Recently, Pudgy Penguins has been the focus of all users’ attention in the NFT market. From announcing a successful $9M appeal to launching Pudgy Toys and generating $500K in revenue after just 2 days of launch. All have proven Pudgy Penguins’ position in the large NFT market. So what is the reason why Pudgy Penguins is so successful? Let’s find out with Weakhand in this article.
What are Pudgy Penguins?
Overview of Pudgy Penguins
Pudgy Penguins is a collection of NFT PFPs launched in July 2021, and like many other collections at the time, the project immediately received huge traction from the community. The collection includes 8,888 uniquely designed penguin NFTs, each made up of over 150 hand-drawn features.
Whether it’s penguins wearing Viking helmets or Hawaiian flower necklaces, the variety of this collection adds to its appeal and uniqueness. Pudgy Penguins has gone beyond aesthetics by offering owners exclusive access to experiences, events, IP licensing opportunities,…
Who is the team behind Pudgy Penguins?
Pudgy Penguins is currently led by Luca Netz – who acquired ownership of the collection for $2M USD and has been considered by many to be “the greatest comeback story” to ever grace the NFT industry.
Since then, he has pushed the project forward with many initiatives that add value to the Pudgy Penguins community including: physical toys, children’s books,…
Total Ecosystem Pudgy Penguins
Since being acquired by Luca Netz, Pudgys has had rapid growth with specific strategies such as launching Pudgy Word or selling Pudgy Toys on Amazon. Below is an overview of the projects developed in the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem.
What are Lil Pudgys?
Lil Pudgys is a collection of 22,222 hand-painted Pudgys developed cross-chain through LayerZero technology. Therefore, users can transfer their Lil Pudgys to other blockchains through Pudgys Bridge such as: Lil Pudgys was born on Ethereum but can be transferred to Polygon, BNB Chain or Arbitrum.
Lil Pudgys is an extension of Pudgy Penguins and creates a more affordable entry into the world surrounding the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem. 8,888 Lil Pudgys can be claimed for free by Pudgy Penguins owners and 13,334 are available for public sale in December 2021. With Lil Pudgys, owners will enjoy the same privileges as Pudgy Penguins. Both have access to experiences, events, IP licensing opportunities, etc.
What are Pudgy Rods?
Pudgy Rods aka Rogs formerly “Pudgy Presents” have been released as free NFTs and all Pudgy Penguins NFT owners can claim mint on August 30, 2021.
Each NFT originally took the form of eggs wrapped in red ribbon, and the contents were a secret to the community. Until it was revealed on Christmas Eve, the gifts were revealed to be a bridge. Although the launch was met with mixed reactions, it eventually solidified and people seem to see Pudgy Rods as part of the wider Pudgy Penguins ecosystem.
Pudgy Toys & Pudgy Word – Bringing users to the web3 world
On May 18, 2023, the project announced the release of Pudgy Toys – physical stuffed toys sold on Amazon and immediately created a buzz in the market when reaching sales of $500K USD after only 48 hours. hours since launch. The development team also considered physical toys “Trojan horse” For the web3 and NFT ecosystem, physical toys are also the gateway that brings Pudgy Penguins into contact with many users in the real world.
One thing that makes Pudgy Toys special is that each toy comes with a digital experience called Pudgy World. Each user joining Pudgy World needs to register an account with an email address. The user account is called a soulbound NFT similar to an NFT wallet. Users who purchase a toy will receive a birth certificate containing a QR code. Scanning the QR code gives the user a digital item on Pudgy World. This digital item can be traded on Pudgy World’s Marketplace.
Overall, the launch of Pudgy Toys and Pudgy World has brought Pudgy Penguins closer to users in the real world. Additionally, earning revenue from sales also helps build a sustainable NFT empire.
The Dark Past of Pudgy Penguins
Pudgy Penguins has come a long way from its humble beginnings after launching in July 2021 during the height of the NFT bull run.
One of the original founders of the Pudgy Penguins was ColeThereum – who made lofty promises about the project’s future. From the launch of a token, a children’s book to a metavese game. Many of these promises failed leading to the project’s downward spiral.
Furthermore, Cole himself was removed from the project for running promotions for NFT projects in return for bribes. Additionally, he was also found to have withdrawn money from the project’s treasury.
At the end of 2021, the Pudgy community spoke up to overthrow the project’s original founders. In April 2022, Luca Schnetzler aka Luca Netz – Mintable founder and NFT market influencer Zach Burks and his team acquired Pudgy Penguins for 750 ETH (equivalent to $2.5M USD at the time).
Since then, they have embarked on a journey to grow a globally recognized brand with a flourishing ecosystem today and are one of the prominent companies in the NFT space.
Reasons Behind Pudgy Penguins’ Success
Marketing
Pudgy Penguins’ presence in the media is truly something to admire. The development team also made marketing a top priority in developing and expanding Pudgy Penguins. Whether it’s in magazines or on social networking sites like Instagram, Twitter,… penguins seem to appear all the time. Pudgy Penguins’ biggest marketing initiatives over the past year have been Instagram and GIPHY, and the numbers speak for themselves.
Instagram is a very important part for Pudgy Penguins and is like the Trojan Horse that the project wants for the Web3 IP. From positive posts to funny, relatable videos. Over the past year, the Pudgy Penguins Instagram has built a large audience on its own, and it is continuing to grow every day.
GIPHY
A key part of Pudgy Penguins’ brand awareness plan was to find ways for people to use Pudgy IP without even thinking about it. With GIFs, stickers and memes that anyone can use and share on various social media platforms. With over a thousand unique GIFs and 3.1 billion views, Pudgy Penguins not only attracted billions of views, but the majority of views came from people who didn’t know What is Pudgy Penguin?, they simply like the IP. This is also part of the reason why users love the project more and more.
Excellent leadership team
There is no doubt about the talent of the Pudgy Penguins development team, every member of the team plays an important role in the success of the brand whether it is on the community, media or development front. develop. Everyone is focused on the common goal of making the collection a global brand.
Strong community
The Pudgy Penguins community is known for being very supportive of each other, regardless of whether they are content creators, artists or meme creators, they actively help each other grow their audiences. Pudgy Penguins also allows registered users to create their own clubs depending on people’s goals and interests. According to NFT Inspect statistics, Pudgy Penguins is ranked fourth in terms of community strength for NFT collectibles.
It’s difficult to stay at the top of the rankings but the Pudgy Penguins seem to maintain a stable position in the top 5 consistently. This is a testament to the growth since Luca Netz acquired and continued to develop the project.
In addition, Pudgy Penguins also receives the support of many famous figures in the Crypto market such as:
- 9x9x9: Key member of OpenDao
- Asvanevik: Defi & NFT analytics CEO Nansen joins as advisor
- Bryan Pellegrino: The CEO of LayerZero Labs is also a big supporter of the project.
- Zac Cheah: The CEO of Pundi, a cryptocurrency payment solutions company, has joined as an advisor.
Strong partnership
Partnership with PMI
September 4, 2022: Pudgy Penguins announces partnership with PMI – a global toy company. PMI has been a leader in the children’s toy industry for the past 25 years and has partnered with famous brands such as Fortnight and Harry Potter. PMI is also partnering with global enterprises such as Kellogg to enter the Web 2.0 market.
Partnership with Sotheby’s
In October 2022, Pudgy Penguins held an auction with Sotheby’s. This is an important beginning in asserting its position in the world of fine arts.
Partnership with LayerZero
In January 2023, Pudgy Penguins partnered with LayerZero to allow users to take Lil Pudgys NFTs across multiple chains. Pudgy Penguins is also the first Web3 brand to introduce Soulbound Token to users.
Partnership with Retail Monster
A big focus for Pudgy Penguins is physical toys and ensuring the cute penguin IP is visible to everyday consumers. The partnership with Retail Monster helps amplify Pudgy toys and bring Pudgy Toys to a wider audience around the world.
summary
Pudgy Penguins seems to demonstrate the strongest resurgence in the NFT market. With unique strategies that go beyond the Web3 field, Pudgy Penguins still has great potential in the future. Above is all the information that I want to introduce to everyone in this article. I hope everyone has received useful knowledge.