Nivea launches NFT to celebrate “value of touch”

Skincare brand Nivea is entering the world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in partnership with Italian visual artist Clarissa Baldassarri to explore and showcase the value of touch through digital art.

The limited-edition crypto art aims to highlight the value and new insight that touch can bring to the world and will be available free to emphasise the belief that touch should be accessible to all.

Baldassarri, who suffered from temporary visual impairment early on in her career as a painter, created the NFT artwork as part of her exploration of touch and the limits of perception. The NFT was created using a special raised line drawing kit that consists of a stiff board covered with a layer of rubber and a thin plastic sheet. Baldassarri used a metal awl, an instrument traditionally used in the development of Braille texts to create the raised line.

“Human touch is a powerful sense,” said Tobias Collée, global vice president at Nivea in a statement. “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.”

The Nivea NFT will also be minted on Polygon, a blockchain that uses proof-of-stake validation, with low power consumption and is optimised for friendly NFTs.

Nivea is hoping that ‘The Value of Touch’ NFT art will bring attention to the power of human touch, and spark a conversation about how touch can be valuable and powerful. As recent research reveals that 88 percent of people would rank sight as their most important sense, followed by hearing.

‘The Value of Touch’ is part of Nivea’s brand purpose ‘Care for Human Touch to Inspire Togetherness,’ launched in January 2021. Through this project, Nivea supports 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. By 2025, Nivea is pledging to invest 20 million euros in human touch projects globally, with a positive impact on the individual health and well-being of more than 150,000 people.