The rise of Web3 is accompanied by the emergence of a new generation of agencies, capable of creating and supporting NFT and metaverse projects.
Native Web3
Renaissance
Found by Adrian Ohannessian And Alexis Delamare-Deboutteville in April 2021, the agency Renaissance benefited from investments by Sébastien Borget and The Sandbox, Bilal El Alamy, Guillaume Gibault, Founders Future and Antoine de Tavernost.
“Able to manage all the technological bricks of an NFT campaign”, according to Adrien Ohhannesian, Renaissance claims a “true Web3 culture” with the will to spread it while remaining “listening to the brand communities”. The agency is responsible for Dom Perignon’s NFT projects with Lady Gaga, Booba, Evian with Sara Shakeel, the NFT Factory, Tag Heuer in consultation with the BAYC, CloneX, World of Women and Cryptopunks collections, as well as Renault for the GenR5 project.
The agency stands out for its creativity, as evidenced by the project with the musician Jacques, whose master of his song “You” has been split into NFT, or even that of a composite, interactive and musical map by producer and DJ Agoria in collaboration with Ledger. Behind the scenes, Renaissance also plays an important role in the democratization of the sector in France, such as its presence among the founders of the NFT Factory Paris.
Doors
Created in March 2022, Doors offers “support and advice on four pillars: consulting, marketing, technology and metaverse/game”, according to its co-founder Karen Jupiterwhich evokes the development of “all-round Web3 strategies, from storytelling to technology choices and platforms, including the business model”.
Present in France and internationally with clients such as Fimalac Entertainment, EDF and YSL Beauty, Doors is expected to reach around fifteen employees during this year, currently counting 8.
In September 2022, Doors Sport was launched, a Web3 agency dedicated to sport and e-sport created with the La Fourmi agency. With four people in its workforce, it works with The team and the Ballon d’Orthe national rugby and hand leagues or even the FFF.
An NFT company
Created in 2021, An NFT company boasts a fashion-oriented identity. Beyond just creating NFTs, it “develops global Web3 projects, storytelling, immersive worlds, with the ambition to weave a narrative that is true to the brands,” according to its founder. Saber Naceur, who refuses to communicate about the agency’s clients because “projects belong to them once conceived”. However, works with Gucci, Balenciaga or the artist Yugal Odhrani are presented on the company’s website.
Made up of six collaborators, A NFT Company is booming, it is also preparing to change its identity, which will be presented shortly.
Rare cubes
Launched in 2020, plus a specialist blockchain company since 2017, the studio Rare cubes it is one of the oldest on this list. An experience that allows him to present technological skills for development, 3D design and an offer of consultancy and training.
Partnering with LOSC for its NFT release celebrating coronation in Ligue 1 in 2021, Rarecubes have also collaborated with label Playtwo and artist Kalash, with SACEM for its first free NFT release, with Warner Music, at eSports team Vitality and football clubs, such as Real Betis. “What differentiates us from other agencies is our in-house creative component with our 2D/3D studio and our ability to support projects from start to finish,” he says Simon Ramesco-founder of Rarecubes.
The studio can also count on a synergy with a subsidiary, Avatarz, a platform for the creation and management of dynamic and therefore scalable avatars. “Avatarz has an independent life but we send our clients there when it makes sense,” continues Simon Rames. Already made up of around ten employees, Rarecubes is set to grow “thanks to growing demand and new internally developed products”.
Wagmi Studio
A year and a half, and made up of ten people, Wagmi Studio it relies above all “on its technical expertise, specialized in Web3, which allows it to develop not only on EVM networks (compatible with Ethereum, such as Polygon, Optimism, BSC or Arbitrum, ed) but also on Tezos, for example,” confides his boss and co-founder Jean-Nicolas Hinard.
Wagmi Studio is positioned on “three bricks of support: training, consultancy and ideation as well as project execution”. Among his clients, Pernot Ricard, L’Oréal, Monoprix for its first NFT collection, Casino for loyalty cards, La Poste, the artist Sofiane Pamart and more recently PMU for the Stables project.
Finally, the agency makes use of “a solid network of partners, thanks to the knowledge of the entire ecosystem”.
In the metaverse
Well builders
Founded on the ashes of a marketing agency driven out of Burma by the local army, Well builders creates “virtual experiences, whether on centralized platforms such as Fortnite, Roblox or Minecraft or decentralized ones, such as The Sandbox, Decentraland”, confides its co-founder and director Neal Robertoalso co-founder of NFT Factory Paris.
Agnostic, the agency accompanies brands from platform selection to final rendering, in relation to their needs and desired experience. Neal Robert evokes “a desire to go beyond mere marketing” and cites in particular the agency’s commitment to reflecting on the codes, language and architecture of virtual worlds, materialized by a Anti-Gravity Manifesto.
With 15 employees under its belt, Bem Builders aspires to grow further in 2023. Its clients include Orange, Carrefour, FDJ.fr and Club Leader Price.
Cosmic shelter
Created in January 2022, the consultancy and creation studio on Web3 themes Cosmic Refuge it has the particularity of having one door in Paris and the other in Milan. Cosmic Shelter quickly seduced and gained visibility after its collaboration with the French label Egonlab and Crocs shoes.
Capable of supporting brands across the full spectrum of the Web3 – NFT and smart contract creation, strategy, communication – the company works above all on its trademarked concept of microverses, “immersive worlds adapted to the DNA of brands”, he tells us Raphael Mayolcreative director.
Spotted by LVMH and behind the creation of the group’s virtual apartment presented at VivatechCosmic Shelter joined the La Maison des Startups LVMH Season 8 accelerator and carried out projects for Fendi, La Veuve Clicquot and McDonald’s.
Exclusive
Born in 2021 and already made up of 33 people, Exclusive it was noticed last year raising five million euros and acquiring the American studio specializing in the metaverse, Polycount.
If his boss Thibault Launay is proud to offer “the most diverse offering”, with an NFT launch platform, the ability to create white label metaverses, digital twins for real estate or even an NFT CRM tool, the agency also works in synergy with some of the its counterparts, for example with Braw Haus or Acid Rays.
Since its creation, Exclusible has positioned itself in the luxury sector: it has collaborated in particular with Alpine, Christofle, Christian Lacroix and Frédérique Constant.
Very Web3 advertising agencies
acid rays
Design creation studio founded in 2020 and winner of the Andam Fashion Award innovation award since 2021, acid rays does not hide its “aesthetic, luxury and fashion positioning”, underlined by its founder and creative director Maddo Scott.
With real know-how in 3D and animation, with eight employees, the agency aims to “revolutionize the strategy of brands in Web3 in depth”. His clients include Adobe, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Vacheron Constantin and Hublot.
Partners in the office signvmAcid Rays have an offer of consultancy, strategy and project support.
brawhaus
brawhaus was launched in New York in 2018, “at a time when digital art was still undervalued,” says its co-founder and designer Justine Wilgrainpartner of Patricia Glum, meanwhile artistic director. Convinced of the “value of this artistic medium”, they specialized in experimental advertising.
It has two divisions, including the art agency division. Ten artists are currently represented, and Braw Haus also has a catalog of 300 digital artists to curate. As a creative agency, Braw Haus “promotes collaborations between brands and artists” and claims its ability to “take a project from concept to creation,” says the co-founder of the NFT Factory.
With seven employees and an extensive network of service providers, Braw Haus has partnered with adidas, PSG, Nike, Jordan and on Kenzo’s NFTs or even Hogan and Amadeo in partnership with Exclusible.
monster
Created by three partners in 2009, the agency monster it is far from native to Web3 and does not claim it in any way. On the contrary, its artistic director Louis Bonichon insists on its agnostic nature: “We choose the best channel to respond to brand issues. It can be a book, an augmented reality experience, a film”.
This other co-founder of NFT Factory also describes Mnstr as a “storytelling agency”. With Guerlain, the agency therefore chose Web3 at the time of the emergence of several NFT artists and when the brand was a partner of FIAC. The collaboration gave birth to Reaverse, an NFT jewelry collection sold to finance the naturalization of a garden created by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. This project, which “is part of the long term”, is regularly punctuated by activations, such as this visit to the garden in October 2022 by NFT holders.
Since then, Mnstr has continued to explore other advances in Web3 by fostering sustainability and collaboration with other ecosystem players, such as the Renaissance agency.