Nasdaq TradeTalks: How Web3 Is Transforming Client Relationships

This interview originally appeared in the NASDAQ TradeTalks newsletter.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-web3-is-transforming-client-relationships

We speak with Eric Pulier, CEO and founder of Vatom, about what every business leader needs to know and understand about Web3 and its potential. Pulier also shares some of the top Web3 use cases and the ways Web3 will be about enabling new forms of user interaction.

What does every business leader need to understand about Web3?

Web3 is transforming relationships with customers, enabling direct connections to customers, and as a result, traditional mass marketing will become increasingly outdated as businesses earn the attention and loyalty of the customer in innovative, new ways. Web3 will build meaningful relationships for those who can master personalizing their communications and long-term interactions with their customers. The leaders with an eye toward how this space more effectively connects people, provides recognized value for the consumer’s time, and enables self-sustaining communities will be successful.

What are some top Web3 use cases?

We’re fortunate to be working with some of the world’s largest brands, who are using our platform to extend their audience engagement, as well as their traditional marketing and loyalty programs into Web3. Increasingly, we are seeing companies finally understanding that Web3 enables so much more than niche-audience virtual experiences or speculative collecting. Brands are using Web3 to build an ongoing, 24/7, direct reward and loyalty channels for their customers. They are shifting traditional advertising budgets to this new channel because they see a higher return on investment and a more loyal customer.

For example, a company that we are working with is targeting over 100 million people to engage with a unique Web3 loyalty and reward program. This will then enable a direct, always-on communication and reward channel that will not only generate additional revenue streams, but also countless amounts of zero and first-party data accessible directly by the brand.

Zero-party data means information a person gladly shares, ethically and legally, in order to gain something they want. It turns the model on its head. Importantly, the same measures of success that brands use today are relevant here—the difference is that far less money achieves dramatically better results for both the company and the consumer.

We are also increasingly working with third parties that want to build Web3 solutions on the Vatom platform to re-sell to their customers. As we transition to Web3, organizations will continue to rely on SI’s like Deloitte and EY, and agencies like WPP and Dentsu, to execute strategically and at scale. We consider it our job to enable them for success.

What are some of the big trends shaping the Web3 space?

I think we’re finally passing through the hype phase of virtual spaces and speculative NFTs. That was never the value we thought Web3 should be providing. Instead, since 2015, we’ve been advocating that Web3 will be about enabling new forms of user interaction that are much more valuable and generate a much higher return than traditional methods.

Think of it as the next generation of CRM, not the next generation of Roblox. Web3 savvy companies now see this potential and are aggressively adopting this new approach to customer engagement.

We are also seeing that companies are realizing they can’t deliver this new engagement model using most of the point solutions available to them today. They are too complex, and they do not work well together. They are looking for integrated, enterprise-grade solutions that are simple to deploy, secure and can scale across multiple platforms.

What are some challenges of Web3?

Most companies know they need to identify their Web3 strategy going forward however many are confused about where to start. I can’t blame them, the technology is often disjointed, has competing definitions, and requires significant technical know-how in order to use.

However, this is changing rapidly. Sophisticated Web3 solutions are providing brands with the ability to easily build, deploy, and manage their own Web programs. As a result, brands are quickly seeing positive ROI on their investments in this new area and are realizing that pivoting to this approach can give them a strong competitive advantage in the years to come.