Cannes Day Two: Paris Hilton Talks NFTs And What It Means For Brands

B&T’s Nancy Hromin is in Cannes and managed to bag a seat at probably this year’s highlight event – an audience with the one-and-only, Paris Hilton! The socialite took to the stage alongside CEO of VaynerX and Vayner Media, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Swan Sit the board director of Edgewell, Novabay and Far Niente. The trio chatting all things NFTs…
I must admit, I have always been a Paris fan and loved her in The Simple Life back in 2003. In 2022, my 18–year-old-daughter and her friends are raving fans. They even have a shrine to Paris in their college dorm, with original gossip magazine cut outs of Paris in all her wild days glory.
Elyse joined me today at Cannes Lions Festival and asked me what an NFT was.
“Collectibles on an alternative platform to the internet,” was the best I could come up with.
I then Googled the Madonna NFT (check that out HERE) and showed her to which she responded, “Ew!”
By the end of the 30-minutes though we both knew that Hilton is certainly more than just a pretty face and NFTs are more than Madonna’s vagina with a tree growing out of it.
Sit started: “If you ask 10 people what an NFT is, you might get 10 different answers. And they can all be right!” Sit adding that is it just a digital record on the block chain, it’s universally accessible and you can’t change it.
Vaynerchuk went on to add that the reason people struggle to understand NFTs is because (and he included himself in this) we all operate from what he called an internet brain. It is a digital asset you can own and once we get that, we start to understand the utility of NFTs.
“In 1996, people really struggled to understand the internet and what it could do,” Vaynerchuk said. “We forgot to add the com. This was real then. When social media first happened, we were all shitting on it saying who cares what people eat. Today it’s bringing down governments!”
Sit then went on to extrapolate this with the “digital ownership” that Hilton has created with great success.
“What a lot of people don’t know about me, is I am a huge undercover nerd,” Hilton declared. “I started my journey back into gaming in 2004 when I released my first mobile game and in 2017. I created this place called Paris World, there wasn’t a word created yet for metaverse. This is where people can come and hangout and watch me DJ and party, and shopping. We partnered with Levi’s and did some amazing activations; it has been all very exciting,” she said.
Hilton went on to say that growing up in this male dominated business, she feels this technology is finally giving woman and voice and power and she wants to share this platform with women.
Sit went on to say she felt like Hilton had been planning this for a long time and was just waiting for the technology to catch up.
“Exactly, I have always been ahead of my time,” Hilton quipped!
Vaynerchuk went on to talk about humans and how we communicate through what we buy. “From the home- zip code, the car logo, and don’t let me get started on fashion. The entire trillion dollar industry is complete predicated on how we communicate.”
He then pointed to someone in the front row and said, “That hat, that’s a fucking OG hat, and I see that and it makes me think something. Something about you and who you are. That’s physical. The blockchain, as an example of scale for ownership to communicate who they are, is the most profound technology since the internet.”
Hilton added: “Web 2 was all about building audience and web 3 was all about building community. And what I love about this community is that people are willing to support each other, teach each other, lift each other up. It’s so different to the mentality in Hollywood.”
“I used to travel 250 days a year working. Now I am able to DJ a concert in the metaverse for hundreds of thousands of my fans from Bora Bora, in bed with my husband on our honeymoon. My friends are there, other celebrities, it’s just amazing.
Vaynerchuk said the biggest thing web 3 would do for brands is expose pre-internet and internet realities which this industry has been built on – reach.
“Obsessed with reach. And it is the currency that a lot of executives here know what I am talking about. The problem with that is this industry has been lying to itself and to clients on the consumption of this reach. There is nothing more full of shit than GRPs and internet impressions.”
There was a solid roar of agreement and cheering after that. Vaynerchuk went on to slam the creative industry for being vanilla and challenged the room to leave their jobs and say “fuck you” to vanilla, bullshit creative.
Latest News

ARN Finalises Sale Of Brisbane Radio Station 4KQ
Meanwhile, we're saying goodbye to the city of Brisbane as a whole as we emotionally prepare for State of Origin III.

Three Customer Retention Strategies That Can Help Australian Businesses Build Long-Term Loyalty
In this opinion piece, Patrick Sim, senior vice president for the APAC and MEA regions at Epsilon (pictured above), talks about ways companies can go about building lasting relationships with their clients. If there’s one thing that companies have learnt from the pandemic is the importance of keeping customers happy and having them continuously come […]

Meta Says There Are ‘Serious Times Ahead’ For Its Workers
Everyone's CFO says the exact same thing after he finally finishes shredding tax documents.

“Call Me Bruh!” Kanye West Threatens Legal Action Against Aussie Burger Joint
The temptation to make a gold digger joke here is strong, but thankfully we aren't witty enough to think of one.

Your Wish Is Our Command! More Time To Enter Best Of The Best Presented By Finecast
Think your better then everyone? But, it's awkward to bring up in meetings! We have the outlet for you.

The Growth Activists Help Bassike Reach B Corp Status
In exchange for helping bassike reach B Corp, TGA expects free invites to the inevitable party celebrating the status.

Enero Announces Two Key Acquisitions In ROI DNA And GetIT
It's very challenging to take Enero group seriously when their ASX tag is literally just 'EGG'.

Seven Moves To Terminate Broadcasting Partnership With Cricket Australia
Imagine not wanting to show a full season of cricket where each game can easily go on for around four hours!

New Study From Redcat And Impact Data Finds Customer Marketing Sweet Spot
The study makes no mention of how many times you can drunk dial a customer before they start blocking your number.

Thursday TV Wrap: Leigh Sales Farewells 7.30 With 572,000 Eyeballs Watching
With Sales signing off, Tracey Grimshaw might now be the offical Queen of blazers and looking slightly concerned.

Charlie Short Appointed As Head of Growth At Revolut Australia
Revolut appears to have gotten most of the way through revolution and then given up right at the conclusion.

Transforming C-Suite Leaders into Empathy Officers Can Deliver Unmatched Business Success
If your management style is modelled after Cruella de Vil. You can keep your coats, but you should try being nicer.

News Corp Australia Increases Its Investment In Medium Rare Content Agency
Much like betting on horses, News Corp realises that since they're in for eighty, they may as well be in for a hundred.

“Bittersweet!” Nelson Aspen Hands In His Two Week Notice To Sunrise
Aspen now calling in sick, stealing office pens and finally telling the cash cow what he really thinks of him.

Non-Alcoholic Brand Lyre’s Goes Live With ‘Make It A Lyre’s’ Campaign Via The Kinetic Agency
Non-alcoholic is a term guaranteed to cause moans in the B&T team, but the animals in the ad are cute, so this one's ok.

Social Motive Gives Tangle Teezer Australia A Fresh New Do On Social Media
Social Motive could have been the name for a new branch of the climate change awareness movement. Missed opportunity.

InMobi Integrates Mobile Supply With Yahoo’s Demand-Side Platform For Direct Advertiser Access
It seems like the good people at InMobi have finally decided to go all Yahoo on us.

From “Little Things” Big Change Happens; NSW Government’s Multi-Partner Media Campaign Via UM
Here at B&T we like our medical advice from our footy stars and our spiritual advice from our reality stars.

“Very Proud!” Neighbours’ EP Jason Herbison On Saying Goodbye To Ramsay St
Neighbours will be there for one another! Until someone makes a noise complaint then Grimshaw gets a call.

First-Ever D&AD Shift With Google In Sydney Ends With Showcase By Google, Adidas And Kua
We can only assume the Sick Bay mural is more Banksy inspired than Pepper Pig. Though the pig has more cache than Banksy

It’s Not Too Late To Apply For The Shopping Category At The Australian Impact Awards Powered By Wavia!
Think you've missed your chance at fame, glory and Linkedin bragging rights. Think again.

Dynata’s Latest Economic Crossroads Report Shows Consumer Trends From Around The Globe
Across the world, rising costs are causing anxiety and financial struggles for consumers. The worldwide impact of inflation is affecting their outlook and behaviour. More than half of consumers globally are struggling financially because of inflation and the increasing price of fuel, housing and everyday goods. Russia’s war on Ukraine intensifies their concerns around supply-chain […]

InMoment Bring Major Updates To Their XI Platform For Greater Customer Experiences
Making people's lives easier one update at a time. Because nowadays it's all about accessibility, right?

US FCC Commissioner Wants Apple And Google To Take Down TikTok From Their Stores
Anyone who wants to ban TikTok clearly doesn't understand how cool Anna Paul is.

Fullbright Scholar Teams Up With CQUniversity For New Opportunities In Queensland
It's nice to know the Sunshine State might finally be using said sunshine for something productive.

“Talk About Soft!” Mark Levy Blasts The Project Over Interview With Climate Change Activist
The world is actually burning, but sure let's be mad at the protestors.

Best Of The Best Judge, Ben Pellow Nabs Group Sales Director Role At Forbes Australia
Here at B&T, we love to remind you about all the fancy friends we have. Mainly because they never cop to it in public.

Visit Victoria And Endemol Shine Australia Announce New Partnership
The new series will allow Sydneysiders to appreciate Melbourne from their couches, just the way we like it.

Sydney Set To Host South By Southwest Festival For 2023
This comes as part of a wider plan to steal Texan culture, with Sydney set to take on plentiful Cowboy boots and rodeos.

Nine’s Big Dog Mike Sneesby Announces EOFY2022 Bonuses For Permanent Staff
Bonuses were decided after staff declined MAFS merch as a thank you.

Tony Armstrong Reveals The ABC’s Reaction To His OnlyFans Account
Armstrong proving that even a Logie can't save you from boring meetings with your bosses.

Wednesday TV Wrap: MasterChef Owns Demos But Nine Dines Out On The Night
Thank you MasterChef for normalising cooking while crying.

FutureBrand Australia Grows, Makes Two Senior Appointments
Bringing the "future" to Australia's business industry.

Sedona Lands Cinnamon Darvall As Executive Producer
If Sedona can acquire some Milk, Eggs and Flour as well, they'd be on their way to a nice crepe recipe in the C suite.

Jaywing And Frank Digital Nab Rai Campbell For Commercial Director Role
Campbell will be called to drive the Jaywing to success. That's not a phrase out of a sci-fi series by the way.

Are Media Launch Body Positivity Initiative ‘BODFest’ With OGX Haircare
Cause there's nothing that will make you feel better about yourself than seeing Em Rata on stage.