Recently, China's Li Ning announced a cooperation with the Bored Ape Yacht Club (Bored Ape Yacht Club) number #4102 non-homogeneous token (NFT) to launch the "China Li Ning Boring Ape Trend Sports Club" series of products. At the same time, the boring ape #4102 giant pixelated sculpture parachuted into Li Ning's Beijing Sanlitun store on April 28, and participated in the sanlitun store's pop-up activity with the theme of "boring not boring" as the acting manager.
Li Ning co-branded "Boring Ape"
On April 21, China's Li Ning officially announced that from April 23 to May 4, a pop-up event with the theme of "Boring is Not Boring" will be held at the Sanlitun store in Beijing, and it is predicted that a "mysterious manager" will parachute on April 28. The iconic avatar outline in the poster and the words "NFT" and "metacosm" in the article have long hinted at the identity of the mysterious manager - the NFT number #4102 of the Boring Ape Yacht Club.
On April 28th, Bored Ape Number #4102 officially parachuted into Li Ning Beijing Sanlitun Store with a giant pixelated sculpture, and combined with trend sports elements such as frisbee and skateboard, the trend and reality were combined to push the limited-time flash mob event to a climax. At present, this pop-up activity is still in full swing.
Official poster of Li Ning. Image from the web
It is understood that the Boring Ape Yacht Club is a head portrait NFT collection created by Yuga Labs, which can be described as one of the most popular NFT digital collections at present, which has great influence in the world and is competed by celebrities from all walks of life to buy collections. NFT, known as Non-Fungible Token (non-homogeneous token/token), is essentially a proof of stake based on blockchain technology, and each NFT is unique and can be traced, identified, and traded.
It is worth mentioning that the most recent transaction price of Boring Ape #4102 has reached 365,700 US dollars (equivalent to 2.41 million yuan). ）
NFT into a new model of IP authorization
Different from other IP "joint names" and "authorizations" before, after Li Ning obtained the authorization of boring ape number #4102, he could not only use it as an avatar, but also use this image for secondary development, combining trend elements and brand identity to produce different types of products such as T-shirts and hats, this authorization is also recorded on the blockchain, with security, uniqueness, and does not require written authorization. Under the traditional IP authorization model, after the brand obtains IP authorization, whether it wants to carry out secondary development or element fusion, it is severely limited, and the procedure of written authorization is also extremely cumbersome.
At this level, Li Ning's cooperation with Bored Ape Number #4102 has become the forerunner of the NFT-led IP authorization model in the metaverse era, and Boring Ape #4102 can be the head of Li Ning's official bo, can be a printed element on the product, and can even be transformed into a giant sculpture up to five meters high, from the "meta-universe" to reality.
Industry insiders pointed out that the cross-border cooperation between Li Ning and boring ape not only explored a new model of IP co-branding in the Web 3.0 era, but also "intimate contact" with the current popular elements again, grasping the pulse of the trend, and further deepening the concept of "national tide".
Adidas co-branded "Boring Ape". Image from the web
The sports brand that favors the boring ape is not only Li Ning, before, Adidas also took the boring ape number #8774, and used the image as one of the signs in its own NFT project, the series includes both physical products and digital products, Adidas also launched a series of comics for its own NFT project to promote. It can be seen that the sports brands that have always been at the forefront of the trend are not far behind in the meta-universe era.
Written by: Intern Duan Xinyu Nandu reporter Ye Lu