35 Headless brands

Headless brands

A new wave of consumer creators, powered and incentivized by decentralized organizations, are taking the reins of brand storytelling.

Decentralized technology and finance are paving the way for headless brands, built by communities who collectively decide on products, assets and messaging. Members who buy into these communities, often by acquiring crypto tokens, earn the right to participate in brand decision-making and can even take a share in financial success.

The term headless brand was first coined in a 2019 paper authored by the strategy and research firm Other Internet, which describes these brands as “self-enforcing, self-incentivized, contagious narratives that emerge and evolve in ways that are unexpected and irrepressible.” The paper identified Bitcoin as the first iteration of a headless brand as it has no central authority, operating and evolving in line with the decisions of a multitude of stakeholders. “A headless brand is a meme,” say the paper’s authors, Toby Shorin, Laura Lotti and Sam Hart. “It belongs to no one, and can be remixed by anyone.”

More recently, NFT-based marketplaces have emerged that formalize the trend uniting culture, community and crypto. Metafactory, a self-described “factory for headless brands” launched in 2020, aims to bring artists, consumers and brands together in a partnership to create community-run fashion brands. Artists (including Italian digital artist Van and Indonesian cryptoartist Twisted Vacancy) submit their designs and members have a say, voting for their favorites to be produced centrally by Metafactory. Brand members and investors then share in the profits as well as enjoying exclusive NFT drops and promotions.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club, which launched in April 2021, is a community of owners of ape character NFTs. Crucially, owners are assigned the rights to their

ape character, allowing them to creatively commercialize their asset. Many owners have already done so, spawning everything from branded craft beer and skateboards to an animated YouTube series. As the New Yorker’s Kyle Chayka explains, these “cultural creations can expand organically through the efforts of many users while remaining recognizable, resulting in a kind of usergenerated mythology.”

Why it’s interesting “Are the Bored Apes a silly collectible or are they a decentralized competitor to Supreme?” mused Twitter user @punk6529 in October 2021. It’s likely the latter, if press reports that suggest the Bored Apes ecosystem is already worth $1 billion are accurate. For now, headless startups are perhaps most potent in culture-led categories such as streetwear and music, but brands across the board should keep a watchful eye on this trend that will see consumers grow their stake in brand narratives.