From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

以南说｜2024-12-20 13:00

From community crisis to global brand, what did Fat Penguin do right? After the launch of $Pengu ignited the community, what is the future potential? What is the next plan after the launch of Pengu? Let's take a look today!

A brief history of Pudgy Penguins:

Pudgy Penguins is an iconic NFT project that was launched on the Ethereum network in July 2021. It is a collection of 8,888 unique cartoon penguin NFTs, each with random features generated by up to 150 hand-drawn components. These penguins are different because they can have up to 5 randomly generated unique features, including special backgrounds, body shapes, shirts, and accessories. With its unique art style and community power, Pudgy Penguins has quickly become one of the stars of the NFT craze.

In the early days of the project, Pudgy Penguins was launched in July 2021 by X user ColeThereum and anonymous users Mr. Tubby, Mickyj, and Jonah. But as the project developed, governance issues led to a crisis of trust. It was alleged that the initial founders were suspected of stealing funds allocated for project development. Doubts about the integrity of the project founders seriously affected the value of Pudgy Penguins.

In early 2022, the NFT community pushed for a change of team, and community member Luca Netz took over the project for 750 ETH and served as CEO, giving Pudgy Penguins a new direction. The new team members include Chief Marketing Officer Nicholas Ravid , Chief Technology Officer Lorenzo Melendez , Chief Creative Officer Peter Lobanov , and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Kaizu . The new team is committed to building it into a global brand, focusing on IP development and cross-field cooperation such as toys, animation, and metaverse projects.

Pudgy Penguins Ecosystem

Pudgy Penguins ' brand expansion strategy revolves around digital IP and achieves diversified development through cross-field integration. The project is not only limited to the NFT market, but also extends the brand in multiple fields.

Pudgy Toys

Pudgy Penguins has launched a physical toy series, Pudgy Toys , which is the first commercial product directly authorized by the community. It was released on May 18, 2023 as an extension of NFT, targeting children and collectors. Pudgy Toys is not only extremely cute, but also connected to the virtual world of Pudgy World through a QR code. This innovation enhances the interactivity of toys with the digital world and provides users with a richer experience. Pudgy Toys are available on Amazon, Walmart stores or the Pudgy Penguin official website.

From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

Pudgy World

Pudgy World is a metaverse world launched by Pudgy Penguins on zkSync, providing holders with a personalized interactive experience.

There is a QR code on Pudgy Toy, which can be scanned to enter Pudgy World , where you can explore the virtual penguin world, including playing mini games, building your own igloo, etc. The launch of this virtual world not only enhances the cohesion of the community, but also makes Pudgy Penguins an important bridge for exploring the web3 world in the Web2 world.

From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

Pudgy Penguins NFT

Pudgy Penguins NFT includes Pudgy Penguins and the derivative NFT series Lil Pudgy and Pudgy Rods.

Derivative NFT Series

Lil Pudgy

Lil Pudgy is a collection of 22,222 NFTs launched in December 2021 and minted on the Ethereum blockchain. Pudgy Penguin holders received a free airdrop of these NFTs, while the rest were sold through a public sale.

Pudgy Rods

Pudgy Rods, also known as "rogs" (formerly known as "Pudgy Presents"), were released by the original Pudgy Penguins team on August 30, 2021 as a free NFT, one per Pudgy Penguin. Pudgy Rods is an Easter egg wrapped in a red ribbon. On Christmas Day, the egg was finally revealed: it contained a fishing rod.

From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

$Pengu Token:

Founder Luca released an announcement on Twitter on December 6, announcing the official launch of Pudgy Penguins' official coin $PENGU token, which will be issued on the Solana chain.

**Total supply:** 88,888,888,888 (88.89 billion), initial circulation is 62,415,951,646, the specific chip structure is as follows:

Public goods 4%
Proliferation 4%
Liquidity 12.35%
Pudgy Community 25.9%
Other communities 24.12%
FTT holders 0.35%
Current and future teams 17.8%
Company 11.48% (one-year cliff, three-year linear)

From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

airdrop:

On December 16, Binance announced that the Binance Holder Airdrop has now launched the 5th project Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), and $PENGU will be listed at 22:00 (Eastern Time) on December 17, 2024, and BNB holders account for 3% of the circulation.

From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

The reason why Pengu has attracted widespread attention is not only due to its listing on Binance, but also due to its extensive short coverage.

25.9% of the total PENGU tokens will be distributed to members of the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem via airdrops, and 24.12% will be distributed to "other communities", including active addresses on Solana and active addresses on ETH. Airdrops will be made to eligible participants, who will have 88 days to claim them.

The picture shows Foresight News. Alex Liu sorted out the airdrop quantity corresponding to each character from the public information on the Internet. Among them, the NFT that can receive the most PENGU tokens is not the fat penguin, but the rarest Pudgy Rods.

From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

Pudgy Penguins Success Factors:

Brand and IP Building

Pudgy Penguins has won the resonance of young people and users of all ages through its cute and adorable characters. CEO Luca Netz emphasized that brand and marketing are the core driving forces. The launch of physical toys also makes the virtual IP more three-dimensional. In seven months, the sales of physical toys exceeded 750,000.

Innovative Marketing

Billions of impressions per month: 13.8 billion views of animated GIFs, over 1.23 million Instagram followers, over 10 million TikTok views. In addition, offline events such as Art Basel in Miami also boost brand influence.

IP licensing and sharing

Pudgy Penguins recently paid millions of dollars in royalties to NFT holders and launched the on-chain IP licensing platform OverpassIP, planning to create global brands like Hello Kitty and Pokemon.

Gamification and Digital Experience

In 2024, the Pudgy World on-chain open world game will be launched, supported by zkSync, and combined with physical toy QR codes to achieve a closed-loop experience of digital and reality.

From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

Pudgy Penguins Subsequent Route:

Pudgy Penguins will release its own public chain Abstract and incubator plan.

Abstract is a Layer 2 built using Matter Labs' ZK Stack and EigenLayer's data availability layer EigenDA, making the development process of decentralized applications easier, cheaper and more secure. In addition to building this chain, Pudgy Penguins also plans to establish a developer incubator aimed at helping applications go from 0 to 1.

Abstract recently received an investment of $11 million led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. This strategic financing round was led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, and other investors included Fenbushi Capital, 1kx, Everest Ventures Group and Selini Capital.

Pudgy Penguins has two missions: first, to become synonymous with penguins worldwide. When people think of penguins, they immediately think of Pudgy Penguins; second, to become the mascot and representative of cryptocurrency.

From community crisis to global brand, how did Pudgy Penguins turn around and become an NFT legend?

Summarize:

Since its launch, Pudgy Penguins has experienced both the brightest and darkest moments of NFT. However, with its unique cartoon image, innovative brand building and strong community power, Pudgy Penguins has grown from an initially controversial NFT project to a globally influential brand in the blockchain and real world. NFT has also climbed from the lowest point of around 1ETH to the current floor of 17.9ETH, becoming the most dazzling NFT this year.

Pudgy Penguins has redefined the value and use cases of NFTs through the physicalization of toys, the launch of the virtual interactive platform Pudgy World, as well as innovative token economics and IP licensing. Driven by CEO Luca Netz, Pudgy Penguins' strategic development has demonstrated unprecedented innovation and diversity, from building the Abstract ecosystem to incubator programs to cross-platform IP licensing, each step has laid a solid foundation for the brand's future. By continuously deepening its brand mission, Pudgy Penguins has not only successfully attracted a wider audience, but also injected vitality into the entire Web3 ecosystem.

In the future, Pudgy Penguins aims to become not only a global penguin symbol, but also a representative mascot in the field of cryptocurrency. It has taken solid steps on the road of combining technology and culture, and also contributed to the growth of web3 users.