NFTs have exploded extremely quickly, and gone from an idea to an industry worth millions of dollars. Some individual problems are worth millions at this point – so NFTs are well past the stage where they are a niche item. That was proven not long ago when an NFT project went ahead and took out a prime ad spot in the middle of Hong Kong.
More specifically, collectors of the Degenerate Ape Academy project on the Solana chain have gone and rented out an entire Central Hong Kong billboard to promote themselves and their apes. A 90-second ad ran on a huge, curved screen reminiscent of the Times Square ads just outside of Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong.
On the 1st of January 2022, another NFT project – Delirious Mind Travelers – took out almost half of the 200-metre passageway between two Hong Kong subway stations. It’s a pretty incredible ad and has the potential to reach millions – after all, some 7.5 million people pass through the area on a daily basis. The ad reads:
“NFTs going mainstream is inevitable. Three letters. Infinite potential. NFTs: Art with utility. More than just a JPEG.”
The slogans are meant to increase interest in upcoming NFT sales from the group of collectors and creators that are upcoming later in the month. Each of the posters has a QR code on it as well as a graphic showing some NFT art. The ads stretch a solid hundred metres between the two stations.
These two examples are easily the most impressive, but not the first, of NFT projects showing themselves in the Hong Kong hub. Bunny Warriors, LuckyKittens, GoingApe and Cyber Ape Age have also already ran billboards in various areas of Hong Kong.
Based on the sudden and fairly specific interest in the Hong Kong area, it could well be that Hong Kong itself could end up becoming a major place of appeal for NFT fans, collectors, and projects. Hong Kong is ideally positioned to become an NFT hub, especially given that mainland China has been cracking down on cryptocurrencies, trading and financing. As such, ‘escaping’ to Hong Kong is not only a likely move, it could also benefit both the NFT industry and the Hong Kong financial area quite considerably.
Already, there is considerable interest in the Hong Kong community, with people forming clubs and starting NFT-related communities and clubs. Degenerate Ape Academy for example has an estimated 80 investors in Hong Kong… and that’s just one project. There is enough interest to make the advertising gamble a great move – in theory.
Such advertising space isn’t cheap, and if the projects fail to gather enough interest, could prove to be a gigantic waste of money. Some 1000 people per day scanned the QR codes on the posters of the Delirious Mind Travelers – that is a pretty impressive number for an up- and coming project, especially considering that the NFT space is still relatively ‘new’ to the Hong Kong area, at least compared to the US or Europe, where they have become somewhat more adopted already.
So far, the NFT advertising hype that has swept over Hong Kong promises pretty solid success – whether it will lead to lasting financial success is another question entirely. Hong Kong is ideally positioned to become the next big place for NFTs, and the proof of concept is being tested now, already.
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