In an exclusive interview with BeInCrypto, key Floki Inu team member FallDamage has revealed that the team is working on strengthening project fundamentals that could help the Viking-dogcoin to flip Shiba Inu this year.
We also talked with the marketer about the Floki Inu metaverse, which has been dubbed ‘Valhalla’, and when users might get their first taste of play-to-earn rewards. FallDamage also revealed the difficult birth of the project, how the initial developer abandoned Floki Inu, and how the young puppy was ultimately rescued and raised by its current team of core members.
Strong growth in 2021
Two thousand and twenty-one witnessed significant growth for Floki Inu (FLOKI) as the dogcoin surpassed 390,000 holders. The team also launched a string of global billboard campaigns, sponsored eight soccer teams, conducted a YouTube ad campaign, and announced ad spots on US TV networks including CNN, CNBC and Fox News.
With all of those irons in the fire, BeInCrypto asked the marketing chief if a Shiba Inu flippening could be on the cards in 2022.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “We really do believe that over this next year we’re going to have more utility than Shiba, we’re hopeful to have more holders than Shiba, and so, if that’s the case, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to flip Shiba in terms of market cap.”
Theoretical discussions aside, the marketing chief was at pains to explain that the primary focus of Floki Inu is to improve and develop Floki Inu, rather than trying to flip other projects. So while Shiba Inu may be the ‘Dogecoin killer’, Floki Inu doesn’t think of itself in similar terms.
FallDamage sees other important distinctions between the two.
“I think that one of the interesting comparisons between Floki and Shiba is that we’ve started the token and created the contract with the idea of development, and making sure we have the money for that development,” he said. “Shiba Inu as far as I can tell – and I am also a part of that community – don’t really have a marketing or development budget. For the most part, it is whales contributing to that project. They’re reliant on people putting money in, whereas our project has money because we planned on it from the beginning.”
Wen Valhalla sir?
A potentially interesting element of Floki Inu is ‘Valhalla’, a promised metaverse GameFi environment that intends to pay users in FLOKI rewards. As FallDamage explains it, much of the recent work at Floki Inu has been behind the scenes working on Valhalla, and figuring out exactly how to make it a reality.
“We’re working on a gaming metaverse and so that’s going to take a little while to work on and finalize and roll out, and so we’re working on budgets. So for the past three weeks, it [marketing] has been a little slower because we are trying to make sure we’ve got our budget put together before we spend more on marketing.”
The comments served to highlight the challenges for meme projects which aspire to real utility, with a small core team of members often juggling multiple in-project tasks, as well as full-time jobs and family life. FallDamage puts in around 20-30 hours on the project each week, down from over 40 hours due to increased family demands.
The dedicated marketer did not want to be drawn on the exact date when users might gain their first taste of the Valhalla play-to-earn metaverse, however, BeInCrypto understands that the first playable could arrive as early as Q1 of 2022.
A challenging birth
One aspect of Floki Inu which FallDamage was keener to discuss was the birth of the project and how the initial developer hadn’t been fully honest with the community.
“Our initial developer rugged us,” he explained. “He was taking a lot more money than he was advertising, he wasn’t using any of it for marketing, we were minting tokens at an unprecedented rate. By the time we launched V2 (version 2) we had seven times the tokens that we had initially when we launched V1. So it was inflationary like crazy instead of deflationary. We went to him and said let’s fix this inflationary issue, and let’s make sure that the money you’re pulling off for marketing is actually being used for marketing. So after some negotiations, he just ghosted us.”
Despite the challenging circumstances of Floki Inu’s inception, or perhaps because of it, the project has now crystallized around a core team of dedicated members who are determined to see the dogcoin succeed. It will be interesting to follow the path of the project in 2022.
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