Brands that don’t succeed in Web3 didn’t ‘jump into the water’

Qiibee CEO and founder Gabriele Giancola argued that brands must fully commit to Web3 to reap its benefits.

Qiibee founder and CEO Gabriele Giancola believes that brands that may have failed in their Web3 endeavors have not given it enough time or resources. 

In a Cointelegraph interview, Giancola explained why some legacy Web2 brands do not succeed with their Web3 projects and how others get great results in their blockchain-based labors.

Businesses that fail were simply dipping their toes

On July 18, researchers argued that brands can enhance their loyalty programs using Web3 technology. A paper published by Polygon Labs, Google Cloud and Accenture argued that Web3’s experience-driven economy presents business opportunities.

Despite many potential benefits, some Web3 endeavors of established businesses are shut down. For example, Singapore-based travel service conglomerate Trip.com wound down its Trekki non-fungible token (NFT) project, eliciting backlash from the community.

According to Giancola, the brands that went to Web3 as a “side project” did not put enough time, investment or capital to actually test the technology. The executive believes these brands were not committed enough to reap the actual benefits of blockchain technology. He explained:

“The other ones that did it more as a side project, they were dipping their toes. They didn’t go swimming. They didn’t just jump into the water and said, let’s just swim.”

Giancola also shared a story on how every time Bitcoin (BTC) goes up and reaches an all-time high, their company, which helps brands launch Web3-based loyalty programs, gets a call from a bank on a potential crypto credit card collaboration. However, when BTC goes down, the bank puts a stop to the project.

The executive believes that the space needs to educate brands so that they can see the value in blockchain. “Because people still think blockchain equals Bitcoin. And when Bitcoin is up, blockchain is good. When Bitcoin is down, blockchain is bad. That is a bit difficult,” he explained.

Related: African blockchain venture funding down 70% in H1 2024 — CV Labs

How brands can benefit from Web3

Giancola also argued that brands have two reasons to enter Web3 — cost efficiency and capturing more of the market’s purchasing power.

He said that Lufthansa’s Miles and More project onboard partners with 99% fewer costs than they used to because of Web3 and blockchain technology. “That means we can reduce costs a lot on that side and bring more efficiency,” Giancola explained.

The executive also believes that some brands can earn more using Web3 technology. Giancola explained that the Web3 market has many purchasing powers, and there are new mechanisms for how brands can capture a share of that purchasing power.

“If you want to stay high level, it’s really about efficiency on one side and, let’s say, generating less costs and on the other side, making more revenue by capturing that purchasing power,” he added.