Škoda’s Web3 Playbook

[upbeat music] Welcome to another show of Fifty One Insights, today with Luca Cicconi from Škoda.

Luca is the Web3, Metaverse, and Gaming Lead at Škoda. Luca, welcome to the show. Hey, everyone. Thanks for having me, Marc. As I said, I wrote you, I'm super excited to be here.

Uh, I'm a big fan of the show, so I'm looking forward for this conversation. Yeah, likewise. And today we're gonna talk a-about the Škodiverse.

Škodiverse is one of the most impres-pressive and biggest initiatives, I know at least, in the automotive industry when it comes to, uh, consumer engagement in Web3, metaverse, virtual activations, collectibles, gaming, the whole spectrum.

So I'm really excited to have you here today and talk about all of this. Uh, but before we jump in, I would like to know who are you, Luca, and why did you end up here? Yeah, good question. [chuckles] Long journey.

Yeah, a bit of myself. I have background in architecture and design, so it's kind of, you know, specialties.

But I also, like, very interesting-- interested in, um, virtual worlds from the time, you know, I was a teenager, you know, with the video games and all these sort of activities.

So let's say within architecture and gaming, I had this really big interest for this immersive experience in virtual worlds. And then fast-forward, working in Škoda, I'm responsible for the digital content.

So what we do actually is, um, providing experiences through the website, skodaauto.com, and, uh, tools like our configurator. This is like the main, the main role.

And from, um, twenty twenty, we start digging to Web3, and now the evolution of the internet can, uh, could bring, enhance a new way of engaging with our fans and customer of the world.

So this is like, um, sort of like how I came here, um, and this journey has, has been crazy, I think, for everybody in Web3, so looking forward to, you know, go deeper. Yeah.

And what's very interesting about you is that you've been, uh, at Škoda for over ten years. You've been in Web3 for, I think, over four or five years. You were- Yeah, correct...

at the very beginning when this whole consumer Web3 wave started.

And that's why I'm, I'm especially interested to hear your opinion in how do you see the market evolve when you compare where we were four years ago, uh, when the whole NFT craze started and where we are now. Yeah.

When, um, when I-- actually I, I got, um, into it, it was exactly in, uh, twenty twenty-one when there was like the, the topic of NFT start to sort of like resonate.

Um, even before with the NBA Top Shot, which was actually one of the most interesting and first, uh, initiative of a brand, let's say, the NBA, National Basketball Association, US.

Um, and from there, um, was kind of, um, overwhelming for me because, um, I was interested in crypto a bit, in Web3 and other, and blockchain especially not so much, so it was more like, like everybody, I guess.

So when the topic of NFT came up, this sort of like, um, got my attention. Problem was that, um, it was really difficult to find information about it.

So if you remember, like, if you was on Crypto Titter-- Crypto Twitter, yeah, you could somehow following what, what was going on. But other than this, there was nothing around.

So for, for me, actually, it was quite difficult to start learning and understanding.

And then what catch me was because w-within Škoda, with, uh, with my boss, Torsten, we start talking about this, like blockchain, NFT, how this token could evolve, especially for brands.

And this was even before Adidas jump into the, into the metaverse project, and even before, uh, when Facebook was still called Facebook, or Meta was still called, called Facebook.

But everything, let's say, exploded exactly in, uh, I think September, October '21, when those two giants and even Nike went into the space and started presenting that this will be the future of the internet.

Uh, and, and as a brand, um, we always need to pay attention to these, um, new trends and these new, new technologies which are disruptive. Mm. So, and therefore we really pay attention.

And if you ask me how it changed from twenty twenty-one, today, I think we, we saw a lot of things, uh, up and downs, but what is important is that the, the technology didn't stop.

So it's actually, uh, probably didn't-- We, we, we are thinking twenty twenty-one that NFTs and tokenization will be broader adopted quicker.

On the other end, still today, there are big brands which still use the technology for different use cases.

So I think it's more mature, um, and it's very interesting because, again, big tech giant are, you know, keep building, bringing like new solutions.

Recently, there was, uh, this cooperation with Visa, Mastercard, with MetaMask, for example, talking about immersive experience with Lufthansa, announced few, few days ago they will implement the Meta Quest 3 in their, in their flights.

So we can see that the topic is still there and it's getting bigger and bigger. Definitely less hyped as twenty twenty-one. Yeah.

Um, you, you mentioned you had those discussions internally very early, even earlier than Adidas. Yeah. [chuckles] Why do you think Škoda was so early in this?

What does it need for an organization like Škoda to start looking at those technologies so early? Yeah. In, um,

my department is like customer, um, journey, and so what we do is like we, we focus on the customer experience across online and offline touchpoints.

So for us, as I said before, it's very important to pay attention to these sort of like big, uh, big trends, and especially because we are an automotive company. As you know, automotive is a-

You know, you, um, as we are built, we need to adapt sort of early to make sure that the, all these new trends and processes are implemented across the company.

So what we had done actually was to, first of all, convince the top management of, of the company that Web3 and metaverse is not just an hype.

Because of course, when we started, this was like sort of like, um, sort of feeling.

On the other end, we told them like, uh, well, internet usually within the 20, 30 years evolved quite a lot, and there were like big milestones, you know. From when it started, then, uh,

came social media around 2000, and this probably will be another huge milestones, which will push the thing forward really fast.

And we wanna be there at the beginning because we believe this is like, sort of like to be forefront of technology and culture. And Web3, I think is, can resonate with this, you know.

So that's ac-actually how we started. I think that summarizes it very well, being at the forefront of technology and culture. I think if you

did that pitch three years ago, it would still be the same pitch, just with a little bit different technologies.

And one of those technologies that really is on the rise in the last one, one and two years among consumer brands is gaming.

Can you map out a little bit why is gaming so interesting, uh, and why is gaming interesting for Škoda, and how does it compare to those other technologies that you've been looking at over the past three years?

Yeah, this is, this is very interesting because exactly three, four years ago, I mean, gaming exists decades, but what changed was that when the, the name metaverse was, had been, started to being used, this actually

make people realize that... And also, of course, there was all this, uh, around like movies supporting like Ready Player One sort of things, visualizing like what could be a future, far away future.

But the point is that people realize that, that the consumer, or especially the younger consumer, as they spend more time online, they also need more engaging entertainment in that, in that online world.

And then why, that's why gaming, and especially this, let's call it immersive experiences, sort of like Roblox, Fortnite, they have crazy amount of numbers, users, and time spent weekly.

Then if you go a bit deeper, in the beginning was there, there were just sort of like video game to put people together to socialize.

But then brands realized that actually there is a huge potential for them if they wanna be relevant and visible for this younger generation, because they are there.

And if you, as a brand, you wanna be relevant where the people are. And this is actually the, the power nowadays of the gaming. Gaming is a new social platform.

We have Instagram, TikToks, yes, but these are usually kind of passive because people watch content. They create content, but still sort of like very short times of like seconds. They are engaged for just a few seconds.

While gaming, since it's more immersive, give you the possibility to really be connected with whatever experience, minutes, hours. And that's actually the, the, the true power of the, of the gaming nowadays. Yeah.

Um, so, uh, that's very interesting. You looked at gaming, you looked at digital collectibles. Um, now let's look a bit closer at what you did with Škodaverse.

Škodaverse is what you call today, um, your whole range of, of new consumer experiences.

And, um, can you explain us how did that idea, um, start forming, and how did you approach that concept, Škodaverse, when you started it a few years, years back?

So when, um, as I said, when we started in 2020, 2020, 2021, um, we wanted actually to do exactly two things. One was like, um, create, um, a sort of like metaverse experience,

um, where, um, people can easily join to some space and, um, um, sort of like create their avatars and engage with the brand, sort of like was never done before.

Because until a few years ago, building sort of video games was really even expensive. So today it's actually, as the technology evolved, it's also get more accessible.

And the second thing was like NFT were there, this crazy, crazy world, so we wanted to explore it. And therefore, actually we tackled two, two things.

One was like the, the metaverse experience, and therefore we, we create as a first thing w- an island, Škoda branded, where people can create the avatar and can, can explore the latest car.

At the time was the Enyaq Coupé, full electric car, and also explore the topic of e-mobility.

So while you, you explore the island, there are some touch points where you can learn about the different topics related with NFT, e-mobility, and the new car.

And then the other one was how these digital collectible, which are blockchain-based, can be utilized to again engage with our fans. The first activation actually was a collectible for the Ice Hockey World Championship.

This was the first one, and then the second one was related with the Tour de France, where Škoda is the main sponsor. So we, we use our sponsoring activity, which we currently do, and we create collectibles for fans.

And this was basically our way to explore this new technology, learn. Uh, also as an organization, we have a different, you know, areas.

You know, there is a legal aspect, there is marketing, there is communication, and all of them, they sort of like to understand that this is a new topic which need to be, uh, understood.

And also the way how you com- you should communicate is a bit different than regular, um, let's say automotive, um, business, right? So this was super interesting.

[chuckles] And you can, you can imagine the discussion within the company also to convince them, uh, was very, very interesting moment for us actually. Yeah. Uh, that's actually something I want to talk- [chuckles]...

about more. How did you do that? What were some, like, tactics- Yeah... you used to, to form that internal alignment? So the... I mean, we still make fun with my colleague, Teresa.

She's part of my team, and she's a Gen Z, so it's also good to have, uh, young people in the team for that. But what's funny is that, of course, in the beginning, people are like, "What are you doing?

[chuckles] What's going on?" So we, we had to, to focus a lot of education, actually. The, the-- And this was, I think, our success.

We onboard, let's say, the, the main stakeholder in the company was to really focus on internal education.

So through webinars, we're inviting speakers, we are creating, like, events, physical events where you could go there, see how the... create a wallet, claim the first NFT.

We had a regular, um, newsletter, internal newsletter showing what's going on with the industry in general. So we focused a lot on education and then the next, uh, next part was to onboard the right people.

Um, as I said, we are part of customer journey, but we could not do it alone. So we need to sort of scouting within the company and find the, the, the right people which were already interested in the topic.

So, you know, we had a colleague in legal, which is very useful, and is a fan of blockchain. Somebody else, uh, in the social media team, in the communication team.

So we sort of created sort of, sort of like, um, task force, tried to... And, and together they were our ambassadors in other departments. So this is how, how we did it.

And then, of course, the main one was convince the top management that we could proceed. They were super supportive from the beginning, and this actually made, um, our life very easy.

And therefore, you saw within the last three years, we really build a lot and consistent. So we--

Let's say we were lucky to find the right people and as well, probably good in convincing the organization that was, let's say, worth it to, to start at least. Yeah. And, and you mentioned it correctly.

Um, I think you're one of the most im-impressive brands when it comes to consistency.

You consistently and very actively have announcements around all of those technologies over the last, uh, two, three years, at least, uh, since I've been following you very closely.

Uh, so you mentioned, uh, internal education, you mentioned building up internal champions, but then also convincing top management to do that. Once you've done that, and once you've launched those first initiatives,

how did that go? And what was the feedback from customers that you, you got?

So when, um, for example, when we launched the first, um, the first metaverse experience, the island, uh, built on the platform Nemesis, honestly was crazy successful in a way that we even didn't promote it so much.

But the good things of the topic of Web3 is that the people who are interested in the topic, they're really passionate and they really engage with, uh, with us.

So what, what happened was a sort of like a chain reaction, that once we launched this, all the, all the people, all the builders, they, they recognized that, wow, a brand which has 130

years history, automotive brand, which is, uh, a bit more traditional, is digging into this topic. So they sort of like help us to even pro-promote it, you know.

And, and, and from there actually gave us a lot of, like, sort of like, um, great and positive feedbacks to continue. So we are lucky that the, the first activation was really, uh, successful. Same as NFTs.

We decided to don't sell NFTs like I would say [chuckles] majority of the other brands did. They enter Web3 selling a collection, and we choose a different approach.

We decide to, to enter Web3 creating value rather than extracting value. So we, we came in, we, we build tokens in cooperation with the artist. We give it away for free.

And on top, we, we also create an initiative called Škoda Vault, for example, that we acquire digital art from the artist, and it's sort of our private collection.

So our mission from the beginning Web3 was to create value rather than extracting. So this also was appreciated. Yeah. Um, so y-you mentioned those initiatives were successful.

If you look at what you've did over, over those years, how do you measure success and what success-- what does success mean for you? Yeah. Is it creating more engagement? Is it creating more revenue?

Is it building direct customer relationships in, uh, the long sa-sales cycles that car brands have? What is it? So mainly we, we had different, let's say, KPIs for different time within this, uh, journey.

So the, the first year when we started was the KPI were mainly understanding, like at internal education and building expertise within the company. So this was the, the, the, the main, let's say, goal.

Then we realized when we start launching the, the first experience, we realized that actually people were... We had a, let's say, the Nemesis is a, is a new platform, is-- doesn't have numbers of Roblox and Fortnite.

They, they don't have the audience. On the other hand, we can really customize it as we want. So what, what we did, we create an experience around this, um, e-mobility topic. But what- And, and just, uh- Yeah...

quickly, Luca. And Nemesis is the platform that you built the virtual experience on, right? Exactly. The first one, where you see the, the name Škodaverse with the driving the car.

And what we realized is that when people enter the, the platform, and the first we had sort of not crazy numbers of audience, but what happened that they spend huge amount of time, like average was 10, 15 minutes And if you think this, like, uh, amount of time for, l-let's call it a sort of like a social, a social media platform because at the end is, is a social media platform.

It's crazy. On Instagram, you get engaged for one, two seconds. If you watch a reel, maybe, you know, you go to 30, one minute, exaggerating. Here we had five, 10, 15 minutes according to the experience.

So for us, we realized, wow, this is a huge potential to completely change the way how we could communicate certain topic and how to keep the people engaged.

So this was one of the actually, um, key success, like, um, how many user enter, how many user create the avatar, how many u- how much time they spent in the platform, if they come back once we create a new thing.

So we start understanding all these, um, let's say, these, um, mechanics, which at the end they were really... It got completely boost when we launched, uh, Fortnite, which we had million of views and users.

And also this give us, like, global attention because of eMedia as well wrote articles about Škoda entering Fortnite.

And the same happened for Roblox, where we launched last year, and currently we had more than two, two and a half million visitors. So the numbers are the insane.

And I can imagine that it will probably be quite difficult to measure the whole conversion journey of a potential customer from interacting with your virtual experience, uh, until, um, he or she ends up buying a car.

Is that true, or how do you, how do you think about that? So we-- let's say, I, I think it's quite difficult because also it depends on what, who we, we target. Let's say if we...

Roblox, of course, the, the average age is between, uh, nine to 15 years old. So for us, definitely this is not, like, a, a potential customer.

But on the other end, we are building presence, so he understand that Škoda is there.

So let's say we, we, we try to focus on this, on this Gen X, Gen Alpha, so they will recognize the brand and will be, they will be loyal to, to the brand.

And if we talk about other experiences, personally, we believe that if you wanna focus on conversion regarding the configuration of the car, definitely the best way is to use, for example, mixed reality associated to the

journey within the car configurator, for example. So what, what we believe is that for, depending on the, the goal, there is a, an exact technology and an exact way how to, um, give the customer a better experience.

So if you ask me to buy-- to sell a car, definitely we should focus rather on experience like AR, mixed reality, rather than maybe, um, a gaming experience which ha-has, uh, different, um, goals. Yeah, makes sense.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so let's take a step back, and let's look at Škoda Verse, how it is today. Can you explain us how, how does that look like? What are the, the key components of that experience today?

So the, when we started, actually, the, the idea was to create a multidimensional experience. What does it mean?

If you remember, maybe 2021, everyone will say, "Okay, we need to build in the sandbox, or we need to build in the central end."

We completely went different way, but we thought that from the beginning, it's like, yeah, but on the other end, every platform has a different target group. Every platform has a different community.

So makes sense to be present in, uh, in different universe, different platforms. And therefore, we currently have four, let's say, major worlds.

One is Nemesis, one is Fortnite, one is Roblox, and one is, uh, Gran Turismo. And all of them are completely different from each other.

To, for example, Gran Turismo is a, a car simulator, famous video game on Sony PlayStation, and recently we launched the, the first Škoda car there, a vision, vision car designed for Gran Turismo.

Then we-- in Roblox, we know that the audience is a bit younger.

So what we did together with Škoda Poland, we, we create an experience to teach the kids how to bike the, ride the bikes and how to teach them the rules about biking in the city.

Because in some European country, you need to, to have a, as a kid, a license if you wanna drive the bike when you are young.

So the, the s- the, the game help you to understand all these, uh, the road signals and other rules that you need to, to have, and it's very successful.

Then Fortnite is more about, you know, sort of like our core game, but where you can do a sort of different exploration using, like, the Unreal Engine, uh, that Fortnite has, uh, which is also quite nice-looking.

While the first one, which is Nemesis, is more like, for us, is, um, is sort of like playground where we can do anything because the platform is created in a way that you can really build anything.

Um, and it's very easy to, to access because you can access through a web browser with a regular laptop, so you don't need the PC game, for example.

So right now we have these, uh, four virtual worlds as a, let's say, immersive experiences. Plus we have other things which maybe you wanna ask for, collectibles and other stuff. Yeah, exactly.

I, I was just gonna ask you about that, collectibles. What role do collectibles play in all that? So we, we love collectibles.

Personally, I love NFTs, so I'm a big fan, and therefore the, the market crash, you know, everything, the interest crash.

On the other end, they are really cool stuff to, to create and give to the fans and, uh, the customer.

For example, a few weeks ago, we had the launch of a new car, the Škoda Elroq, and during a live stream, we give away hundreds of pops, like the digital collectible, proving that the, the person was following the live stream.

So he has a token, has NFT, which can prove that that day he was following the world premiere. And in the future, you know, we as a brand, we can re-engage with these people.

You know, we can reward them to be loyal across our events even. So it's, it's very nice way how to bridge digital world and physical world using these tokens.

So we reward them if they play video games, but we reward them even, even if they go on a physical event. Yeah.

Yeah, and you, you mentioned a good point here, uh, re-engagement, and a lot of brands who enter Web3 have launched those Web3 activations as a separate program and kept it standalone from all those other engagement, um, activities they've had and even their loyalty program.

How do you think about that? Is Sko- Skodaverse integrated into your existing loyalty progra- program, or do you keep that separate and, and if yes, why?

So we, um, fir- first of all, I think in general, as a brand, it's very difficult to maintain a Web3-only, um, program, especially if you make it a bit difficult. You know, if you, if you give away tokens

where, you know, the customer need to, to create his own wallet and pay gas fees, this is very difficult, uh, because we know that the, our core Web3 community is not that big, and then you can not really make an impact.

So definitely if you wanna do-- use NFTs, you need to find a way how to scale it up to be able to make it accessible to your regular followers and fans.

Therefore, we partner with the POAP because you can claim tokens just with, with your email, which is very, very easy way to do. And then, um, once we do the, we do this, the idea is that we, we wanna...

We- it's already existing. We create, we call it the Skoda Passport, so it's all based on, uh, POAPs. So it's a cooperation between Skoda and, uh, POAP, a studio,

where, um, you can enter the, the page, and you can see which collectible you have already. And what you're gonna do is that we will give some benefits based on which, um, collectible you have.

So for example, if you have, um, three collectibles, you will be able to withdraw some, I don't know, merchandise or maybe ticket for some event.

And then the next step, as you ask, is how we will-- how we should integrate this to our current loyalty programs.

So we are working on some ideas how to exactly use the tokens, uh, blockchain-based with our regular, let's say, programs, loyalty programs. All right.

So, um, let's again look back over the last three years since you've been running this program.

If you now talk to another CMO or CEO of a consumer brand company who considers doing s- similar things, going into gaming, launching collectibles, what would you tell them?

What are some lessons that you've learned or things that you saw that definitely work and things that you saw definitely don't work? So things that works is that definitely rather than creating your own experience,

if you talk, for example, about the metaverse, so instead of creating your own metaverse, your own experience, it's way better to go to an existing one, which can be Fortnite and Roblox, because there you have already millions of people,

so... And you don't need to attract them in your platform, you know. So you will...

Y- y-- Let's say, you, you have to u- use different tactics how to engage them, but on the other end, if they're already in the platform, it's easier to let them explore your brand, uh, brand experience.

So this definitely is something that, uh, works rather than creating your own very expensive, uh, universe that you need to maintain. So this is something I would, uh, I would recommend.

And then if we talk about tokens, as I mentioned before, make it easy because, um, at the end of the day, we are used to do everything with our phone, so also claiming tokens should be that way.

Should be very, very easy to, um, you know, to, to, to collect, to claim, and then to, to get rewarded. So the overall experience should be very easy.

Yeah, and I think one thing that you mentioned before as well is create value and don't extract value, and with that you meant that, uh, do not, like, launch collectibles and sell them to your customers, but, uh, think about how you, can you use that technology to, to enhance the customer experience.

Yeah, because I mean, maybe in twenty twenty-one could work, uh, because that time, you know, there was a lot of attention on, uh, on digital collectibles, so people were basically, um, buying anything.

Uh, but we saw that it-- things changed quite a lot. Um, so if today you wanna be successful, you need really to,

you know, think about more like the, the, the usage or why, why the, the customer, uh, should get your collectible. What, what is the real u- utility, you know?

That in the past, of course, utility, we know that was a word that was used quite a lot with crazy roadmaps, you know. [chuckles] Um,

at the end, customer wants to, first of all, have fun, so if you create whatever tokenization, need to be interesting and, and fun. And as well, the, the cool stuff of the tokens is that

at the end you can reward for any sort of experience.

At the end, it's like, uh, you can partner with an artist, you know, create some nice, uh, looking token, or you can make-- you can tokenize a website, like for example, we did,

where if you have a certain token, you can access a private area, where maybe you can read, um, uh, some information that usually are not shared.

So you, you can create these sort, sort of like, um, uh, close communities. So there are a lot of ways how to make this, um, let's say, tokenize experience, uh, fun.

Which also could be for us, create, um, a g-game within the metaverse where you can collect some object and at the end you will claim the token as a reward. So you can be creative, you can do anything in the metaverse.

So th-that's the cool stuff, um, for brands. You know, they can be super, um, super crazy creating really very interesting, uh, experiences. Yeah.

Uh, and what are some of the, uh, or the, the biggest challenge that you had to overcome over the last years when building that program? Mainly, I would say two challenges.

One is like, as I said, like build the, the, the team with the right expertise, with the right mindset because when you are pioneering in this, uh, crazy world, you need to be really motivated because, um...

And this, I think also for us was successful because we are really passionate even privately. This helps a lot because it's a space which, uh, move really fast. A lot of thing change, trends change.

Every day there is some big, big news and you, you have also to be able to focus on the important trends, on the important tools whi-which are available. And the second thing is to have the right support as a brand,

right agency, right, let's say, yeah, right agency, right people, because [chuckles]

we know that is a lot of, there, there are, there are a lot of experts around there, but on the other end, it's very difficult to find people who really understand both, which can be the, the regular

brand and let's say Web2 marketing and, let's say, how to engage with customer, but as well how to bridge it with these new technologies. So these, these were the two, I would say, the biggest challenges. Yeah. Um, yeah.

Speaking about finding the right partners, did that help you that you were part of that community? Um, I know, uh, you, you, I think you're part of the Yuga Labs community.

You're part of, part of World of Women that help you in, in finding the right partners or what were some strategies that you used there? No, 100%.

Um, especially if you wanna, uh, really build in fully Web3 experiences, what we did for some time, you need to partner with the Web3 native, let's say, um, let's call it, um, agencies.

For example, what we have done, we, we partner with the Limited Ink. Limited Ink is, um, um, UK-based, uh, company which create wearables. Uh, they call it giving a phygital experience.

So they partner first with Wrangler, then I, I saw it because I'm a big fan of, uh, the, um, uh, Wrangler project with Sean. So I find out who did it.

Block Culture is the, um, founder of this Limited Ink, and together with him, we create the Skodaverse hoodie, which has a embedded, um, NFC chip in the, um, in the textile. And when you scan it with your phone,

every hoodie is connected with NFT as well. So when you scan the NFC, you can prove ownership and, um, you can verify history thanks to blockchain. And this is, like, insane. Like,

it's so easy thing to do, especially for, as a customer, you just take your phone, you click, and immediately you can see that this hoodie is your because there is the name of your wallet.

So, and you can do only th-these things if you really partner with the native companies who actually understand blockchain, with the right tools, uh, who can support you even to launch the, the collectible and the activity within the, the, the NFT community.

So this is really crucial.

And I think brands like Nike and Adidas, they understood it from the beginning, so therefore they, they did what they did and was, I, I think for us, uh, for me especially, was very like, uh, inspiring, and as well Gucci.

So if you ask me who are the, the brands that, uh, I always follow is Gucci, Adidas and Nike. These are the, for me. We wanna be on the same level.

And a maybe funny story for you, that some time ago there, there was an article on some Italian newspaper, very famous one, saying, "W-what, what's happening with the metaverse?"

And then they wrote that there are just few brands who actually understood and they are doing it right, and it's Nike, Gucci and Skoda.

So imagine like, uh, for us as a brand, be in the same, uh, discussion as the, these premium luxury brands is very satisfying, you know? Yeah. Yeah, that's, that's cool, and I, I definitely agree with you.

Um, I would even put, uh, Lacoste on there- As well, yeah. Very good one. Yes... they also have a amazing- Yes, yes, yes... program. Um, and Gucci- With the crocodiles. Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah.

Um, and if you, if you speak to, to other Web3 leaders or, or, or CMOs, uh, what would you tell them if they asked you, "Hey, Luca, you know, we've been following this for a while, and now we've just seen, you know, Nike kind of retreating with their Dot Swoosh, Dot Swoosh campaign, and we've seen Starbucks exiting Web3.

Should we even go there or, or what's your opinion about this?" Well, I think you, you, uh, I, I think you could see, you can see actually who really believe in the mission because even Nike,

at the end, they're not really canceling Dot W-Swoosh, they are more like rebranding it because they understood that focusing only on the, um, let's say co-creation of the, of the digital sneakers, of course, was very Web3-oriented,

where the audience is, um, is not that huge compared with the regular fan base. So cleverly they decide, "Well, if we wanna target

broader audience, we really need to focus on more like what actually keep the people engaged," which is the experiences, right? So Dot Swoosh I think is a-

Changing more like gaming and gamified experiences, if, if I remember correctly. Starbucks honestly was very nice, uh, for them and also for us was sort of like help us even in the discussion in the, in the past.

On the other end, their mission was always-- They, they always claim it was a pilot. They, they never, you know, officially said that, that their web2 program, or they say will be the future, you know.

So somehow they play the... So on, on the other end, if somebody new would like to, let's say, to, to start, I would tell them definitely they need to watch brands.

Like, they need to watch what traditional brands are doing right now. And you can see, um, Air Baltic, which I'm a big fan of, of the, of their work. Um, so they use NFTs also together with a loyalty program.

Then new things regarding the immersive experiences and gaming, this definitely is a way to go. NFTs, I will use it more as a sort of like a reward, um, tool because that's the power of blockchain.

You know, blockchain can actually prove the digital ownership. You should, uh, as a brand, use- utilize this.

Even though, even though as a automotive brand, there are a lot of use case, very interesting, actually using blockchain. Maybe you wanna ask for it. Yeah, um, definitely.

Uh, I mean, we, we, we only focused on consumer engagement now- Yeah, yeah... but I'm definitely interested in hearing, uh, more about what you think could be use cases for blockchain in general for car companies.

Yeah, we saw a lot. I mean, and I think we'll be more and more.

Luckily, as, as Škoda, we are part of Volkswagen Group, so what we do as well is that we, we share a lot of, uh, information between, between us, between brands. So I think like the,

the future, I hope, will be, especially in the car, will be tokenize the experience in a way that, for example, if you, you drive a certain car, you're a loyal customer, you will be rewarded for every kilometer, right?

Every kilometer you do with that car, you will be rewarded. And then thanks to that, you could maybe personalize the car in the future as the car are going more and more digital inside.

You know, there are more and more screens. Even some-- You saw some car brands are showing the future car with a lot of LED lights that they can also be, in the future, probably personalized.

So using like the tokenization as a rewarding and, and, and a way to keep l- loyal, loyal customers satisfied and give them like some perks that they, they could customize their car in a, in a special way.

And as well, the other way is the creating experiences inside the car.

Because if you imagine the, if the autonomous driving will be more and more relevant in the future, then w- basically we need to find a way how to be engaged in, in the car while the car is going from point A to point B.

And this is something I think what Lufthansa basically announced because the experience will be similar to being in a plane. You are in a plane, sitting there for a few hours, what to do? So I guess the,

the transportation industry will be thinking, "Okay, how we can keep engage our passengers while they, they have a journey with us, and how to make it memorable." So I think this will be a big topic in the future. Yeah.

And, and, and, and also how, how can we, uh, reward and engage our most loyal customers- Exactly... which up to now have just been treated like every other customer, right? Yeah. It's what, it's what I said. General.

If, if you think like for us, the car, you know, when you own a car, the car is a transport, um, uh, and you spend a lot of time inside.

On the other end, you generate a lot of value for, for the, for a car industry, and not only because you are driving, you are generating a lot of data.

So the fu- the future will be probably that whatever data you generate as a user, you will be rewarded if your data are used somewhere. This I think, and blockchain definitely w- can help a lot in this. Yeah.

Yeah, that's super exciting. Uh, Luca, we're already at the end of the show. Uh, before we end, though, I would like to do a very short, uh, lightning round. Those are brief questions with brief answers. Let's go.

Very juicy. Uh, yeah, let's go. [chuckles] So first one, driving a virtual car versus a physical car.

Well, for me, I mean, if you like the, the cars, you need definitely to drive it like in, in real if you want to enjoy. On the other end, the digital cars, you can drive any sort of cars, right? So

that, that, that's the power of the, the digital world. What's the car that's on the top of your wish list? Mine? [chuckles] Škoda. [laughs] Sp- a specific model? Well, actually there is a,

yeah, the Elroq is quite nice, the new one. Uh, it's a nice, uh, e-car. We had, um... It will be actually, I can give a bit of a alpha. Uh, so this new car will be also present in our, uh, metaverse experiences soon,

so people can, uh, can try it there. Yeah. That's cool. Uh, next question, electric versus motorized cars. Yeah. I mean, the, we know the future is electric.

On the other end, I think the, right now, for me as a driver, the, also, like, the, let's say hybrid is a, is a, is the way to go because you can ac- actually get the experience, the best part of both.

Personally, um, hybrid is, uh, is good, but electric is, is very, is very fun as well to, to drive. NFTs, underrated or overhyped? Underrated.

NFTs, uh, I'm a big fan and always will be One thing you would tell every other automotive brand? They, they should build a Web3 studio inside their, uh, company. The most exciting consumer engagement platform right now?

Well, uh, I'm a millennial. Uh, Roblox is crazy. Like, what's happening there is insane, and how the, the, the, the Roblox itself, they are, um, evolving is insane. This like,

I don't know where, where it w- it will go, but in Roblox, you know, they, they made this partnering with, um, uh, I think it was Walmart or one of those that you can actually buy goods within the game.

I mean, it's crazy. Yes. Yeah, agree. Luca, we're at the end of the show. Thanks so much for joining us. This was highly interesting. Um, where can people find out more about you, about Skodaverse?

Well, first of all, thanks a lot for the invitation. I really love it. Um, so hopefully we will manage also to meet, uh, somewhere in some, some events.

And if people want to follow us, I mean, personally, I'm on, on LinkedIn, on Twitter name Skyzik, and of course Skodaverse, we have the, the Twitter, uh, account, @Skodaverse.

So follow Skodaverse, and if you want to be, uh, you get all the news about our brand-new experiences. Perfect. Definitely do that. Um, and if you like this show, please subscribe, please share.

This helps, uh, us keep it going. Uh, Luca, thanks for coming. It was a pleasure today, and all the best. Thanks a lot.

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