Jet8 announces blockchain-based token offering

Jet8 has announced the launch of the J8T, a blockchain-based "utility token" that the company says will help it scale-up its existing social-engagement platform.

The company, part of Singapore-based Creative HotHouse, has capped the ICO (initial coin offering) at US$36 million, with 30% of that allocated for a public sale at US$0.10 per J8T. The date of the public sale will be announced tomorrow. A pre-sale of the other 70% of the offering has already been completed.

Jet8 argues that it was well ahead of the ICO craze, having spent the last four years building a platform that lets brands compensate micro-influencers using what are essentially tokens. The platform allows people to earn points, called Jet$, in exchange for creating and sharing branded selfies (see case study, "How FrieslandCampina got 32,000 selfies and 230% ROI").

"Establishing a blockchain-based token will assist in the scalability of this ecosystem, in part by better enabling an app as a service (APPaS) model," Jet8's CMO, former MullenLowe Singapore CEO Shannon Cullum, told Campaign Asia-Pacific. "Through APPaS, brands big and small can establish, manage and drive engagement of their own communities using J8T tokens, side-stepping the current agency model."

The APPaS offering, known as the Jet8 Full Stack App, brings with it additional customisation and control, and also means that brand owners will own the data Jet8 currently has access to, Cullum added. It will provide brands and individual influencers their own customised app in which to host their own communities, communicate with their followers, carry out campaigns, and sell directly to consumers, according to the company.

Shannon Cullum

More than four billion Jet$ are already in circulation. At some point, these will likely be replaced with the J8T token, Cullum said, although how and when remains to be decided.

Prominent cryptocurrency figure Jon Matonis, founding director of the Bitcoin Foundation, has joined Jet8's team of advisors, which also includes Uriel Peled (CEO of Cointree Capital), Eyal Herzog (founder of Bancor), Sefi Golan (CEO of BlockchainIL), Roger Lim (co-founder of WebVision), and Jet8 founding members CSO Joshua Thomson, Cullum, CCO Mike Allen and CEO Victor Zabrockis.

Jet8 has worked with companies including Nestlé, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Danone, Avon, P&G, Unilever, Indofoods, and Heinz Group.

Here's a video from the company explaining its offering: