Why Token Launches Drove Everything (And Why That's Changing)
Understanding the role of TGEs and the shift toward sustainable business models
Understanding web3 marketing over the past decade means understanding the Token Generation Event (TGE).
The prospect of token launches drove the ICO mania, airdrop farming, quest completion, and mercenary behavior that characterized most marketing campaigns. Marketing was optimized for creating hype around a launch event, not for building sustainable businesses.
This trend is evolving. Many teams now exist as real companies, operating without an imminent token launch, and are instead focused on generating revenue, supporting ongoing products, and retaining users beyond a single moment of attention.
As TGEs and airdrops become less central - and as their retention and sustainability limits become clearer - the industry is maturing toward revenue-focused business models.
This shift changes the role marketing is expected to play.
When you're building for sustainable growth rather than a one-time event, the distinction between brand awareness and conversion marketing matters. Marketing spend moves from being a narrative investment to a business decision, and the question becomes not whether attention was generated, but whether it translated into measurable impact.
This is the environment in which performance-oriented thinking becomes necessary.
Not as a replacement for brand or awareness, but as a way to evaluate whether marketing efforts contribute meaningfully to the strategy and bottom line.
For many marketers, this shift is not theoretical. It coincides with a change in responsibility. Campaigns are no longer judged only by visibility or participation, but by whether they justify ongoing spend. What previously worked by default now requires explanation, and intuition alone is no longer enough.
This is the moment where marketing transitions from execution to accountability.