"Web3 Brand Project of the Year: Lacoste UNDW3

A near-century-old company in the NFTs? The association between the brand with the crocodile and Web3 didn't come naturally, but the success of the collection imagined by Lacoste's teams shows that traditional and iconic companies have excellent prospects in this new digital world.

"After leading a collaboration in gaming with Minecraft, the overall development of initiatives in Web3 made us want to go further to clear out the new relationship that a brand could have with its community," explains Benjamin Cornut, director of social and Web3 experiences at Lacoste.

"We arrived with a great deal of humility in order to understand the ecosystem, learn how to use blockchain and offer a quality experience," he continues.

To put it simply, the project is halfway between a loyalty programme that gives access to all sorts of benefits... and a platform for the co-creation of products that are made in collaboration with NFTs holders.

A sale sold out in an hour

The "UNDW3" universe was launched in mid-June with the creation of 11,212 "Genesis Pass" NFTs. These were sold out in an hour, bringing in the equivalent of €900,000 for Lacoste at the time of the operation.

An important point to clarify, Lacoste manages its cryptos directly. Instead, the company relied on specialist agencies (Enephtys and Atomic Digital Design) who contributed their expertise, particularly on "compliance" and "financial reasoning".

Each unit was offered at the initial price of 0.08 ethers (around 80 euros at the launch of the operation). "Today the floor price is more around 0.05 ethers (currently 79 euros, editor's note), which can be attributed to the market context, but the wave of utilities arriving in 2023 should create a nice attraction," points out Benjamin Cornut.

So far, this "Genesis Pass" has made it possible to be eligible in October for a drop of new NFTs representing a stylised illustration of a crocodile that can be used as a profile photo. This is directly inspired by famous collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club or CryptoPunks.

Two special events reserved for community members were also organised in Paris and New York, as well as access to the brand's loyalty programme.

Finally, and most interestingly, some NFTs holders were able to receive limited edition Lacoste polo shirts belonging to the UNDW3 line. "Everything took place through the Discord and members were able to vote to express their preferences," insists Benjamin Cornut.

The year 2023 is set to accelerate with the creation of the "UNDW3 Factory" where all Genesis Pass holders will be able to co-create their merchandising in collaboration with Lacoste designers. "We're going to go quite far, it will be possible to choose the material of the clothes, the colour, it promises to be really interesting on a community level."

As for digital experiences, it should be possible to display one's crocodile avatars within a metaverse on the occasion of the brand's 90th anniversary...