Launch of Bored Ape merchandise to test the waters for NFTs, is Li Ning from China about to embark on a metaverse journey?

On April 24, China Li-Ning's Weibo announced, "We have invited the prestigious Bored Ape Yacht Club from Web3.0, with the bored ape number #4102, as the trend curator for the China Li-Ning pop-up store." According to information previously released by China Li-Ning's official WeChat, it is expected that this curator will land in Beijing's Sanlitun pop-up store on April 28. This collaboration between China Li-Ning and BAYC will create a series of clothing for the China Li-Ning Bored Ape Trend Sports Club.

From the official Weibo event showcase, the products released this time have undergone a "bored trend" transformation, offering a different trendy experience from previous design styles. Will this collaboration also lead to "parody" creations involving Mr. Li Ning, the Olympic gymnastics champion and brand curator? China Li-Ning has also previewed a series of activities including frisbee and motorcycle events, aiming to engage more people in trendy sports and create a concept that is both boring and not boring, sporty yet fashionable.

Does the collaboration between China Li-Ning and Bored Ape signify its official entry into the NFT market?

This major move has attracted a lot of attention. After the news was released, blockchain media and communities, as well as the NFT digital art circle, erupted in excitement. As the first Chinese brand to hold a BAYC bored ape in the NFT market, the entry of this trendy fashion giant, China Li-Ning, undoubtedly benefits the recently somewhat lackluster NFT market.

Of course, the curiosity and heated discussions from the "onlookers" about what bored apes are have also been rising. China Li-Ning's attempt undoubtedly builds a bridge between Web2.0 and Web3.0, allowing Web2.0 users to recognize and begin to understand what NFTs are, while also bringing NFTs and BAYC to the general public. Moving from niche to mass, China Li-Ning has brought immense value to NFTs and allowed its hundreds of millions of Chinese users to experience the future ahead of time.

With the vigorous development of digital art in the past year or two, the NFT market has successfully "broken the circle," becoming the "top stream" of the digital art market.

Since last year, whether it’s traditional giants like Porsche, Valentino, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Givenchy, Alibaba, and Tencent testing the waters, or celebrities like Justin Bieber, Neymar, Curry, Jay Chou, and Yu Wenle joining in, more and more brands and influential figures have entered the NFT market, attempting to create brand NFT digital derivatives, layout NFT products, and leverage the scarcity and uniqueness of NFTs to enhance the value of their brand and personal IP.

Combining NFT artworks with actual products and conducting secondary creations has also shown everyone the practical application value of NFTs beyond being an entry point to the metaverse, a symbol of identity, or even avatars. They can also be various trendy items that showcase the value of NFTs in daily wear and express the user's stance.

The value addition of NFT + brand IP + sports

Speaking of bored apes, everyone is likely familiar with them. As an "OG" NFT project, this series was launched in March last year and quickly ignited the crypto, fashion, art, and broader Web3.0 circles, with the floor price rising from 0.08 ETH on the day of issuance to 1338 times that.

Justin Bieber spent $1.29 million (500 ETH) to purchase a bored ape NFT, American TV host Jimmy Fallon bought a bored ape wearing a striped T-shirt and sunglasses for $220,000, and American hip-hop king Eminem spent $460,000 to become a holder of BAYC.

What exactly makes so many celebrities go crazy, changing their social media avatars to bored apes, with prices soaring? There was "Curry bought an avatar for $180,000," followed by "Jay Chou said his $3 million monkey was stolen." These hot topics have also piqued the curiosity of onlookers about what bored apes are and what NFTs are.

Beyond the astonishment at high prices and the promotional backing of celebrities, bored apes have formed a strong consensus on social networks like Twitter, with people spontaneously believing that this is a symbol of digital identity. It is not just a collectible but also a personal self-identifier, much like wearing a luxury watch or limited-edition sneakers, reflecting self-worth. This reflection does not depend on your name to show whether you are a celebrity; rather, it is recognized at a glance, "Oh, this is you."

The holders of bored apes have rights to recreate their NFTs, leading to various designs for artworks, clothing, playing cards, skateboards, etc., which have sparked intense discussions online. Moreover, all sales revenue from creators' peripheral products goes entirely to them, without needing to share with the project team. BAYC is not just a collection of avatar NFTs; its intricate visual effects and diverse character outputs embody a sense of fashion and individuality, forming a captivating personality representation. This consensus value in a spiritual sense is also the core of how bored apes have become personal identity tags online.

Unique hairstyles, electric eyes, and robe jackets have become rare styles, much like limited-edition sneakers and bags, attracting fans and thus holding more value in the market. Currently, the floor price of bored apes has reached $400,000. These factors have been key to the successful breakout of bored ape NFTs.

Bored Ape #2087 (769 ETH)

In addition to the trend wave sparked by offline peripheral products, the bored ape project team Yuga Labs has also collaborated with creator "10:22PM" to establish KINGSHIP—a pop group consisting of a mutant ape and three bored apes. Renowned American music producer and singer Timbaland has also used his bored ape as a virtual musician, signing with the BAYC hip-hop group TheZoo to promote NFT music.

The community's enthusiasm, frequent appearances on social media, and the creative expressions of holders have made this bored monkey anything but boring. Even if you don't understand NFTs, you certainly recognize this monkey.

The influence of bored apes has played an important role in the development of the NFT market and has created more possibilities through collaborations with music, fashion, and other fields. So what new tricks will the China Li-Ning x Bored Ape collaboration play? Will China Li-Ning also embark on a journey into the metaverse through the bored ape experiment?

Now, whether it’s NFTs or blockchain, this new business model is prompting companies or brands to transform and align with Web3.0, much like the internet wave, fearing to miss the opportunity and be left behind by the market. Most companies and brands are adopting Web3.0 marketing models, transitioning users' virtual roles from exaggerated portrayals to representations of real-life value, achieving a transformation into Web3.0.

However, very few brands have managed to utilize the Web3.0 wave to assist the traditional market's appreciation in reverse. While everyone is laying out NFTs and the metaverse market, China Li-Ning has integrated NFTs into its brand products through the bored ape, leveraging its brand value and influence, adding the commercial value and attention of the bored ape to create new changes for Li-Ning's own products. This not only popularizes information about the NFT trend market among the public but also helps everyone better understand the value of the metaverse world.

The value of bored apes lies in the representation of digital identity. Therefore, wearing China Li-Ning's bored ape is undoubtedly a composite that promotes sports culture, trendy spirit, and value consensus. Looking at the Li-Ning brand itself, as a promoter of sports and trendy culture, it is believed that in the process of laying out the metaverse field, it will bring a unique journey of trend + sports in the metaverse.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics successfully brought "Bing Dwen Dwen" into the spotlight, with the official digital blind box launched. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also launched a game related to the Winter Olympics amid the NFT craze, allowing players to earn Olympic NFT digital medals through the game. The combination of NFTs and the traditional sports market not only makes the NFT market more "popular" but also opens up new business models for the traditional market.

According to a report by investment bank Jefferies, the total market value of NFTs is expected to grow from $14 billion today to $75 billion by 2025, with most of the growth driven by the sports NFT market. The home arena of the Los Angeles Lakers has even been renamed "Crypto." Sports culture serves as a bridge connecting the traditions of Web2.0 and the trends of Web3.0, with traditional enterprises achieving Web3.0 marketing through NFT layouts, while Web3.0 outputs empower Web2.0 in reverse. The combination of NFT marketing + brand + sports culture is also likely to become the next opportunity under the push of traditional and digital markets.

As a symbol of Chinese sports brands and a guide to sports culture, China Li-Ning's integration of bored apes as design elements for a new series brings Web3.0 into real life. Through activities like skateboarding, motorcycling, and frisbee, it promotes a "lifestyle attitude" of trendy sports, aligning with the current NFT followers' philosophy: more trendy, more attitude, more value, more life.

From a fashion brand perspective, the bored ape as the curator of the pop-up store opens offline activities. Online, it could serve as a prototype for a metaverse bored ape model fashion week, with clothing and accessories primarily based on actual designs from China Li-Ning. Alternatively, an online dressing store could be launched for different fashion combinations or DIY designs, paired with offline physical products for sale. Everyone could participate in Li-Ning's design, and creators of designs adopted for sale could receive a certain percentage of sales revenue distribution and an NFT badge from China Li-Ning.

In addition, there have been examples like Sorare's Ethereum football blockchain game, which uses football player cards as NFT collectibles, and boxing hall of fame member Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s NFT collaboration with the metaverse game Boxing Boyz Metaverse, a virtual world game that integrates boxing. Or the NBA's The Association series NFT release. Will China Li-Ning collaborate with other brands to establish a metaverse Olympic competition, incorporating traditional competitive sports like table tennis, gymnastics, and basketball, as well as modern trendy lifestyle sports like frisbee and motorcycling?

Unlike traditional competitions represented by national teams, the metaverse Olympics could take the form of free group combinations, emulating TheZoo's bored ape music idol group to form its own sports club and participate in various competitive events. The team uniforms for the competitions could be based on actual Li-Ning products or created through NFT DIY, featuring the China Li-Ning logo. These ideas not only showcase more creative gameplay driven by NFTs but also empower NFTs further, demonstrating a brand new business model for the traditional brand market.

NFTs not only meet fan demands but also uphold the spirit of sports, opening new doors for the sports market and traditional brand IP. Large sports leagues, competitions, athletes, and stars in real life are embraced by a wide range of fans and consumers. The economic model of NFT + sports + fashion will also be more convenient, efficient, and interconnected.

Bringing Web3.0 into real life and building physical metaverse scenarios, we also look forward to China Li-Ning's further exploration of NFTs and the joining of more other brands.