Nivea launches NFT to celebrate the value of touch through digital art

Skincare brand Nivea has tapped into the world of NFTs (non-fungible token) to bring attention to the "The Value of Touch" with Italian visual artist Clarissa Baldassarri, who suffered from a temporary visual impairment early into her career.

The limited-edition art aims to bring attention to the power of human touch, and spark a conversation about how touch can be valuable and powerful, and will be available to the public for free to emphasise Nivea's belief that touch should be accessible to all.

The brand also hopes to bring value back to the power of touch, noting that 88% of people ranked sight as their most important sense, followed by hearing based on recent research.

Using a special raised line drawing kit comprising of a stiff board covered with a layer of rubber and a thin plastic sheet to create the design, Baldassarri used a metal awl, an instrument traditionally used in the development of Braille texts to create the raised line as part of her exploration of touch and the limits of perception.

"The Value of Touch"  NFT is minted on Polygon, a blockchain that uses proof-of-stake validation with low power consumption to make it more environmentally friendly.

NFT Art Work, Nivea

Clarissa Baldassarri, who is currently living and working in Naples, Italy, said: "My relationship with art is experiential and visceral. My relationship with touch has returned to that of a child, when sight is no longer enough, and to know an object you have to touch it, handle it, risk getting burnt, stung or cut, because otherwise you would never discover it."

Nivea joins the growing lists of beauty brands tapping into the NFT boom, with Estée Lauder’s Clinique and LVMH’s Guerlain among the first to offer digital assets to its consumers. The NFT launch is part of Nivea’s brand purpose 'Care for Human Touch to Inspire Togetherness', which launched in January 2021.

The brand aims to support human touch projects to promote the quality of life for people at risk of loneliness, like babies born preterm, visually impaired individuals, elderly with dementia, and girls in vulnerable situations. Nivea is also pledging to invest €20 million euros in human touch projects globally by 2025, with a positive impact on the individual health and well-being of more than 150,000 people.

Tobias Collée, Global Vice President at Nivea addded in a statement: "Human touch is a powerful sense. It connects us physically and emotionally, to others and to the world around us. We want to support people in their journey to rediscover the world through touch."

Nivea "The Value of Touch" NFT art can be claimed for free at nivea.com/thevalueoftouch.