Brazilian flip-flop brand Havaianas is releasing its first collection of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as it continues to invest in becoming a digital-first global brand. The nearly 60-year-old brand has commissioned a series of five digital artworks by the Brazilian artist and longtime Havaianas collaborator Adhemas Batista that will be auctioned off as NFTs on Wednesday, May 12. This means the digital artworks can be verified as original creations via blockchain technology. Part o
Part of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Favela Galeria project, an open-air art gallery in a neighbourhood on the east side of São Paulo.
Havaianas has a long history of working with artists on global campaigns, from wall murals designed by world-renowned graffiti artist Arlin Graff to products featuring illustrations by Sydney-based designer Mulga. Batista, the artist behind the NFTs, has worked with Havaianas for over 15 years.
“Getting involved with artists and commissioning artworks for our campaigns has been a part of the brand right from the very beginning,” Robert Esser, Havaianas’ APAC president, told Inside Retail.
But the move into NFTs reflects a newer focus on digital innovation that can be traced back to the appointment of Roberto Funari as CEO of Alpargatas, Havaianas’ owner, in 2019.
“He came in very digitally driven,” Esser said. “He was convinced that the shift to digital was the future of our business, and at that time, we had been very non-digital.”
Havaianas flip-flops are largely made by hand in factories in Brazil, and while they’re no longer sold out of the back of Volkswagen Kombi vans as they were 50 years ago, the business still had some catching up to do when it came to retail technology.
“We’re very aggressively going after digital capabilities,” Esser said.
Digital flagships, Fortnite and TikTok
Under Funari’s leadership, the brand has launched its first two digital flagships, the first in Brazil last year, and the second in the US last week, based entirely on Salesforce’s cloud-based software.
“It’s a huge leap forward from the very old legacy system that we had in Brazil and the US for 10 years,” Esser said.
To help fast track the shift to digital, Alpargatas recently announced its acquisition of Brazilian tech startup Ioasys for as much as R$200 million (~US$37.3 million).
“This is going to help us very quickly do a big leap into improving our IT stack, sorting things out in the middle, figuring out where our gaps and deficiencies are in terms of fulfilment, order management and omnichannel,” Esser said.
The acquisition comes as Havaianas’ sales accelerate. The brand recently posted its best first quarter in a decade, with strong growth in its priority markets of Europe, the US and China driving consolidated net revenue of R$901.3 million (~US$168 million), a 32.7 per cent increase year on year.
Next week, Havaianas plans to launch its WeChat mini program in China, where net revenue was up 736 per cent year over year in constant currency in Q1 FY21. WeChat mini programs enable brands to sell to customers within the social media platform and offer tools and services they wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
Just the beginning
According to Esser, the company is still very much at the beginning of its digital journey, but the investment is already starting to bear fruit.
Besides its foray into NFTs, Havaianas also recently launched a virtual flip-flop-shaped island in the popular video game Fortnite, along with digital versions of its iconic footwear products that users can buy and wear in the game. And it will be moving into other games over the next 12 to 18 months.
Havaianas also has several big projects in the works with TikTok in APAC and is about to launch an e-commerce presence on Douyin, as TikTok is known in China.
“By being first movers in these areas we feel like we can lead the conversation,” Esser said.