At the base of every form of collecting there is passion, as we described in a previous article. The desire to feel part of a tribe that shares our same interests, in which we try to emerge by showing off the rarest and most desired pieces.
This passion for a product almost spontaneously creates a very strong bond with the brand and the company that offers it, to the point of feeling part of it. We see it every day, reading the emails we receive from our collectors.
In the collectibles market, it’s not unusual for a customer to book a new version or limited series before they’ve even seen it. Because trust in the brand is total.
While these logics are natural in our sector, in others they are stimulated through the creation of loyalty programs. The first of them date back to 1793 in the United States, when some retailers began distributing copper tokens, which could be used by their customers to obtain free products.
But it is with the creation of Frequent Flyers programs in 1981 that modern Loyalty Programs are born. Points earned while traveling with the same airline added up over time, allowing you to get free travel.
This option has entered almost every industry today.
In this article we will explain how Bitmonds introduces the concept of Loyalty Program also in collecting and what is the business model behind this tool.
Not all Loyalty Programs are the same
Let’s start with a brief description of the different types of Loyalty Programs:
- Loyalty Program with Points: It is the most used. A customer obtainspoints in proportion to the money spent on a business. These points can be redeemed for discounts or gifts. Each customer has the same possibilities and autonomously decides when to benefit from the accumulated advantages.
- Loyalty Program at Levels: The logic is similar to that of the Points model, but in this case the customers are divided into categories, based on the level of spending reached. Entering the higher category allows to obtain greater benefits. The most common examples are: personalized discounts before promotion period, dedicated or pre-purchased product lines, personalized customer service and many others.
- Loyalty Program in Co-Branding: This model provides for an agreement between different brands, with complementary products in the customer experience. A common example is a hotel that offers discounts if the customer accumulates points when traveling with Uber.
- Gamification Loyalty Program: The most recent solution, which consists in the development of mobile apps connected to the brand, which allow a customer to accumulate points or benefit from promotions, through social activities or micro games.
Now let’s see in detail the Bitmonds proposal.
The Album at the center of everything: how to use it
As we have seen previously, collecting spontaneously stimulates the loyalty of a community. The natural desire to complete all the boxes of an Album is a goal sufficient to create a lasting bond with a brand.
But the Bitmonds team has decided, ever since the project was just an idea, to create something more. A Loyalty Program that integrates synergistically with all parts of the project.
But let’s discover the features of the tool needed to organize a Bitmonds collection and access the Loyalty Program, the Album:
- A section dedicated to each collection. We currently have the First Collection (whose Bitmonds are no longer generable) and the Second Collection (whose Bitmonds are still generable). In the future, new collections and special editions will be integrated, maintaining the centrality of this instrument.
- Each collection is composed by256 different types of Bitmonds, each characterized by a name and a color, which represent its soul. On our Instagram you can also discover its graphic representation.
- Subsections called Season, each consisting of 64 Bitmonds. For the First Collection we have Air, Earth, Fire and Water. For the Second Collection we have Carbon, Helyum, Hydrogen and Oxygen.
- Inserting Bitmonds into the Album manually or through the autocomplete mode.
- If you don’t own a Bitmonds, there is a direct link to the Showcase, to find out if another collector is willing to sell it.
Now that we have the concepts of Collection and Season in mind, let’s find out how they are used within the Bitmonds Loyalty Program!
The Bitmonds Loyalty Program: characteristics and examples
Bitmonds is a project that was born with the desire to create a discontinuity with the past.
The vision behind the world we are creating, shapes the characteristics of the collectible of the future:
- Because it must not be falsifiable and it must not occupy space during the continuous movements that characterize our lives.
- Open to the world.No longer an object closed in glass showcases, for fear of theft or degradation, but with the collector throughout the day and shown without fear.
- Smart.It must have a purpose, to provide benefits such as products or services. Advantages for the simple fact of owning it. Forever.
This last concept is the basis of Bitmonds Loyalty Program. How does it work?
It is a mix of the types of Loyalty Programs described above.
If a collector completes an entire Collection or one or more Seasons, at the beginning of each month he will see the points credited within his Dashboard. In proportion to the type of Collection and Completed Seasons.
The First Collection gives now 500 points every month, each Season gives you 100 points every month.
The Second Collection gives you 300 points every month, each Season gives you 50 points every month.
Forever. As long as a collector maintains the necessary condition to receive points.
Points are credited based on the photograph of the first day of each month.
The accumulated points can be converted into rewards of the catalog, which is currently updated every three months. Currently we have noticed that the preferred prize is a 100 Euro Amazon voucher, which to date is quoted 1200 points.
A collector who completes the First Collection could receive an award in this category approximately every 2.5 months. Not bad, right?
The Bitmonds Loyalty Program: what synergy with the entire project?
Each Bitmonds is a collectible with certain characteristics of rarity and purity. These make it a unique piece and trigger a desire to search and show the best piece to the entire tribe.
Furthermore, the souls of each Bitmonds represent a passion, which leads to wanting to include in your Album all the Bitmonds that represent our way of being and personality.
With the Loyalty Program every single Bitmonds acquires importance, even if it does not represent a passion for us or it is not a precious piece. Because it is a useful and necessary piece to complete a Collection or a Season. Regardless of its level of purity.
The circle closes. Each type of collector has his part of the project to represent him. And they compete with each other. Let’s try to explain the concept better.
The least generated Bitmonds of the First Collection is the Ramen model, existing in only 73 specimens. The most generated, the Martian Skin, counts 232 specimens in the world.
Forever.
Are we sure that it is not equally exclusive, since it is necessary to complete a Collection or a Season?
If the type of customer interested in the Loyalty Program exceeds that of the collector or fashion addicted, how many Martian Skins would be “frozen” within Collections or Seasons and how many would actually be available on the market?
Over time, these logics will increasingly influence the Bitmonds market.
How is supported a Loyalty Program? The Business model
Let’s clarify one aspect immediately. Our Loyalty Program is not sustained by tapping into revenue from generating new Bitmonds. It would not be lasting and ethical.
The business model underlying our program is called Visibility and Commission Fee, and is used by successful projects such as the Sweatcoin app.
This app has become famous with the definition of “App that pays you to walk”. In practice, points are credited to each customer, based on the number of steps taken during the day.
These points are spent within a product catalog proposed by the company.
But how is this possible?
Sweatcoin is remunerated by the partners who offer the products or discounts in the catalog, both for the visibility that is offered to Customer Base, and for any purchases made by customers from the app.
Visibility in exchange for products for their collectors and commissions.
What has always moved the social media market or the content we enjoy by watching a video and reading an article online.
And the future evolutions?
Today we are at an initial version of the program, both in terms of products in the catalog and in terms of type and number of partners.
The vision of the Vanilla Rocket team is that Bitmonds over time are associated more with the use of services, in order to represent an access tool, in a variable way based to the type of Bitmonds owned.
It will take time to complete the picture and 2020 has brought global challenges that will lengthen the program. But the point of arrival is clear.
If you want to help us make up for lost time due to Covid, share our articles, talk about the project!
Creating a strong community is a necessary step to make this vision our everyday life.
Sources:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalty_marketing
Delta Airlines: https://news.delta.com/skymiles-fact-sheet
Bstrategy Hub: https://bstrategyhub.com/how-does-sweatcoin-work-and-make-money/
