer relationship, because now, for the first time, brands actually know who their true loyal fans are and who their super promoters are, and can use that data to create new ones as well absolutely, and I love your example with music industry because everyone you know can relate to that, I think.

Joeri: 4:38

But can you maybe share some examples how mojito has successfully helped brands implement Web3 solutions about customer loyalty?

Lauren: 4:50

Sure. So in my experience, mojito has been very successful in creating seamless experiences for brands to enter Web3 arena without knowing the blockchain as the underlying tech. We built the backend for Sotheby's Metaverse, where it looked like you were interacting with a regular Web2 interface, but actually, behind the scenes, blockchain was at work. Customers are able to log in seamlessly without having to write down seed phrases and just treat it like it's a typical Web2 experience. I think that's the main thing that Mojito has really really been successful at is providing the tools necessary for somebody who doesn't know anything about blockchain to come on and just treat this like a normal web2 experience something I know about, about what you are doing at mojito, is you know the concept of dynamic nfts.

Joeri: 5:36

Can you explain to my audience how they are different from static nfts? You know?

Lauren: 5:42

sure I'm happy to talk about dynamic nfts. This is an area that I'm super comfortable in. At Chainlink Labs, my main focus was dynamic NFTs. So the main difference is that dynamic NFTs change with real-time data or different inputs. So, for your audience to understand better, a static NFT would just be a regular pudgy penguin that has a hat and a scarf.

Lauren: 6:06

A dynamic NFT could be a pudgy penguin that is out in the snow because it's snowing outside. With the weather, the dynamic NFT changes based on different conditions. So, happy to pull from the music example again, I could have an NFT of myself Lauren Halstead at Coachella. I entered the festival no swag, I have no upgrades. All of a sudden, I complete different missions and all of a sudden I have an NFT of myself that's backstage with a beer in my hand and With whatever different traits. So dynamic NFTs are something that change with conditions. So how many times you interact with the smart contract is reflected in the NFT, and I think they're super cool and interactive for people. I think they're the future of NFTs, because people don't just want static NFTs, they want NFTs that come with benefits. They want NFTs that reward them in different ways for interacting with the blockchain, and that's ultimately what will keep people in the space coming back for more.

Joeri: 7:07

Yeah, because we came from an area where it was more about speculation. You know, buy an NFT and hope that it would be worth more the next day. Here you're talking about real utility and this is really for me, really where NFT should go. But talking about communities, how can I maybe have some examples of innovative use cases, that how dynamic NFTs can help building stronger brand communities?

Lauren: 7:34

I love using the use case of Delta Airlines for a great dynamic NFT use case that could really help marketers. Right now. A use case that I've always loved is Delta Airlines, probably one of the best loyalty programs out there. A lot of people say it's not actually an airline, it's a loyalty program with an airline, but I think there's so much more that these brands can do. For example, say you had a Delta Airline NFT ticket that could reward you in real time. You could use a dynamic NFT that has a smart contract feeding in different weather conditions that automatically rewards you. If you're sitting on that airplane and all of a sudden you're delayed an hour, the smart contract will know that, feed it into the dynamic NFT and update in real time and reward you back for those points or whatever value that you associated with it.

Lauren: 8:26

I think right now one of the biggest frustrations with Web2 companies is that you have to go through all these different parties. So, say, you have to go through a another layer of an insurance provider to confirm that you had a delay reward. I've gone through this myself and have been super frustrated, to the point where you know I'm writing in the feedback loop, they're not rewarding me. They don't know what's going on. They don't know that I'm a good customer. I come to them every single time, no matter what, and they still don't treat me. I have to fill out this weird questionnaire and it goes nowhere. I have no idea like who's seeing this feedback, but with this type of technology and these dynamic NFTs, you can get the information reward to you in real time because they know that who you are as a customer. You're a verified credential, you're a verified person in their book and they can see that. And this, ultimately, this connection between the brand and the consumer will strengthen because the consumer will trust that they're getting real time data from them directly and ultimately, through this model, you can grow the community.

Lauren: 9:25

Another example is with points, like right now with airlines. You can't necessarily trade your points to other customers, to other people very easily. There are some circumstances where you can, but it's just not super seamless. Imagine right now if I had 10 million Delta airline points. You are a United customer, you have very, very low chances of coming over to Delta, but all of a sudden I have the ability to gift you, you know, 5 million of my points and we're going to Tahiti. I think you'd be much more willing to come over to the Delta community and I also think it would give consumers confidence that the brands trust them to go out and like, promote their brand and create this bigger community.

Joeri: 10:10

Yeah.

Lauren: 10:10

Those are a few examples, yeah.

Joeri: 10:12

I love those examples too and, by the way, I had these also. I was on an airline. You know, I paid to get a good seat for it and then they change it at the boarding. And you know, and you cannot start to discuss at the boarding. And you know, and you cannot start to discuss at the boarding day. And then I made a ticket at the support, I complained, but you don't hear back, you don't know what's happening with it. So anyway, I can relate to your story. It's still there, so it's really. You know, it's a good solution with those dynamic nfts, but still there is skepticism, of course, traditional brands and there is change, new, new things. How do you overcome that? You know, decepticism in the market with those bigger brands. Yeah, love to hear your thoughts.

Lauren: 12:01

Yeah, I just think, ultimately this is going to come from the consumer that they want transparency. Consumers are demanding more and more personalized experiences. They're tired of brands taking advantage of them. We see this happening everywhere. When I talk to agencies that represent brands, managers that represent brands, they say it's coming from the brand themselves, because consumers are complaining so much. The consumer is onto them. Essentially, for many years I don't think the masses really understood how much they're being tracked, how much they're being used and harvested for data, and now that's becoming so apparent through AI and just their experiences on Web2 applications of how smart everything is. They want to be a part of the experience.

Lauren: 12:47

So, ultimately, overcoming the skepticism, I think is like a two part thing. I think that they are brands are just will be super afraid of ultimately failing in this race to show consumers what's behind the scenes and they'll be forced to move over to this different model. That's a lot of the ways, a lot of ways it works. Another way, a scarier example, would be there will be a massive failure of some sort that that makes people shift over. We've seen this happen time and time again. Or the, the, the traditional music arena with cds. All of a sudden, music became available online. It became so easy to access to making spot easily. Oh Right, all right. So I think that ultimately the skepticism will be defeated because the communities that are built from Web3 will be so strong and help those brands know their customer more and know how to care to them more that ultimately they will see this as a strength and not a weakness and be forced to move over to this new model, and be forced to move over to this new model, but hopefully in a good way. That is super easy for them. They don't have to replace their current model right now. I think that's something that's super important to understand. We can add value to their models by using NFTs, by using different technologies, and aid their models to be enhanced. So say, right now you have a loyalty program. We're not asking you to get rid of your normal loyalty program, but we can offer a Web3 loyalty program alternative or add-on that can just bring over new customers from the Web3 arena.

Lauren: 14:31

Typically, web3 customers are much more tech savvy, so like they will be gaining an entire new audience, which is super cool. So, yeah, I just think it's for them. They don't have to be afraid. This is an easy process. We've been working on this for a long. This isn't completely new. I know people love to say it's the wild west, but at the same time, people have been in the industry for quite quite some time now and a lot of them are now from the web to industry as well. So we are just working to make this as seamless as possible, and Mojito is there as a trusted partner to hold your hand and make sure that these brands are not scared, transferring over from the Web 2 to the Web 3 world in a way that works for them and also isn't completely destroying their old business model, but just adding a new opportunity for them to explore this Web 3 world and Web 3 model. That will be the winner, I believe.

Joeri: 15:22

But yeah, that's how I think it could help you great, yeah, and I loved that mission that mojito has when a brand is convinced about the switch. Of course, there are some challenges involved. You already mentioned a bit how you're helping them, but what are the typical things that you do with Mojito when a brand has these challenges and wants to shift from the Web2 to the Web3 model for brand loyalty?

Lauren: 15:48

I'd say the biggest challenges brands typically face when shifting from the Web2 to the Web3 world are pretty much. Some of the brands I've worked with in the past had absolutely no idea what Web3 is. They think of Bitcoin, they think of Ethereum, but they don't think of it as underlying infrastructure. They don't know how to approach it from a legal standpoint. They don't know how to approach it from a community standpoint. They don't know how to approach it from a marketing standpoint. So these are all different aspects of the business that Mojito can offer. We have professionals, trusted engineers, people like myself who can handhold you.

Lauren: 16:24

I came from the traditional finance space and navigated my way into this space by educating myself, so I think what Mojito can offer is like a full consultancy, from legal to marketing to website build anything you need. We are there to help you. It's a little hard question to answer because it's pretty much everything. It's like where do you start? Who do you go to? Who do you trust? They don't know who to trust.

Lauren: 16:49

In the past, I felt like that was the hardest part. There's so many bad grifters and bad actors and grifters in the crypto space. Who do you know is real? Who do you know is there to actually help you, who's not just looking to make a quick buck, and I think that's why you come to places like Mojito with trusted industry professionals who've been in the space forever that they will help you navigate the bridge. So we are here for the long term. We're here to be with you, and I think finding somebody who really, truly cares about Web3 technology and the mission is ultimately the best thing for Web2 brands, because if I was a brand looking to get into crypto, I would absolutely not want to enter unless I completely, completely trusted the person who was helping me. So I think that trust is extremely important in this industry and I think that's probably the biggest thing to overcome in finding somebody you can trust to help you.

Joeri: 17:44

Absolutely Fully agree. Like you know, people don't know. They read a lot about the scams or they read a lot about Web3, a bit less about the technology, and then they think it's crypto and they think they have all these ideas about that and people that are in the Web3 space.

Lauren: 18:02

They are so careful you know with everything, so I've seen so careful. Yes, they're super careful.

Joeri: 18:06

Yeah, and a company that I'm helping right now is a fractional cmo. It's secrets fault and you have a solution to to protect a seed phrase with an image, but the trust is also really important. People are afraid to click on the link or to open a document. Something that is obviously more present in Web3 is community management, community engagement. So what are some of the approaches or strategies that you see are the most effective in brand loyalty and communities?

Lauren: 18:37

Yes. So this is the huge point of Web3 is building communities through these online communities. They are extremely different than Web2 communities. Now, with Web3 communities, people are living inside the internet, in digital communities. An example would be Discord communities. As you know, different consumers are able to engage with different endpoints, whether it's completing different tasks in the Discord or going on Telegram and sharing with the community what's going on with these Web3 communities. The end user is able to engage in so many different ways than they can in Web2.

Lauren: 19:16

I don't really know many ways that the end consumer can engage in Web2 besides writing a review somewhere online. The owners of the companies you know they're taking into account, but not in the way that you can in Web2. You're able to actually interface with people at the company. So, yeah, I'm happy to use music as an example Again. In the past, I've created communities for different music clubs where the attendee of the event can actually tell people what artists they want to see next.

Lauren: 19:45

In a traditional brand community, this is not something that would ever happen. These decisions are siloed and made on boards and they're not really taking into account what the actual community wants to see. Another thing what we're doing at Mojito with loyalty is super cool because we're rewarding customers for interacting with these different points. So, if they, we can send them on a quest and say, okay, do three tweets this week and we will give you a customizable X, like it could be anything, and then, this way, the customers actually engage and incentivize to do more for the brand. And then, if they have feedback, they are also able to directly report that in a Discord or in the online community and give the brand feedback If this is something they like doing, they don't like doing, and ultimately, to create more loyalty. Interacting with these different customers will ultimately give them more confidence that the brand cares about them and they'll be less likely to switch to another brand.

Lauren: 20:40

It's all about cultivating this web three community of people who are like-minded, who want to interact with the brand, who want to go out and be advocates for the brand. I think that's the main difference. Something I've always been jealous of at Midley is a bunch of these influencers who are paid, who aren't necessarily the ones who are in the community, who are the loyal ones. They just have a ton of followers to go out and promote the brand. Now, for the first time, the real influencers are the ones who are going to be rewarded and are the ones who can give feedback to the brand. And as we see this technology shift from Web 2 to Web 3, this is only going to become a bigger theme.

Lauren: 21:23

Brands want more authenticity. The consumer wants more authenticity. They want to be a part of the process. So why spend money on all these other external factors than actually investing in the consumer itself and having them have a voice? Will long-term pay off for these brands versus just going to different third parties that traditionally have been looked at as a place to go? Spend a ton of money on there, and what ROI are you really getting at the end of the day than creating new super loyal, super users by leveraging this Web3 technology?

Lauren: 22:00

I love that and I feel your passion, you know with everything that you're doing and, personally, what I'm passionate.

Joeri: 22:06

I gave a talk about that in Cairo, actually in Egypt.

Lauren: 22:09

Oh, amazing yeah, just before, you know before.

Joeri: 22:12

Philip Kotler came on, like you know this guy that I was studying like this book. This guy is already 90 years old, but actually I was talking there about the theme of the future and the convergence of these new technologies. You know web3, nfts, ai, metaverse, and so I'm curious, yep, what are your thoughts on that the convergence, these new technologies, and what does it mean for you?

Lauren: 22:39

yeah, no, it's super, super interesting. By leveraging ai and web3 together, brands are going to create systems where customers receive rewards in real time, exclusive content or products that are perfectly tailored to themselves. It's crazy. I at first, you know, was wary of AI, but the more and more I'm getting comfortable with it and learning about it, it's so genius. These AI agents will be able to work for you in a way that Web2 could never do. I could be sitting here and deploy an AI agent that will go find the perfect flight for me at a time that you know I'm not the best at booking flights ahead. But maybe that AI agent can now take that into account because it just knows me and my personality so well, can now take that into account because it just knows me and my personality so well. So brands will be able to use this AI technology to tailor it so perfectly to the consumer that the payoff is going to be enormous.

Lauren: 23:34

I think the digital twin is also super cool because in the metaverse, if I deploy a Lauren Halstead in the metaverse, all of a sudden this AI technology and digital twins will be able to react and do things super quickly in the metaverse at a rate that it can't do in the real world, and then the real world marketers can look at this and take that data and then apply that to those customers and how to make their experiences better in the real world versus in the metaverse.

Lauren: 24:03

But I think the metaverse example is going to be the best place and the perfect environment to really start understanding how consumers act by doing it in a digital community, because it's basically just taking everything in the real world and putting it on steroids. So I think it's super cool how it's going to play out. I'm really excited about it, really excited about AI agents. I was wary before, but now I'm excited to see where it goes and I think it's going to solve a lot of problems at a much and better and ultimately help the consumer in a way, get places or achieve what they want in a more tailored fashion.

Joeri: 24:54

Wow, this is a really positive message.

Lauren: 24:57

I'm being positive.

Joeri: 24:58

Like the bad side of things. You know why not. But you know, instead of saying why not, you say what does this make possible? Because it's there, it won't go away. You know why not work. You know, instead of saying why not, you say what does this make? Possible? Yeah, because it's there. It won't go away. You know why not?

Lauren: 25:09

work with it. If you can automate it, we can ultimately all work on creative tasks and things we all enjoy more, and accentuate that versus, you know, working at jobs that people aren't passionate about. So the positive outlook has a long way to go.

Joeri: 25:25

Absolutely Well. That's a really motivating and positive message at the end of this episode. Lauren, if people now they want to know more about you, they want to connect with you they want to know more about Mojito.

Lauren: 25:40

Where would you like me to send them To learn more about Mojito NFT? You can go to getmojitocom That's-e-t-m-o-j-i-t-ocom. To learn more about me. You can find me on twitter. It's h-a-l-s-t-e-a-d-y. I am head of ecosystem at mojito. I'm always here to help anybody looking to join the industry. Send me a dm. I'd love to help. You love to get to know. You, love to hear your story. So fun to be here, thank you. Thank you so much for having me yeah, lauren, thank you so much.

Joeri: 26:12

As my listeners know, there are always show notes, there is always a blog article, your links, everything you mentioned will be there. So cool, so fun to have you so much fun.

Lauren: 26:22

Thank you for having me. I hope you're having a good evening wherever you are. I'm out in Sun Valley, idaho, right now, so typically I'm in New York City. So if you go to any crypto meetups, you're highly likely to find me.

Joeri: 26:34

Great. I'm actually in Lisbon area. I'm Belgian, but I live not here and the sun is there now it's a bit later than where you are, lauren. Yes, what an amazing episode. I don't know if you feel the energy, but it was really like. I see, lauren, you're smiling, and so she was passionate about what she's doing. If you want to transfer this energy to people around you, you know they want to learn more about dynamic nfts, for instance be sure to share this episode with them. If you are not yet following the show, this is a really good moment to do this. If you haven't given me a review yet, please, if you give me these five stars, it will help me reach an even bigger audience and, of course, I would like to see you back next time, take care.