New Puma Looks
Because self-expression and representation matter in the Metaverse, Meta has introduced new body shapes and improved hair and clothing textures to customize Meta Avatars in even greater detail. They’ve partnered with several brands, including PUMA Group, which is the first sportswear brand in the Avatar Store. And PUMA is the first to utilize the new body types in the Avatar Store giving new Puma looks to customers.
Ivan Dashkov, Head of Web3 at Puma Group, shared the news on Linked in saying “showcasing PUMA in new emerging spaces has been a huge goal of ours. I’m also looking forward to the learnings from these activations as we look to do more in the digital space”.
D2 recently caught up with Ivan to get the inside story around his Web3 Journey.
D2: Tell us about your personal Web3 journey. How and when did you become interested and where has the path taken you?
Dashkov: I have always been interested in new technologies and mediums. Before Web3, my career was primarily in social and content creation. I love figuring out new platforms and how to utilize them to engage with an audience, so social and content were great for that. When Web3 and NFTs started to gain traction a few years ago, I saw it as another great opportunity to learn a new medium and use it to engage with a new audience.
D2: Where do you think the future of Web3 will take us in the next 1-2 years? 5 years?
Dashkov: This is the fun thing about Web3, it’s still so new so it could go a lot of different ways over the next few years. Specifically, I think we’ll start to see blockchain and NFTs get used to authenticate luxury goods, for event ticketing, and CRM programs. There have already been successful pilot programs in those areas so it’s likely to continue gaining traction. However, for true long-term success for NFTs and blockchain, the technology’s use cases will need to dramatically expand. For example, when the internet started to become mainstream in the late 90s, no one could predict that we’d be using smartphones to order Ubers. For NFTs and blockchain to succeed in the long term, both technologies will need to continue growing and expand their use cases to bring in more people.
D2: What’s your best advice for getting your company started on Web3?
Dashkov: Focus on community when building in Web3. There’s no playbook for brands in the space yet, so experimenting will be part of figuring it out. At times, you’ll make mistakes and your community may call you out, but that’s okay. Take their feedback and implement changes. During every NFT project we’ve created at PUMA, we’ve had to make some sort of pivot during the launch based on community feedback. That’s something our community truly loves about our brand’s approach to the space, and other companies should look to emulate.
Read more advice about getting started in Web3 here:
