I’m going to take a guess and say that the title of this piece likely spurred two questions: What’s an NFT? Immediately followed by, are they disrupting the beauty industry? Let’s start by unpacking the former.
 
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token; they’re unique digital certificates that verify ownership of a specific digital asset – digital data stored in a blockchain with unique codes and metadata that make them impossible to duplicate. Got it?
 
If you’re anything like me, this definition did not further help your understanding of what an NFT is. The good news is we’re not alone. As NFT’s make their way into mainstream culture, and brands across industries begin to adopt them into their product lines and marketing efforts, the way NFT’s are being characterized and used is changing, all in an effort toward making them more accessible, and more easily understood to the masses.
 
Here’s a comparison that drove clarity for me: Bitcoin is a fungible token – if you trade one bitcoin for another, and you have the same thing – the value is equal.  Non-fungible tokens are not interchangeable because they are unique.
 
Think of baseball cards – they are not all valued equally. Popularity of players along with distinctive photos of them during certain eras of their careers create the value for individual cards. (Think of the value of a Willie Mays card vs a Bucky Dent card). In any case, the uniqueness of an NFT combined with popularity of the subject can drive the value of an NFT.
 
So, at the highest level NFT’s hold so much value because they’re unique, impossible to duplicate, and can be highly individual. With that understanding, it starts to make sense as to why beauty—an industry that’s always been about individualism, and unique self-expression—would begin to play in the NFT space.
 
At first glance, bridging the gap between virtual and IRL seems like a challenge, especially in categories like beauty, where physical experiences and product outcomes reign supreme. But the beauty industry has already begun its venture into NFTs, some in ways that feel familiar to us.
 
When Tik Tok took Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey viral— an internet-phenomena many of us are quite familiar with — the 90’s retro shade went completely out of stock. To keep interest high, Clinique created a limited-edition digital version for their most cutting-edge followers. Just because consumers couldn’t get their hands on the popular shade, didn’t mean they couldn’t share in the viral explosion. The Black Honey NFT allowed consumers to be part of the cultural moment, regardless of whether they could find it in stores near them.
 
Clinique leveraged NFT’s in a way that created low-risk consumer engagement, while brands like Nars have used them to drive collaboration. The brand commissioned three artists in 2021 to create an NFT inspired by the brand’s best-selling blush, Orgasm. Nars tied each NFT to product available for purchase– a $50 version with limited addition shades, and a $500 version that included a bundle of products of the same value. More than 2,000 Orgasm NFTs were collected, and the $500 version sold out in 10 minutes.
 
NFT’s have come far and fast, entering the mainstream in ways that make them more accessible to those of us still wrapping our heads around the definition. In April of 2022, Shopify-enabled no-code Web3 ecommerce platform Novel launched as the most recent NFT channel for brands and retailers to reach the general public and provide loyalty perks to consumers without writing code. This platform enables NFTs to be ordered with regular currency vs crypto—the latest brand to hop on the site? Bobbi Brown’s Jones Road.
 
All this to say, the beauty industry has adopted NFT’s in ways that seamlessly integrate their audience’s interest and knowledge. Because in reality, the beauty of NFT’s can be found in their utility; they create opportunities for brands to connect with consumers in ways that simply haven’t existed before, elevating consumer brand experiences and  creating a new level of access for brand interaction. NFT’s give brands a new opportunity to connect with their consumers in each brand’s equity, and by doing so they’re able to constantly evolve, reconnect, and reimagine areas of the brand for the younger, digitally native, targeted markets.
 
There is certainly an education component with NFTs, and the more beauty brands that dip their toe in the water, the more consumers will build familiarity and embrace brands that embrace NFTs. As technology continues to advance, the Beauty Industry, always an innovator, will no doubt continue to determine how NFTs can drive meaning and purpose with consumers. The masses haven’t yet fully adopted NFT’s in much the same way that just twenty-or-so years ago, people weren’t buying fashion online as commonly as they are today. That will change.
 
About the Author 
Ms. Elenita (Elle) Morris is senior vice president of Global Strategy at Marks, part of SGS & Co., a brand experience agency delivering global vision with local relevance in North America, Europe, Asia and beyond. She is a recognized consumer packaged goods brand design thought-leader with particular expertise in beauty, haircare and skincare. Follow Elle Morris on LinkedIn.