Sophon: The Web3 Brand That’s Business Model is Vibes
- nick fenn
- Aug 2
- 6 min read
Why Sophon?
Sophon is the new Apple.
Not because of its tech, but it's branding. And while “cool” is subjective, what’s not cool, what we've all been pretending is cool; is the tech.
It feels like Sophon understands that. They’ve made a conscious choice to talk about the tech as little as possible. The gritty details are there for the nerds who want them. For everyone else, they just give vibes.
And that works.
The Aesthetic Is What Hooked Me
What first caught my eye was the merchandise I heard people raving about online. The first post I saw looked like some kind of digital clothing. The kind you’d expect in GTA 6.
But instead of being shown in a typical online store, it was placed in this glitchy nature environment. That ties it into Sophon’s universe and aesthetic.
In other visuals on their website and socials, the vibe feels like early-internet in a way. Picturesque, calming, a bit surreal. Nature doesn’t really look that perfect or clean; but in their world, it does. Maybe because clean is simple.
It reminded me of Severance. Not because it’s eery, but it’s attention to detail and artificial textures. And they own it. They make it look intentional, in doing so, they own that style.
There’s also something about the vibe that subtly signals: “Hey, this is a tech company.” It feels like an old computer background or a scene from a game. And that makes sense, Sophon’s got gaming dApps in their ecosystem. I even played a couple today, with one in true Sophon fashion, is called ((( + ))).
Content That Doesn’t Feel Like Crypto
When Sophon promotes merch, it doesn’t feel like a Web3 project trying to do ‘fun’.
It feels like YouTubers vlogging, but more cinematically. People trying on cool jackets, okay cool, but it’s actually wrapped up in a mini-story.
There’s suspense. Someone picks up a mysterious bag, a phone call. “Hey, the drop is here.” They open it. There’s a jacket. They try it on. And we’re just watching with popcorn.
It’s not about trying to sell the jacket. It’s about creating a feeling. A world. A bit like a music video. It doesn’t explain itself and it doesn’t need to. You either get it or you don’t.
Commitment Over Gimmicks
This is the big one: Sophon actually commits.
A lot of brands say they want to be bold… but they hesitate.
They test an idea once, then go right back to safe content. Or they make something weird, then apologise with a caption. You can tell they’re not confident in it.
I’ve worked in startups where founders wanted to ‘try something different’ but didn’t have the artist in them to fully back their creative risks. And the key point here is, if you don’t do it consistently, it doesn’t stick.
Being creative once doesn’t build identity. It makes a moment. The only reputation you’ve built is ‘The intern needs more oversight’ or ‘maybe they forgot to take their meds today’. So naturally the desired effect fades.
Wendy’s on Facebook is a great example. Their tone is completely unhinged, but it works because it’s every single post. That’s the joke, their tone of voice and their brand. And the commitment is the payoff.
Sophon gets that. They’re consistent. The tone, the visuals, the decisions: everything feels thought through. They’re not ‘trying’ to be different. They just are. That is the brand.
This is why those familiar with Sophon, now associate them with the word ‘aura’. Sophon is vibes first, company second. They’re one of the few brands with soul, you can’t fake that.
What Other Brands Can Learn
If you’re a Web3 project trying to establish your brand, here’s what you can learn from Sophon:
You don’t need to explain everything. You can lean on your visuals to help tell the story.
Commit to a voice and don’t waver.
Be bold, how many crypto projects are out there? Thousands. You need to stand out.
Create content that feels like content. Not ads. Not begging for engagement or users. Not CTAs with rocket emojis.
Treat aesthetic like strategy. It matters more than you think.
Why This Matters for Web3
Now, Sophon isn’t going to solve all of Web3’s problems. But what they might do is spark a shift, a trend toward crypto brands being a bit braver. Less generic. More expressive. More human.
Right now, a lot of B2B partnerships in Web3 use the standard template: two logos on a graphic, “X partners with Y,’ and that’s it.
There’s no effort. No thought. No story. And to be honest, it’s boring and lazy. I want to see us collectively, as an industry raise that bar.
Sophon proves, it doesn’t have to be that way.
In one of their vlogs, they show a meetup. A dinner between their team and what looks like another project’s team. It's filmed beautifully. You see people enjoying themselves, talking, laughing and drinking wine. It’s a proper night out. It's relaxed. It's real. It feels like an actual connection between people; not a business transaction.
Imagine if every partnership announcement looked like that. Not only would it raise the bar, but it would force other brands to step up.
The broken promises of the past few years are starting to show.
We were told Web3 would onboard the next billion users. But the tech wasn’t ready. Solana went down. Onboarding was clunky. Wallets were confusing. The products weren’t sticky. The value proposition wasn’t clear.
Sometimes the tech is great, but the branding sucks. Or the product sounds like something nobody asked for like ‘voicemails, but onchain’.
And the thing is: not everything needs to be onchain. If you're going to build something in Web3, justify it.
Show people why it should exist and why they should care. Because right now, people are investing in things that don’t have utility or innovation.
They’re investing in memes, in vibes, In mindshare.
That's starting to matter more than the product or what problem you’re solving.
So what if we started there instead? What if we said: we don’t need to lead with the tech. We don’t need to shout about us being the most advanced L1. We just need to be the most interesting. The most relevant. The most distinct.
Let the infrastructure partners handle uptime and gas fees. Let the builders build. But treat the branding, the content, the style as holy. The projects people actually remember? They’ve found their voice. Their own style. Their own aesthetic.
And Sophon is doing exactly that.
They're not perfect. I’m keen to see more Dapps in their ecosystem as they grow. But most importantly they’re setting a tone. And maybe… just maybe… others will follow.
If you enjoyed this Web3 brand review - Go follow me on X @voidnick1 or reach out on Telegram @nickfenn10.
You can find me doing other cool + nerdy stuff here: https://linktr.ee/voidnick
Extras:
Maybe adding a layer of curiosity is good for branding. Maybe we should want people wondering what we do, so they ask questions and dive deeper to find the answers themselves.
From researching one of their videos, I learned @lou3ee is the reason why it felt like a film, they’re a cinematographer working at @3e_labs and hats off to them, they smash it.
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