While the transformative power of blockchain is still not fully explored, marketing tokens represent a new way to harness the power of blockchain in everyday usage for a wide range of applications. Emerging use cases include marketing, advertising, loyalty and reward programs, coupons, and digital display advertising. MEDIA Protocol, Refereum, and Geon, are companies that are notable for the innovative use cases they have developed for marketing tokens

MEDIA Protocol: earn tokens while engaging with content

MEDIA Protocol has developed a protocol, or set of rules, that govern the way value flows between participants in marketing and advertising. The MEDIA Protocol ecosystem will leverage blockchain technology “to bring transparency to the flow of value between users and media.”¹ Users can earn tokens while interacting with content, whether reading, watching or sharing. This incentivizes better, more personalized, content through its lifespan of creation, distribution, and consumption. MEDIA Protocol offers users a transparent experience that allows them to observe how their content is promoted, personalized, and shared. It is all part of MEDIA Protocol’s objective of developing a connection between individuals and media.

Example of a MEDIA Protocol application

MEDIA Protocol has also shown utility in wider use cases: it has been adopted by the decentralized application (dApp) CryptoCatnip, which allows users to earn Media tokens while reading the latest crypto news. Media Tokens are the means through which value is exchanged through the MEDIA Protocol system. Media tokens will be exchangeable for fiat.

Refereum: foster creativity without marketing constraints

Recognizing that entertainment is intrinsic to the human experience, Refereum is using blockchain technology to reduce the gaming industry’s reliance on marketing platform companies. Refereum builds connections between game developers and game influencers, and helps developers and publishers reward people for playing the games they love. The company hopes to reclaim the gaming industry by promoting decentralization and reducing corporate influence.

Refereum will monetize interactions between players, streamers, influencers, and studios. Game developers will buy RFR tokens, which streamers will use to reward their followers for completing quests within games. Gamers can win prizes for playing, and will also be paid to watch content from streamers. For studios, Refereum provides a way to control their budgets and build audiences, without paying marketing middlemen. Refereum also expects that RFR tokens will be attractive to crypto enthusiasts, as they offer a “secure, reliable, and auditable way for everyone in the gaming ecosystem to connect and be rewarded.”²

Refereum has also proven itself as a solution provider for broader use cases, with its Growth Engine widget. The widget allows Refereum partners such as Coral Protocol and XAYA to use tokens “to directly reward their most active community members for their engagement, interactions, and actions.”³ Coral Protocol, for example, uses Refereum’s technology to add an anti-fraud protocol to blockchain wallet addresses. By reducing fraud and generating trust, Coral’s Proof of Authority Network will help promote a wider adoption of blockchain.

Geon Network: create value anywhere

Geolocation and geomining are the focus for Geon Network, which is using these technologies to revolutionize value transfer.⁴ Geon lets users create virtual ATMs, at any location. Value can only be withdrawn by people physically present at the location. Users can also design specific challenges that need to be completed before funds can be withdrawn.

Geon has many potential use cases beyond fund transfers. It can be used for marketing and brand awareness, gaming, crowdfunding, charitable causes, social engagement, and market research. Organizers of outdoor games, for example, can set up Geons near different locations and reward players for reaching checkpoints. Conference organizers can establish Geons at key points, such as auditoriums, cafeterias, or emergency exits, and attendees can access Geons for information as they move through the venue. Finally, charities can establish Geons in disaster or war zones, allowing recipients with a smartphone to geomine donations.

Many of these projects are still in the development stages. However, as more partners adopt these technologies, and as use cases become more widespread, it is increasingly likely that the relationship between marketing and blockchain will become standard for the industry.