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Bridging the Gap Between Physical and Digital Worlds with Flickplay
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Bridging the Gap Between Physical and Digital Worlds with Flickplay

In this episode of Edge of NFT, Richard Carthon dives deep into the innovative world of Flickplay with Pierina Merino, the CEO and founder of this groundbreaking platform. Flickplay is reshaping the way we interact with digital toys by blending creativity, community, and blockchain technology. Tune in to hear about Flickplay’s latest partnerships, including the introduction of Baby Shark and Bratz digital toys, and how they’re creating engaging, gamified experiences for fans across the globe.

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Richard and Pierina discuss how her background in architecture and design fuels the Flickplay vision, how Bandai Namco’s investment is pushing the boundaries of digital play, and how Flickplay users can craft interactive stories with digital characters in real-world environments. If you’re curious about the intersection of digital ownership, gaming, and immersive storytelling, this episode is a must-listen!

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This pisode is sponsored by Bitlayer. Bitlayer is a leading Layer 2 solution that enhances Bitcoin’s capabilities by providing Bitcoin-equivalent security and Turing completeness.

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Please enjoy!

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Listen or watch this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Myco, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Iheart Radio, YouTube, YouTube, Amazon, Audible, or on your favorite platform. Remember with Myco.IO you earn for your attention.

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Key Topics Covered:

  1. Revolutionizing Digital Play with Flickplay: Pierina explains how Flickplay allows users to bring digital characters to life in real-world settings and interact with beloved IPs such as Baby Shark and Bratz.

  2. Bridging Physical and Digital Toys: The exciting blend of physical and digital play that Flickplay offers and how it enhances creativity and storytelling.

  3. Bandai Namco’s Investment: The significance of Bandai Namco’s involvement and what it means for the future of digital interaction and toy ownership in Web3.

  4. Pierina’s Vision for Flickplay: How Pierina’s unique background in architecture and technology has shaped her mission to create better human experiences through immersive, interactive digital toys.

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let us know in the comments on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@edgeofnft/

Episode Highlights:

  • Pierina on Storytelling and Digital Play: “We’re not just building toys. We’re crafting experiences that blend creativity, culture, and interaction in ways that inspire users to tell stories they never thought possible.” [Timestamp: 17:35]

  • The Power of Partnerships: “Working with partners like Baby Shark and Bratz allows us to tap into existing fan bases and bring their favorite characters to life in ways they’ve never seen before.” [Timestamp: 22:45]

  • Bandai Namco’s Strategic Investment: “Bandai Namco understood our vision from the start. They saw our commitment to building fun, authentic experiences powered by Web3 technology.” [Timestamp: 31:20]

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For the full transcript, see further below.

**People and Resources Mentioned: **

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About Our Guest

Pierina Merino is the CEO and founder of Flickplay, a leading platform merging digital toys, creativity, and blockchain technology to create interactive experiences for users worldwide. With a background in architecture and immersive technology, Pierina has pioneered new ways to blend digital and physical play, allowing users to animate their everyday environments with beloved characters like Baby Shark and Bratz.

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Disclaimer:

This is not financial or tax advice. Edge of NFT content is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Whenever making financial decisions, we recommend doing your own research and talking to your accountant for financial advice. Disclosure: From time-to-time we may feature sponsored content for which we receive value and we may share links for which we receive a commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. See our full Disclaimer (https://www.edgeofnft.com/disclaimer), Terms & Conditions (https://www.edgeofnft.com/terms-of-use), Privacy Policy (https://www.edgeofnft.com/privacy-policy), and Copyright Notice (https://www.edgeofnft.com/copyright-notice) for details.

Full Episode Transcript:

Pierina Merino :

Hi. This is Irina from FlickPay where we are revolutionizing the future of how we play and socialize. Today, you’re tuning in on Edge of NFT, your gateway for the latest in digital play and web 3 innovation.

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Richard Carthon:

Hey, web 3 curious listeners. Stay tuned for today’s episode to learn how flick play is revolutionizing the digital toy industry with their latest baby shark and bratz partnership, the impact of Bandai Namco’s investment in flick play and what it means for the future of digital interactions, and finally how our speaker was able to create worlds in her house as a child which ultimately led to her creating a way for others to do the same with blockchain. Time to cue the intro.

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Intro:

Welcome to the Edge of NFT, the podcast that brings you the top 1% of web 3 today and what will stand the test of time. We explore the nuts and bolts of the business side and also the human element about web 3 is changing the way we interact with the things we love. This podcast is for the dreamers, disruptors, and doers who are pumped about this ecosystem and driving where it goes next.

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Richard Carthon:

Welcome to the Edge of NFT, the podcast created by Jeff Kelly, Ethan NFT, and Josh Krieger, featuring a variety of top notch guests and other hosts like myself, Richard Carthon. It’s another production of the Edge of Company, a quickly growing media ecosystem empowering the pioneers of web 3 tech and culture. Responsible for other groundbreaking endeavors AI Outer Edge LA Innovation Festival. Today’s sponsored episode features Perina Marino, who is the CEO and founder of Flickpay and is a trailblazer in the nexus of design and technology. Purina’s career took off in architecture with Frank Gehry, who then shifted to the immersive tech world, creating VR strategies for luxury brands. Before starting flickplay, she launched the pioneering 3 d printed product line sold at Nordstrom. Flickplay is revolutionizing digital interactions. This innovative social app blends creativity with digital ownership, allowing users to animate their everyday environments with digital characters.

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Richard Carthon:

Users can craft videos, showcase their digital collections, and dive into vibrant community. Flick Kelley not only connects Janney, but also transforms everyday moments into interactive gamified experiences. Purina, it’s a pleasure to have you today.

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Pierina Merino :

Thank you for having me. How are you doing?

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Richard Carthon:

Oh, I’m doing great. You know, we just came off of a busy travel season, going all over the place. AI I know we both were, in the Middle East there for a while in the UAE going to both TOKIN 2049 AI also, going to Outer Edge Riyadh, which, I know you went and attended. Hopefully, you had a a great time. How was that experience?

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Pierina Merino :

Oh, it was amazing. It’s just so fascinated to be a part of, Janney evolving ecosystem. Right? So being able to see firsthand, what the future holds, for, in that territory and and and the hungriness, to to, make it be a living and breathing ecosystem. So, really excited to be a part of it and see it firsthand.

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Richard Carthon:

Absolutely. It it was a really awesome experience. I AI, Flick Kelley had a booth at the event and definitely got a lot of love and people were very curious about everything that was going on. And now everyone listening is to learn a little bit more about all the amazing thing that Flick Kelley has going on. But before we do, let’s AI into you a little bit. You know, you have a really awesome background and, you know, as the CEO and founder of Flick Play, how do you blend your background in design and technology to create this unique platform? And then what, you know, what initially inspired you to dive into this world of digital toys and interactions?

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Pierina Merino :

AI think it’s it’s it’s very much my life, mission to build better human experiences. My career started in architecture. And Kelley early in my journey with flick play, people wouldn’t really understand how architecture really connects into the technology space and the impact that it can have, as we as I I always say that as movie become games and games become something that we don’t NFT, understand what they will be, under understanding subconscious experiences, architects, bring to the buildings that we inhabit every day into the digital realm, was something that I was very intrigued and passionate about, especially when transitioning in my career from architecture to, developing a strategy for premium VR experiences. And and that was just the seed that continue to grow as I start realizing, some of the other consumer trends that we’re achieving how we interact both in the real world AI in with digital experiences.

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Richard Carthon:

Yeah. And I think you’ve done a really great job of taking that passion and encapsulating it into all the things that Flick Play is doing and and being able to come up with some really awesome partnerships. And I wanna start with one that AI, I think, really awesome, which was with, Pickfong, which introduced baby shark’s digital sound digital toys, with which was absolutely incredible to to get that going, which has then led to a domino effect of some other really cool partnerships that we’ll get to in a second. So can you tell us more about this collaboration and what does it bring to all the flick play users?

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Pierina Merino :

Yes. Absolutely. Piphon and specifically Baby Shark was the first I licensed IP that we launched in the ecosystem. And when you think about a character that millions of kids have seen in a screen, in a 2 d format in a screen. And now that character is gets to be part of their everyday experience, not in the form of a physical toy that do not have interactions, but as a living creature, but now within the context of, their culture, their where they live, and what they do every day, it was a Kelley, exciting activation to bring to AI. And, we’re super excited to see some of the earlier results, from onboarding the community from YouTube into flick play, and now from flick play to some other exciting activations that we will, be launching that will cross between physical and digital.

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Richard Carthon:

Which is really awesome. I I know myself, you know, Baby Shark took off by storm, years ago, and, I have a niece and nephew, and they, of course, both know that song and are very familiar with the ecosystem. But, you know, there’s some really cool types of unique interactive features that, the baby shark digital toys that NFT, the user’s engagement. So what what are those kind of features look like?

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Pierina Merino :

Yes. Totally. So one of them is that oftentimes people confuse digital characters or digital toys with filters, because they’re so acquainting to being able to just click a button and see something pop in their snap camera or Instagram camera. But digital toys on flick play come to fluctuation with a whole new layer of activation. So you’re able to control how the character interacts in the real world. Of there is, I would say, like, a 6 or 10 plus move that come connected to the to the characters so that you’re able to really craft stories, in ways that you haven’t been able to do before. I think I always, bring, or look to contextualize experience as when you play with physical toys. Normally, when you have a toy in your hand, you are crafting a story in your head, and you’re using your hands to shape how that character moves through the real world.

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Pierina Merino :

With flick play, we’re taking things to a whole new level by enabling you to have an idea of the experience that you wanna have and take it out of your head and actually contextualize it in the form of a video. Right? So your creativity gets conveyed into how flick play, as a tool NFT you to bring it to life. And with the Kelley product, the moment that you bring those, memories and moments to life is not only an experience and a moment for yourself, but, AI connecting, I would say, Vein with the broader Baby Shark community. So every story that you share, other communities that love as much as you do the character are able to interact with them, and and you’re able to connect not only with the character, but with a community of fans that is also going through the same experience that you are.

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Richard Carthon:

I think that’s really well said. And one of the interactions that I think is a core component of this is storytelling. So when you think about, people, whether it’s children or whomever that’s playing with some sort of toy, they’re putting together some sort of story, in real time that they are visualizing. And now you’re adding the digital components of bring that story to life both in the physical and digital world. And with that type of storytelling, it’s only makes sense that you’re able to do this next collaboration that I’m excited to to speak more about which is the Bratz partnership which is now live. Bratz obviously is a large brand, has a a physical doll that you can use, but now can begin to tell some of those stories, that people are creating within the community. So, like, what are some of the different experiences that Flick Play users are able to expect, with this Bratz collaboration?

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Pierina Merino :

Yeah. The evolution from Baby Shark to launching, Bratz, was pretty fascinating because on top of the core functionality of storytelling, there were other capabilities that we add to the collection, as participating in weekly raffles or physical toys, which starts activating the core fund base at a completely different level AI from, being able to NFT only a story tell with the characters, but also play with them in an immersive world like the sandbox. Right? So, that each of those capabilities really deepen the connection of fans with the characters, but it also extends the time in which fans engage with their characters in their everyday experience. And as we live in a world that we’re constantly fighting for time and attention and how IP holders are able to stay connected to the DNA and and and Janney experience that their audiences have every day, we become that connecting layer between fans’ everyday experience and the characters that they love and that they actually connect their identity to, especially brats.

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Richard Carthon:

Yeah. AI of that. And, you know, to to speak to some of those different properties and and and cool experiences, you actually have a video that you just dropped, and I think it does a really cool way of, like, showing some of those things. So we’ll, pause real quickly to show that video. And now for a quick word from our sponsor before we dive into the next segment. Are you ready to take your sports predictions to the next level? Look no further than maincard. AI, the fantasy management platform that’s taking the blockchain world by storm. With main Carthon, every card is a ticket to excitement.

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Richard Carthon:

You can predict sport outcomes, trade cards in the marketplace, and challenge opponents in thrilling weekly duels. And don’t wait. Head to maincard.io now and start earning rewards with your NFTs because it pays to be early. And now back to today’s episode. Alright. So, obviously, that was an amazing video. For all those, listening, obviously, they didn’t get the the visual of it. So just a reminder to go over on YouTube, subscribe,

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Pierina Merino :

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. NFT as you see Eathan pro that video was made really to convey their fans experience with the digital dolls. And and what we have been able to of with the Bratz community, it’s pretty fascinating because you’re talking not only about a community that have super fans, of the characters and that they connect with the characters at an identity and NFT at a first person identity level. But you’re also talking with a community that are highly collectors. Right? At some of our users own 60 plus different dolls. The some of them have the full collection of dolls since this section of the brand.

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Pierina Merino :

And and when you start tapping into, well, how do I tell a doll owner that owns 60 plus dolls, that now there is a new type of doll that has a lot of different interactions and that they might feel threatened or that they they might feel that it will compete with their beloved, precious, physical dolls. And what we saw that those these were open questions that we had. How can we, educate them to understand that we are not having one product vertical compete with the other one, but that they are highly complementary to each other. And what you see in the by the way, every video that is in that clip is user generated, meaning that we did not created the videos ourselves. We just AI all the different parts of the video. And when you see how fans are actually merging their stories with their digital dolls and physical dolls, that was our moment because on one side, they could, record their physical doll just showing a face expression, but then they will have the digital talking or reacting to that face expression. So then you start seeing how digital dolls are becoming an amplifier of those expression that those reactions that are in your head but NFT now are seated in a piece of video that gets to tell the story in a much more clear way. And so that has been fascinating to see how the next generation of storytelling will be powered by not only physical or digital products, but the combination of the 2 is being our vision and mission since day 1, but, also, how this new product category becomes a new way of collecting, a new way of engaging with brands at different levels and in different ways.

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Richard Carthon:

I love it because you’re you’re you’re blending so many different eras of of types of people and interactions that they’re having, whether you’re a collector, like you said, that has every single type of of brat, with over 60 plus, or if you’re brand new coming into, the space, getting your 1st brat stall and figuring out how you want to tell a story or or or engage with the community to create this really cool narrative and then see what the rest of the community thinks about it, get that feedback, is amazing. And the fact that that video was all user generated is awesome, right? Like it’s because when you have people that are going and creating the content and getting the vision, it makes other people be creative. I know, personally, when I go and see visuals or and opportunities, it sparks my own creativity and makes me want to go and create my own. Yes. But to create this whole

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Pierina Merino :

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Pierina Merino :

Yes.

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Richard Carthon:

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Pierina Merino :

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Richard Carthon:

so cool. Entrepreneur from from early days.

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Pierina Merino :

I know.

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Richard Carthon:

What is the most

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Pierina Merino :

recent thing

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Richard Carthon:

you’ve purchased?

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Pierina Merino :

Probably, a coffee. Yeah. NFT, sir. A coffee.

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Richard Carthon:

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Pierina Merino :

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Pierina Merino :

Yeah.

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Pierina Merino :

Yeah.

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Richard Carthon:

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Richard Carthon:

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Pierina Merino :

you enjoy life.

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Outro:

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Pierina Merino :

Keep listening.

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