Porsche's NFT Launch Fiasco: What Went Wrong
Porsche's epic failure sent a cautionary message to traditional companies considering entering the web3 space.
Porsche planned to launch 7,500 NFTs at 0.911 ETH minting price on January 23, 2023, but it had to stop at minting only 2,363 NFTs as the floor price fell down below the minting price shortly after the launch and users complained about the utility of the NFT (source: Cointelegraph). Here’s what went wrong during its launch:
Porsche seems to have bought the Twitter engagement.
Porsche created a separate account, @eth_porsche, to promote the NFT project. The first tweet by @eth_porsche was on November 20, 2022, as shown below.
Likes and retweet numbers are much higher than those found from the original Porsche Twitter account which has 2.1M followers. I looked into a few accounts that retweeted the tweet above and found out that majority of them had 0 followers and no posts.
I think serious users who looked forward to purchasing its NFT could find out this and doubt the authenticity of its NFT project.
A disappointing decision by one of the most remarkable brands in the world.
A lack of utility and unreasonably high minting price
According to its website,
Owners of digital collectibles by Porsche can look forward to a variety of customization options, an inspiring community of NFT holders, specially selected “money can’t buy” experiences as well as the opportunity to co-create Porsche's future in the Web3 universe.
It’s full of future promises that seem abstract and don’t deliver immediate utility.
In addition, the 0.911 ETH minting price was too high considering the current market condition, the minting price of previously successful NFT projects, and the lack of utility. In fact, a lot of Web3 users thought that the minting price should’ve been 0.0911 ETH instead of 0.911 ETH.
This resulted in the floor price falling down below 0.911 ETH shortly after the public launch.
No creative art and low-quality website
All NFTs have basically the same design, the front-facing image of 911, with different plate numbers. The team said the user will be able to customize 911, but it would’ve been better if they showed some examples of the customized NFTs.
The quality of its website is subpar. You can’t click the Discord or Twitter icon to go to Discord or Twitter. Instead, they laid out other hyperlinks that direct you to Discord and Twitter. And the other part of the website looks pretty bland and static.
A lack of communication from the team
The team didn’t really engage with the audience on Twitter except for a few announcements and posts with visual images of 911.
It could’ve been much better, for example, if one of the executives created a short video promoting the NFT project to engage with the Web3 audience.
The silver lining
Despite hiccups, Porsche could sell 2,363 NFTs at 0.911 ETH, earning 2,153 ETH (~$3.4M USD) thanks to its strong presence in Web2.
There’re some blue-chip NFT projects like DeGods that stumbled at first but bounced back with stunning art and an amazing community. With promising future plans and implementations, there's a chance for Porsche to delight its Web3 users.
The current floor price is 2.2 ETH as of 01/31/23 so reducing the supply to 2,363 has worked well and built a little bit of hype.
Thanks for reading and have a great day 😊
Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.