Have you ever wondered how The Sandbox fits into the strategy of the world’s most iconic brands and celebrities? In this edition of our Unbox series, we sat down with Derek Roberto, Digital Content Advisor for Cloudco Entertainment, to discover why Care Bears decided to experiment with web3 in The Sandbox and how they amassed 1.4 million completed quests across 100k+ unique users who visited the brand’s three gamified experiences 330,000 times.

Activating in The Sandbox to Explore New Distribution Channels

Heading into the tail end of 2020, the Care Bears team had been observing the latest developments in the web3 industry for some time. Knowing they wanted to take the leap into the new frontier of cutting-edge technology innovation, they looked to The Sandbox as a viable platform that could provide tools that would enable them to branch out from traditional means of brand engagement and experiment with something new.

“ One of the goals with Care Bears was to go into new spaces and test the waters at the edges of the IP. There, we believed we could find new audiences and consumers around the world. The Care Bears’ best-known content has been traditionally distributed through broadcast. We wanted to become less reliant on the unpredictability of broadcasters and test a more direct-to-consumer model.”

In The Sandbox, direct-to-consumer shifts to themes of collaboration, mutual trust, and shared experiences between brands and their communities. To the Care Bears team, this new method of content experience, as well as the “openness and robustness” of the platform, stood out as key reasons why the team ultimately decided to make the leap and begin a journey to avatars, NFTs, and gamified experiences at the intersection of fun and social collaboration.

These developments attracted a fresh audience to the Care Bears brand in a much more tangible, collaborative way than ever before possible. Nothing was a better demonstration of that progress than the launch of Care Bears avatars, a collection of 3,060 NFTs that sold out in just 27 hours after its mint was initiated.

“The avatar collection is the greatest proof of how much people resonated with our initial entry into the metaverse. It was a huge win that added a different perspective to the brand because it was so exciting and new.”

Involving the Community Provides the Blueprint for Web3 Success

Where they currently stand, the Care Bears team is incredibly happy with how their journey into web3 has shaped out, but it was initially a “completely new” turn for the brand without a predetermined blueprint for success.

“There was no baseline for us initially, so we weren’t sure what to expect. The brand took a risk entering a new uncharted space that people were uncertain of. It was ultimately a risk well worth taking. The proof is there in the numbers and most importantly the fun the community is having engaging with the brand. We landed in a place that we’re very happy with.”

Now that they’ve proved to themselves that they can build a loyal audience in web3, the team is prioritizing an ongoing commitment to interact with their community, which has so far resulted in valuable real-time feedback and a much more engaged audience for the brand to work with.

“We’re in a place with web3 where we have solid ground to stand on. That’s definitely a new element that has been additive to our brand. It’s still the early days for us and there is a strong desire to see how far we can take this.”

Centered entirely around the community, no activation has been a better indication of Care Bears’ commitment to community than Game Jam, a 2022 contest that saw dedicated Care Bears fans build gamified experiences inspired by the Care Bears universe. Winning experience builders received rewards from a pool of 30,000 SAND — an incentive that boosted the activation’s fun and contributed to the ever-present theme of building together.

Care Bears are Moving Forward Focused on Avatars & NFTs to Keep Engagement Steady

Web3 culture is about storytelling, community, and utilities. With that top of mind, the Care Bears team recognizes that their Sandbox community establishes a baseline from which new upgrades and activations can be built upon.

“Our goal is to continue building on the engagement we have with repeat visitors. We want to make sure we can keep players and our community excited to return to Care Bears or discover new things in The Sandbox.”

Coming off of launching three experiences — Care-A-Lot Plaza, Valley of Whispered Winds, and Merry Beary Winterfest — during Alpha Season 3, community feedback is being utilized as the driving force behind upgrades to Care Bear experiences using new features provided by Game Maker 0.8