As part of its ongoing re-branding efforts, VISIT Milwaukee, in partnership with Summerfest, has created a new way for visitors to explore the city and learn more about Milwaukee’s arts and music scene.
Authenticated Experiences (AX) is a new non-fungible token (NFT) marketing campaign that was first unveiled last week.
AX features collectible digital tokens (NFTs) that allow users to unlock real-life experiences and prizes in a scavenger hunt-like format. This campaign by VISIT Milwaukee is designed to attract visitors from across the region to Milwaukee and encourage them to venture out into the city’s 191 neighborhoods.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a type of digital certificate saying you own the rights to a specific product, whether that product be music, art or some other physical good.
VISIT Milwaukee believes it is the first organization in the tourism industry to use an interactive NFT platform.
“This campaign is a unique opportunity to attract new visitors to our city and offer them incredible experiences while helping them explore all that our 191 neighborhoods have to offer,” said Josh Albrecht, VISIT Milwaukee’s vice president of marketing and communications. “AX serves as an artist platform and gives us a fresh way to position Milwaukee as a destination for both tech and travel—a win for the arts, tourism and our terrific partners like Summerfest.”
AX will highlight Milwaukee’s digital creators, iconic brands and people via free NFT collectibles that will be geolocated around the city. The first five NFT collectibles are inspired by Milwaukee’s music history and were created by local artist T9LET. The first 55 people to collect all five NFTs will win a unique artist experience.
There will also be five different NFTs geolocated on the Summerfest grounds from June 22 through July 8, created by Milwaukee artist Cullah. These NFTs will unlock different prizes and the chance to win a “Milwaukee VIP Experience.”
To collect the NFTs, users can go online to see a map of where they’re located. Upon arrival at each location, collectors can click on the piece of digital art via their phone to claim it.
VISIT Milwaukee plans to work with other Milwaukee brands on creating AX campaigns in the coming months. Summerfest also released its own NFT today on the platform Vennity. Only 1,000 are available.
“This is a joint effort between Summerfest, Summerfest Tech and VISIT Milwaukee to lean into new and exciting technologies,” said Jerrod Woods, senior director of marketing at Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. “It allows us to create a tech-forward touchpoint for our Summerfest attendees and provide awareness around Web3 and NFT at Summerfest Tech this year while strengthening the connection we have with VISIT Milwaukee and tourism.”
