PATRON : THE BLOCKCHAIN SOCIAL MEDIA

INTRODUCTION

Who would ever think that social media is going to be the mainstream of marketing? I would have said no if I was asked this few years ago, but the opposite is now the case currently.

Social media actually represents low cost tools that combine technology and social interaction with the use of words.

One of the exciting things social media brings is the promotion opportunity that seamlessly transcends the standard middleman and connects companies directly to clients.

Giant companies in the business world are exploring social media promotion projects and of course digital marketers.

I can remember vividly my conversation with the director of a multi-national company few years ago, he said he needed no social media tool to get the exposure he wanted for his business.

Fast forward to few months ago, he has several digital marketers that constantly run advertisements on several social media sites. I was amazed to see the turnout of events, his reply shocked me.

He said ‘Only a fool would embrace success with comfort’ He moved with the dynamics and his business is flourishing like never before.

The internet and mobile applications are commonly known to be frontiers in the social media world, the leading ones that are commonly being used and you might have probably heard of include Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The blast of social media trend is really so amazing and the speed to which it is being embraced is enormous. There is an increase in the level of goodwill and trust and through promotion, these virtues are sustained.

Without any doubt, social media is the only promotional system that motivates certified interaction and accountability among sellers as well as customers.

You can reach any part of the world through the social media and there is no need to be worried over unseen global invasion which is solved by the extreme diversification of the social media.

Social media gives marketers or influencers a voice and a means to communicate with peers, potential consumers and customers. What it does is to personalize the "brand" and helps you to spread your message in a relaxed and conversational way.

What is PATRON?

PATRON is a blockchain based platform that tokenizes the ability of influencers to influence the purchase behavior of their followers. PATRON takes advantage of the qualities of social media industry (e.g. Facebook), and those of sharing economy concept (e.g. Airbnb), to bring about effective ad campaigns and marketing programs. In more specific terms, PATRON is a market place where influencers (ordinary people who have influence over their social media followers) can take part in sharing economy, that is marketing the product of sponsoring companies to their followers, and consequently being rewarded financially by those sponsoring companies.

PATRON user-types

Having given a definition to the PATRON blockchain, it is pertinent that we also explain all the parties involved in the PATRON blockchain. The user-types in the PATRON network are as follows:

Influencer (Host): From the story of Julius Caesar given above, we can say that Julius Caesar was an influencer. He had followers whom he acquired by selling and promoting himself to. He promoted himself as a hero and acquired followers as a consequence. He had the ability to influence his followers to act in a particular way. Bringing it to our day, an influencer is a person who has a social media following, and is able to influence the behavior of his/her followers. For example, a person who has a particular amount of active Instagram followers is considered an influencer.

Sponsor (Guest): Most influencers have real connection with their followers. They acquired them by producing contents that followers find very beneficial. Because of this, followers are much more attached to these individuals than to brands, and hence have a higher chance of being influenced by these influencers. Companies take advantage of this deeper connection by signing contracts with these influencers to advertise their products/services. This companies are referred to as Sponsors.

Followers (Fans): Just as there is no leader without followers, there are no influencers without followers. Followers are the people whom influencers influence to purchase products and services of sponsors. They benefit from the content that Influencers produce, and hence have a higher chance of being influenced to make purchases

PATRON and Blockchain technology

Someone might ask, why does PATRON need to operate as a blockchain?

Blockchain technology puts the control of financial resources in the hands of only those involved in the transaction. It gives influencers the opportunity to directly connect with sponsors. Through blockchain’s escrow technology, the place of third-party escrow services is eradicated, hence giving influencers and sponsors total control of their funds, yet within a highly secure environment. Until both parties are satisfied, the funds will be held in the escrow.

Also, blockchain technology has a record keeping system that can’t be altered, which means that all the receipts and information regarding all transactions are stored securely in the blockchain, away from hack and alteration.

Finally, blockchain technology keeps data of users private. This means that only the influencer and sponsor have access to the data of those involved in the transaction. No third-party can have access to this information, unless been given permission by those who own the data.

PATRON Business model

The PATRON Business model is built upon two pillars:

Social Networking Service (SNS) Sharing economy

Social Networking Service (SNS): Prior to the creation of the social media industry, only celebrities had the opportunity of having an influence over a following. Sport stars and screen divas captivated and won the affection of their audience through their talents and acts, and hence could easily influence their purchase decisions, hence compelling sponsor companies to scramble to acquire them as brand ambassadors for their products. However, with the birth of the social media, ordinary individuals who previously could not command a following, now have been empowered through Social Networking Services like Facebook and Instagram, to have fans whom they have built some level of connection with. By offering services that their followers derive some level of value from, they acquire the loyalty and affection of these followers, and hence can influence their purchase decisions.

Sharing economy: If you have ever used an Uber, you will understand the concept of sharing economy. Sharing economy is a system where ordinary individuals are paid to lease their products or services for a given period of time. For example, an Uber is a private individual who is paid for rendering transportation services for a period of time. In line with the sharing economy concept, an influencer can be paid to render advertisement services to his/her followers for a given period of time. This contract which is usually between the influencer and a sponsoring company, and can be a one-time, monthly, or annual contract.

Combining the concepts of Social Networking Services (SNS) and Sharing economy, PATRON is able to provide value to both influencers and sponsors, and indirectly to followers, since influencers will be compelled to create better content for their followers in order to keep their loyalty. All these lead to the overall development and advancement of the ad campaign and media industry at large.

PATRON live and impact on influencers

We had talked earlier about PATRON’s ability to securely connect influencers to sponsors, grating sponsors access to the followers an influencer has, under well-defined contract conditions. But the big question is, how PATRON will be able to quantify an influencer’s worth. This is very key, so as to prevent sponsors from wasting their funds on an irrelevant audience.

PATRON determines the value of influencers through three methods:

1. Number of followers: The greater the number of followers the influencer has, the greater his value.
2. Engagement level: The higher the level of active communication between the influencer and the followers, the higher the worth of the influencer.
3. Trust/evaluation by users: After a contract is completed between an influencer and a sponsor, the sponsor gets to leave a rating of the influencer. This rating influences the worth of the influencer.

Having talked about how to know the worth of an influencer, the next phase will be to discuss on how PATRON enables influencers perform at maximum capacity. PATRON achieves this through PATRON live. Through PATRON live, influencers are able to broadcast all at once to multiple SNS live. There are numerous social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and so on, and communication with each of them individually is not convenient. Through the PATRON live app, influencers can distribute information from one mobile device to multiple social media platforms at the same time.

BENEFITS OF PATRON

Being a blockchain platform, the first benefit that the PATRON platform affords the influencer is security of funds. Because of the escrow technology, Influencers are rest assured that their funds will be well secured as they carry out the terms of the contract.

Also, PATRON gives influencers the opportunity to employ the business model used by satellite TV. What I mean by this is that influencers will have the sole right to who advertises whatever product to their followers, and for how long the ad will last. PATRON gives influencers the flexibility to vary the fees sponsors pay with respect to advertising products to various categories of followers, from repeat buyers, to highly active followers, to passively active followers, and so on.

Finally, PATRON gives influencers the opportunity to create a respected brand founded upon dealings with previous sponsors and purchasing history of followers.

Benefits to Sponsors

One of the greatest challenges companies face while advertising is locating the right demographic audience to focus on. It is a waste advertising meat product to a vegetarian. Unlike the followers of celebrities who obviously will have diverse interests, influencers on the PATRON network have followers who are interested in the value the influencer offers, and which most of the time is a niche area. PATRON saves sponsors from wasting their resources, by directing them to influencers whose followers are in the demographic category of the product to be advertised. Because PATRON has categorized influencers according to the nature of their followers, PATRON is able to accurately channel sponsor advertisement to the right audience, thereby maximizing the resources sponsors spend on advertising.

Benefits to Followers

What makes an active follower is the value derived from the service rendered by an influencer. Since the presence of active followers is like the oxygen that keeps the whole process alive, influencers will be compelled to go the extra mile to both maintain and increase their amount of followers. This means that influencers will create content with increasing value to the benefit of the followers, so that they will not just remain follower, but will be ones with increasing loyalty and active participation.

PATRON coin (PAT)

PAT is an open source cryptocurrency upon which the PATRON platform will be powered. It is the currency of the PATRON ecosystem. Every form of service on the PATRON network will be paid for and rewarded in PAT coin. This PAT coin can be acquired by exchanging fiat (e.g. U.S dollars) or other established cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum)

APPLICATIONS AND USE CASES

Application and Use case in fashion industry

Fashion is an inspiration-driven industry. There are little to no rules guiding the direction of design. Already established brands like Gucci, Polo, and Versace create designs, and then hire the services of celebrities to promote their designs. However, most new fashion brands lack the resources to hire the services of these celebrities, hence are not able to promote their designs through such channels.

PATRON blockchain can help these new fashion brands by connecting them to influencers with large amount of fashion enthusiast follower. Through this channel, these new fashion brands can sell their products, even as they get feedback on how to make their brands better.

Use case

Adele stitches is a new fashion clothing line owned by Adele. She has a very beautiful collection of clothing lines, and is ready to fully enter the fashion design market. But she has a challenge. She needs to advertise her products, but the funds she has is not sufficient to hire celebrities as practiced by other established brands.

On researching, she gets to find out about PATRON. She begins to explore the platform, and discovers a bunch of fashion bloggers with large fashion enthusiast followers. It turns out that I am one of the fashion bloggers. She signs a contract with me to advertise her products for 1 year on my fashion blog.

My followers see and fall in love with the wonderful works by Adele, and hence start making orders. In 6 months’ time, Adele has all her stock finished with some orders yet to be fulfilled. I am happy especially because of my financial reward, while Adele's fashion line continues to prosper.

Application and use case in local aviation industry

The aviation sector is a capital intensive sector. Making changes/adjustments in current practices can run into millions of dollars, hence making the wrong adjustment can lead to huge losses. Airlines have made seemingly smart adjustments, only to find out that the masses preferred the former state of things, hence being forced to reverse changes, losing huge sums of money in the process.

Through PATRON, airlines can be saved of this disaster since through the PATRON platform, they can have access to local potential and existing customers following influencers on the platform.

Use case

Bob runs a blog on airlines within New York city on his Instagram page. He has a huge following because he gives latest news and information regarding all airline that operate from New York. He knows he can make financial gains from advertising on his blog, but he does not know how to go about it. On making some research, he finds out about PATRON, and joins the platform.

A week after this, Sky airline management needs ideas for a limited-time summer route from New York, and after conducting some research online discoveres PATRON. On further search, Bobs blog on the PATRON platform is discovered, and a contract for a one-week survey on his blog is struck between Sky airline and Bob. More than 10000 people votes and the top vote openes the route from New York to Kentucky.

Bob is paid, and Sky airline makes profit rather than loss from that new development.

CONCLUSION

Prior to the birth of the social media industry, only celebrities such as sports stars and screen divas had the opportunity of commanding a following, and hence were the default people companies resorted to for product advertisement. But through social media, ordinary people have been given the power to command a following. These people are called influencers.

Also, sharing economy concepts like Uber and Airbnb have shown that people can earn financial returns by leasing out their properties, be it a room, a car, time, services, and so on.

PATRON Combines social networking services(SNS) and sharing economy to empower influencers to earn financial rewards from advertising products of sponsor companies to their followers, while the sponsor companies experience increased sales and profits in the process, while followers receive increasing value from services rendered by influencers.