Top Crypto Marketers Explain Their Bear Market Strategies

Speaking for FTX, whose ads have featured Tom Brady and Larry David, Whittemore doesn’t see celebrity partnerships as a problem as long as those partners are confident in crypto.

“The long-term partners we chose were interested in the digital asset space even before we started working with them,” he wrote.

This is obvious to Brady, who is co-founder of the NFT Autograph platform and has buddy with CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on social media. It’s less clear if David has any skin in the game, though his appearance in FTX’s Super Bowl commercial has so far been the duo’s only bond.

Binance’s celebrity strategy took a different course. In its first five years, the exchange never entered into partnerships with major celebrities, Yi said. And while its competitors teased ads with big-name names in February, Binance released a social media campaign warning consumers about celebrities (the ads ironically featured NBA player Jimmy Butler to convey the message).

In June, however, Binance tapped Cristiano Ronaldo as brand ambassador, then the following week named Khaby Lame, the most-followed influencer on TikTok, to a similar role. Yi said she hopes these partnerships will help reshape celebrity influence on Web3.

“We believe that celebrities have social responsibilities to some extent, and good cooperation is a win-win situation,” she wrote. Binance’s two new partnerships will include NFT drops, and the deal with Lame will leverage its platform to combat misconceptions in Web3.

OKX has also stayed away from celebrities, though it supports partnerships with anyone with a genuine interest in space, Rafique said. In June, OKX became the exclusive sponsor of the Tribeca Festival, entering into a three-year partnership. The annual event is a celebrity mecca and was even co-founded by actor Robert de Niro.

Okcoin, OKX’s sister exchange, launched a cheeky campaign in March that polled users on a host of controversial topics, such as the legitimacy of face tattoos and buying your first crypto home. . The effort echoed the brash campaigns of other crypto brands, with a celebrity appearance from comedian Ali Kolbert and a bitcoin giveaway.

“I think and hope the days of celebrities endorsing tokens or companies without due diligence and thoughtful execution are over,” Rafique wrote. “But at a high level, I think the use of celebrity brand ambassadors is here to stay.”