Nivea, the skin care darling of Beiersdorf, has moved into the NFT frame with its first digital asset.
Partnering with Italian artist Clarissa Baldassarri, who suffered from a temporary visual impairment early into her career, the artwork shines a spotlight on the value of touch.
Using a special raised line drawing kit to create the design, the brand wants to bring value to the power of touch, after new research found that 88% of people ranked sight as their most important sense, followed by hearing.
“My relationship with art is experiential and visceral,” said Baldassarri.
“My relationship with touch has returned to that of a child, when sight is no longer enough, and to know an object you have to touch it, hand it, risk getting burnt, stung or cut, because otherwise you would never discover it.”
Credit: Nivea, Alex Telfer
The NFT is minted on Polygon, a blockchain that uses proof-of-stake validation with low power consumption to make it more environmentally friendly.
Nivea is thought to be the first mass brand to offer its digital works for free.
The brand joins a flood of other beauty brands tapping into the NFT boom.
Filing Analytics, a data analysis firm, reported an explosion of ‘NFT’ mentions in its 2021 filings and sales of NFTs have surged to US$10.7bn in Q3 of this year, according to DappRadar.
For its debut NFT, Ciaté London partnered with Selling Sunset star Christine Quinn and enjoyed sellout success.
LVMH’s Guerlain also dipped its toe in the proverbial waters with a non-profit NFT and this year Clinique became the first brand in Estée Lauder’s portfolio to introduce a digital asset.
Meanwhile, new findings by Cosmetics Business revealed that nine out of ten consumers want to purchase a beauty NFT in 2022.