New York Fries commissioned Peterborough artist Jason Wilkins to create the latest piece of digital art that’s being given away to customers as an NFT.
The Recipe Unlimited-owned chain launched the NFT program in April for members of its Fry Society loyalty program, which it operates with partner Virtual Next.
The NFT program is just one of many marketing strategies for the brand, said marketing director Alyssa Berenstein, but it is a “low risk, low investment strategy” to drive new interest and memberships in the loyalty program, while also generating new content for the website and social channels.
They weren’t sure what to expect when releasing the first NFT in April, she said. “In fact, we decided to take the month of May off so we could better understand what worked and what didn’t with our strategy and tactics,” she said. “We had a nice spike in Fry Society members in April as a response to the NFT—and again in June.”
The program has grown to 97,000 members from 90,000 members at the start of the year. “Over 1,700 of our members have opted in [for the NFT giveaway] so far, which was higher than we expected given the nature of the NFT program, and the need to have an Ethereum account to receive it,” she said.
The first NFT, “Pretty Fly for a Gold Fry,” was followed by “FreshFlex” in June.
“The big win for us is the ability to drive NFT-interested fans to our stores for a purchase in order to qualify to win the NFT,” said Berenstein. They are still learning from the program, but plan to keep it going with a fourth NFT in August.
“What we do see so far is that those who are highly motivated by the possibility of winning an NFT can have their purchasing behaviour changed—for example, the winner selected at random in June had made six purchases in one month, and previously had only made one to two per month,” she said.
Wilkins’ work, “Killer Curd,” is described as being based on a retro image of NYF’s poutine cup, and is “reflective of his artistic approach to spread positivity through art.” Fry Society members will earn an entry for the NFT draw with every purchase in July.
To offset the sizeable environmental impact that comes from buying and selling NFTs, New York Fries is working with Trees Canada to plant trees through its National Greening Program.
