A Web3 Interview with Mercedes-Benz NXT
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Our latest partnership with Mercedes-Benz NXT, the Mojito-powered ‘Era of Technology’ NFT collection, is officially live!
Launched on May 21, the 780 collectible drop is now on sale until May 28, and you can go mint an NFT from the collection at this link.
ICYMI in last week’s blog: each collectible is on sale at 0.08 ETH, including collectors’ discounts, and you can pay via ETH or your credit card.
The drop also features a slew of features built by our web3 studio at Mojito — including our APIs, SDKs, and white-labeled, on-demand wallet creation — which powered the sale mechanics (including a unique discount feature) and made it super easy for Mercedes-Benz NXT to get its collection into the hands (and wallets) of its community.
To continue spreading the Mojito x Mercedes-BenZ NXT gospel, we spoke with Sebastian Ihler, Co-founder and Head of Product 0xNXT GmbH (Mercedes-Benz’s web3-focused product studio), to learn a little more about what sparked the project, gain some insights for web3 brand leaders like yourself, and celebrate the onchain collection of stunning digital objects.
Let’s get into it.
We have partnered with Mojito to build a solid technical infrastructure for our web3 ecosystem and offer our collectors a minting experience that is as smooth and as close to web2 experiences as possible. — Sebastian Ihler, Co-Founder & Head of Product, Mercedes-Benz NXT.
Mojito: What was the impetus of the Mercedes-Benz NXT project? Was there a specific spark of sorts for web3 to become an area of focus at Mercedes-Benz?
Sebastian Ihler: Mercedes-Benz’s history spans more than 130 years. During this time, collectors have engaged with and enjoyed all kinds of physical objects, from the vehicles themselves to model cars and memorabilia. Mercedes-Benz NXT aims to bring this collectability to the digital realm.
What have been some important learnings of the project so far between the first and second drop? Can you share some words of wisdom toward web3 brand leaders on what you've learned?
With the second chapter of our Mercedes-Benz NXT Icons collectibles, this time featuring the most iconic Mercedes-Benz cars from 2000-2017, we carefully want to grow the community we have built and attract a larger audience of existing NFT collectors as well as Mercedes-Benz brand lovers that have not interacted with web3 yet.
For the second group, it was specifically important to create a smooth and web2-like customer journey and enable them to pay for their collectibles via credit card or Apple / Google Pay and easily set up a crypto wallet in the checkout process. Interacting with web3 infrastructure can still be a hassle, and improved and simplified UI/UX is certainly one of the big levers that will enable more brands to onboard their customers and eventually lead us to the mass adoption we are all striving for.
Why is it so important for Mercedes-Benz to always be experimenting with next-generation technology? How does it serve to engage their customer base and provide powerful insights?
Enabled by the emergence of blockchain technologies, we believe digital art and collectibles will play an increasingly significant role in our online experience. The formation of Mercedes-Benz NXT marks a long-term commitment to building a dedicated presence within the web3 community and to blockchain-based digital objects.
Why is blockchain specifically useful to Mercedes-Benz NXT? What does it offer the brand that you can't get anywhere else?
Mercedes-Benz has always been at the intersection of luxury, culture, and technology. Digital collectibles and digital art on the blockchain are also exactly at this intersection, so it was a natural fit to create the brand Mercedes-Benz NXT and to bring the collectability that Mercedes-Benz’s products have long enjoyed in the physical world to the digital realm.
Can you tell us about the work Mercedes-Benz NXT has done with Mojito and how they supported the latest drop as a technical partner?
We have partnered with Mojito to build a solid technical infrastructure for our web3 ecosystem and offer our collectors a minting experience that is as smooth and as close to web2 experiences as possible. Check out what we have built together.
What are some of the web3 brand use cases Mercedes-Benz NXT is most bullish on?
We are very excited that web3 enables true and transparent digital ownership for the first time. To create digital objects that stand the test of time is the explicit mission of Mercedes-Benz NXT so this is what we are most bullish on currently. On top of that, I am personally convinced that on-chain digital twins of vehicles will be an interesting topic in the mid-to-long term, as well as blockchain-based digital identities for customers and fans.
Mint a piece of Mercedes-Benz history at mint.nxt.mercedes-benz.com — and learn more about what Mojito can do for your brand here.
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