Adidas, the renowned sportswear giant, has taken a significant leap into the digital age by partnering with Stepn, a popular move-to-earn application built on the Solana blockchain. This collaboration heralds the launch of an exciting NFT collection that uniquely blends the physical prowess of Adidas sneakers with the burgeoning world of digital collectibles. On Wednesday, the Adidas-inspired NFT collection made its grand debut, marking a milestone in the sportswear brand’s journey into the digital domain.
Dubbed the Stepn x Adidas Genesis Sneakers series, this venture introduces 1,000 NFTs to the market, showcasing designs that resonate with Adidas’ iconic sneaker lineup. This collection is made available on Mooar, a marketplace associated with Stepn, and represents a pioneering step for Adidas in its efforts to engage with a new generation of consumers who are increasingly intertwined with the digital landscape.
Shiti Manghani, CEO of Stepn, provided insights into the vision driving this partnership, highlighting a desire to bridge the gap between the physical and digital realms through ‘move-to-earn’ dynamics. By intertwining sneaker-inspired NFTs with the move-to-earn model, Adidas aims to attract brand enthusiasts to participate in digital games where their avatars too can don Adidas footwear. Manghani emphasized that this collaboration is paving the way for new customer reward paradigms.
“Physical and digital – or ‘phygital’ – partnership between the most widely used lifestyle app and a global brand like Adidas underscores how powerful it is when you can move-and-earn in both the virtual and real world simultaneously. It also indicates the direction lifestyle rewards are going towards,” Manghani shared in a press statement.
The launch strategy for this collection involves a two-stage raffle taking place on Mooar, beginning Wednesday. The first stage reserves 200 NFTs exclusively for Stepn’s impressive user base of five million customers. Entrants can secure their chance to win an NFT by depositing 10,000 tokens of Stepn’s native cryptocurrency, GMT. According to the company, those not fortunate enough to secure an NFT will be refunded in full.
This strategic partnership also seeks to boost the visibility and engagement of the GMT token, which is currently trading at $0.2312 (approximately Rs. 19.34), as per CoinMarketCap. The second stage of the raffle opens up the sale to the public, offering the remaining 790 NFT pieces. Winners of this stage will be announced over a period stretching from April 18 to April 21, thus providing Stepn an excellent opportunity to draw attention and traffic to Mooar for an extended period.
Adidas’ foray into the NFT sphere is not a new endeavor. Previously, the brand has collaborated with Web3 artist ‘Fewocious’ for a sneaker collection last year, where the purchase of shoes was tied to owning an NFT redemption pass, which in turn offered additional benefits to holders. Furthermore, in April 2023, Adidas announced the launch of its ALTS Dynamic NFT collection, an initiative that extends its ‘Into The Metaverse’ project originally kickstarted in 2021.
This partnership between Adidas and Stepn not only exemplifies the evolving landscape of customer engagement and rewards but also illustrates how traditional retail brands can successfully integrate into the digital and blockchain realms, creating unique and immersive experiences for their consumers.
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