We sat down with one of the most well-known NFT artists in Singapore, Chanel Lee, the Founder of Tasty Toastys.
Across tech and lifestyle industries, Chanel Lee has had a lot of experience in global brand-building and business development: from running sales and partnerships for a marketing and enterprise automation solutions company, marketing a billion-dollar Global fitness apparel brand, and working in the Singaporean government to spur development in the local lifestyle and retail sectors.
Tasty Toastys, her baby and a big part of her life, is a collection of 7,600 randomly generated NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) on the Ethereum blockchain. Each Tasty Toasty comes to life with a bread flavor, a delicious spread, and a little something on the side.
Her journey was not easy at the beginning but thanks to her passion and love toward the project, she eventually made it one of the most successful in Singapore. That’s why we invited Chanel Lee for a chat about her life, how she relates to the common toasty and changing opportunities in the NFT world.
Do you still eat toasties, or do you look at them differently now?
Yes, I do! They’re the same to me… only difference is I think “toastie” is spelt wrongly (but it’s actually “Toasty” that is purposely misspelled).
In your experience, what are the keys to building a strong brand community?
- Being a part of the larger NFT community myself. At this early stage of the industry, there’s no excuse to not take part in what makes NFTs fun by having first-hand experience in other communities yourself. This way you will also develop a much more intimate understanding of the culture.
- Transparency with your community. If things you’re working on go well, great! If they don’t, just be honest and open about the project’s developments. It fosters trust & reputation in the long run, which are key tenets to ANY healthy relationship. And that’s what community is – a network of relationships.
- Empower your community. If they’re making fan art, memes, etc., share them! Proudly display their contributions. Everyone wants to be seen & heard. Hire directly from your community – there’s a lot of talent within. In fact, a lot of people from my community have even come forth with ideas, suggestions, and made important connections for brand partnerships.
What are some of the most inventive ways that you’ve seen people get scammed, and is it possible to protect your community from them?
I got scammed myself, recently! You would think that I would know better. Here’s how I got scammed:
- I was giving away an NFT on Twitter, and announced the winner as someone who had the numbers “100” in his username. Someone came forth to collect the prize before the actual winner, with the exact same tweets and username but with “10O” instead of “100”. I didn’t notice it and gave the prize away to this person, who then immediately deleted his account & blocked me. I only realized my mistake when the real winner came forward.
- I bought fake copies of a popular collection on Opensea by mistake, thinking it was all part of a puzzle from a mysterious anonymous collection. I was overthinking the puzzle – pure carelessness and “FOMO ” on my part.
We inform our community of the latest scams via Discord alerts when we know of it – e.g., Beeple’s account was hacked. When I saw this on Twitter, I immediately pinged everyone not to click the link on Beeple’s account. However, there’s really no guaranteed way of protection — all we can really do is to educate everyone not to click links too quickly, or if in doubt, use a “degen” wallet (meaning something you use to buy NFTs that you’re not sure about, so even if compromised, you won’t lose your most valuable NFTs).
One underlying value of blockchain technology is self-governance. This comes at the price of being responsible for your own actions.
How do you see the boundary between the metaverse, NFTs, and physical retail space blurring over the next few years?
Strong brands will be able to wield all three of these as interconnected channels for communication. After all, the anchor is still the overarching brand narrative – the metaverse, NFTs, and physical spaces – these are all just fun platforms for brand expression. There’s no one fixed way for the boundary to be broken per se, it really depends on how the creator of an experience decides to craft the fluidity of their storytelling.
How will online events change over the next few years, and what would be your dream scenario?
To be honest, I don’t think they need to change much further from its current form other than performance graphics and other technical details.
VR/AR is great, but depending on the quality and accessibility of the physical headsets, it might be difficult to expect it to be the de facto standard for online events. Post-pandemic, I expect more people to continue craving offline interactions.
As long as there is a way for humans to chat, and show off their identities and personalities with one another, the shape & form of how the experience works actually doesn’t matter too much. It’s more about the interactivity. I personally prefer offline events, so I don’t really have a dream scenario in this area!
What makes the NFT scene in Singapore unique? What do you love, and what would you change about it?
I like projects that include local Singaporean culture, like Cryptobengz – a play on Cryptopunks, but making them “Ah Bengs”. This is always going to be unique for us. I also like that people I’ve met are relatively open-minded about NFTs so far, and I read recently that per capita we actually have one of the highest adoption rates worldwide. One thing I would like to change over time is the obsession with the “price” of NFTs though — there are a lot of people right now only in it for short-term price pumps, which really hurts creators and projects in the long run. Good things take time to build.
Have you experienced anything negative from being fully doxxed, and not anonymous?
Nope!
What happens to NFTs in a bear market, and how do you think the value of your Tasty Toastys could be affected?
The market controls the price. They’re worth as much as the seller decides to price it at, based on information about the project, and inversely, how much buyers are willing to pay for. I’m not too concerned about the ‘bear’ market. We’re here to build a brand that exists outside of the NFT space. The market will adjust the pricing as they deem fit over the course of time.
Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?
Netflix. I’d love to be involved in a documentary or reality show about the people behind NFTs. It would also be cool to have a children’s animation programme made from Tasty Toastys.
Describe yourself in 3 words before starting Tasty Toastys
Bored. Curious. Naive.
Describe yourself in 3 words after launching Tasty Toastys
Resilient. Stressed. Inspired.
If you’re interested in learning more about Chanel Lee’s project, check out these channels:
Website: https://www.tastytoastys.io/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tastytoastys?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tastytoastys/
Telegram: https://t.me/tastytoastys
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/jfYB5pdrtJ
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is not intended to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on the individual’s financial needs, objectives, and risk profile. We encourage readers to understand the assets and risks before making any investment entirely.
