This Cardano Marketing Budget Proposal, developed by the Growth and Marketing Committee (GMC), is a comprehensive plan to enhance Cardano’s global presence, community engagement, and ecosystem growth in 2025. This proposal is organized into 10 workstreams. This proposal is submitted for approval by the Cardano community's Delegated Representatives (DReps) and is structured to support the blockchain's transition to decentralized governance while positioning it competitively among Web3 leaders.

The proposal utilizes a number of data sources for its estimates and comprises ten Workstreams, each with a distinct focus, description, and budget allocation. The GMC suggests that DReps retain a Marketing Program Manager (MPM) to oversee vendor performance, with regular reporting to ensure transparency. In summary, the proposal seeks to transform Cardano's marketing into a strategic, community-aligned effort, enhancing its brand, empowering its ecosystem, and supporting governance evolution.

Workstream 1: Program Administration, Reporting & ROI

The goal of this Workstream is to provide accountability and oversight of the Vendor Partners and other parties responsible for delivering the 2025 Marketing Program.

The MPM(s) will be responsible for:

• Developing KPIs and a regular reporting structure with Vendor Partners.

• Defining the MPM(s)’ reporting structure to the DReps.

• Producing an Annual Report on the 2025 Cardano Marketing Program’s performance for the DReps and Cardano Community with recommendations to improve future programs. Alongside wider ecosystem health metrics, the report can include metrics such as: Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI), Creative Campaign Performance, Channel Performance, Audience Scoring and Program Attribution.

• Dashboards and quarterly reviews will be needed next year

Workstream 2: Market Research, Testing & Strategic Planning

The goal of this Workstream budget is to ensure Cardano’s 2025 Marketing Program follows best practices and is guided by facts - rather than solely relying on the subjective recommendations of the DReps, GMC, MPM(s) and Vendor Partners.

This Workstream budget would be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) with experience developing high-quality Market Research for projects in the Web3 industry. The Vendor Partner(s) will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the RFP(s) and providing ongoing performance reporting to the MPM(s).

Workstream 3: Global Brand Strategy & Creative Campaign

The goal of this Workstream is to develop the above deliverables to improve the performance and effectiveness of all Cardano Marketing Initiatives across global, regional and local levels in 2025 (and in some cases, for years to come).

This Workstream budget will be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) with experience developing Global Brand Strategy, Global Creative Asset Catalogues and Global Creative Campaigns in the Web3 industry. The Vendor Partner(s) will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the RFP(s) and providing ongoing reports on program performance to the MPM(s).

Workstream 4: Marketing Community Grants Program

The goal of the Workstream is to improve the marketing efforts of Cardano Ecosystem Projects and Community Members by providing direct financial support to those constituents to fund their own marketing or developer education programs.

This Workstream budget will be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) or other parties already in the Cardano orbit with experience executing successful Marketing Grants Programs in the Web3 industry. The Vendor Partner(s), or other parties, will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the RFP(s) and providing reports on program performance to the MPM(s).

Workstream 5: Public Relations, reputation and thought leadership

The goal of this Workstream is to enhance Cardano’s reputation on global, regional and local levels. The PR program should greatly increase Cardano’s footprint in high-value media outlets by generating consistent story placements, podcast interviews and TV/streaming appearances as well as speaking engagements by Cardano ecosystem spokespeople at high-impact events.

This Workstream budget will be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) with experience delivering Earned Media Relations and Executive Thought Leadership Programs in Web3 industry. The Vendor Partner(s) will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the RFP(s) and providing reports on program performance to the MPM(s).

Workstream 6: Event Management & Marketing

The goal of this Workstream is to create a unified approach to Cardano’s Event Marketing Program to improve its effectiveness across global, regional and local levels.

This Workstream budget will be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) with experience delivering Event Management & Marketing Programs in Web3. The Vendor Partner(s) will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the RFP(s) and providing reports on program performance to the MPM(s).

Cardano presence at key industry events, strategic sponsorships, and community event support and Cardano Summit.

Workstream 7: Product Marketing Planning & GTM

The goal of this Workstream is to uplevel the impact of Cardano's GTM efforts by creating a forward-thinking strategy and communications calendar covering the duration of 2025, which should be thematically consistent with Cardano's global brand. It will evolve GTM efforts from a series of individual and isolated announcements to a more unified and consistent campaign.

This Workstream budget will be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) with experience delivering GTM programs in Web3. In consultation with relevant Intersect committees and key ecosystem players, develop and execute targeted GTM strategies for key Cardano advancements, focusing on developers and enterprise adoption. The Vendor Partner(s) will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the Intersect Procurement process) and providing reports on program performance to the MPM(s).

Workstream 8: Social Media

The goal of this Workstream is to create the first unified, global social media program in Cardano history. The program should deliver Cardano’s Brand and Creative Strategy via Organic Social Media Content and Paid Targeting to increase awareness and brand affiliation among target audiences on global, regional and local levels.

This Workstream budget will be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) with experience delivering Social Media programs in Web3. The Vendor Partner(s) will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the RFP(s) and providing reports on program performance to the MPM(s).

Workstream 9: Community Management

The goal of this Workstream is to grow Cardano’s community, increase activity within the ecosystem and produce a new wave of Cardano evangelists to foster a vibrant, engaged global Cardano community, nurturing existing members and onboarding newcomers effectively.

This Workstream Budget will be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) with experience delivering Community Management programs in the Web3 industry. The Vendor Partner(s) will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the RFP(s) and providing reports on program performance to the MPM(s).

Workstream 10: External Education & Long-Form Content

Content could include things like educational videos, case studies, thought leadership pieces, ecosystem updates and interactive learning resources.

The goal of this Workstream is to deepen Cardano’s engagement with audiences who are currently interested in the project and turn them into highly engaged users and evangelists.

This Workstream Budget will be used to contract a Vendor Partner(s) with experience producing Educational and Long-Form Content in the Web3 industry. The Vendor Partner(s) will be responsible for developing ROI benchmarks with the MPM(s), delivering the program elements outlined in the RFP(s) and providing reports on program performance to the MPM(s).

In summary, the proposal aims to transform Cardano’s marketing into a strategic, community-aligned effort, enhancing its brand, empowering its ecosystem to drive growth, and supporting governance evolution. Its benefits—greater visibility, engagement, adoption and usage—target token holders, developers, and the wider community, with ROI tracked via KPIs and industry-standard metrics.

Cardano currently lacks a cohesive, well-funded, and professionally managed marketing strategy to effectively promote its brand, engage its global community, support its ecosystem projects and drive growth in a competitive Web3 landscape. This is evidenced by:

1. Fragmented Marketing Efforts: The absence of a unified global brand strategy, creative campaigns, and coordinated workstreams (e.g., social media, events, PR) limits Cardano's ability to build consistent awareness and reputation across diverse audiences.

2. Underutilized Community Potential: The Cardano community and ecosystem projects have untapped marketing potential due to limited financial support and resources, hindering grassroots engagement and adoption.

3. Competitive Pressure: Leading Web3 projects (e.g., Solana, Binance, Ethereum Foundation) invest significantly in marketing—often benchmarked at ~10% of revenue—while Cardano risks falling behind without a comparable, data-driven budget to maintain its position and influence.

4. Transition to Decentralized Governance: As Cardano shifts to decentralized decision-making, the marketing budget and its execution need structured oversight and flexibility to align with the priorities of DReps (Delegated Representatives) and the broader community. To be most effective, this must support and be supported by an aligned and coherent product roadmap and vision

The proposal addresses these issues by:

• Recommending a comprehensive 2025 Marketing Budget funded by the Cardano Treasury, organized into 9 actionable Workstreams (plus Program Administration).

• Proposing professional oversight through a Marketing Program Management (MPM) function to ensure accountability and milestone/performance reporting.

• Benchmarking the budget against industry standards (Web3 projects and organizations with ~$1B+ revenue) to justify its scale and scope.

• Empowering the community through initiatives like the Marketing Community Grants Program and enhanced communication channels.

• Providing flexibility for DReps to approve, reject, or reallocate funds, ensuring alignment with community goals.

In essence, the proposal aims to solve the problem of Cardano's underdeveloped marketing infrastructure by establishing a robust, strategic, and community-aligned framework to elevate its global presence and ecosystem vitality in 2025.

The GMC marketing proposal aims to provide a structured and transparent approach to planning, executing, and evaluating various marketing efforts. Specifically, the proposal addresses the need for:

• Strategic direction: Ensuring decentralized marketing efforts align with a unified global brand strategy.

• Clear funding recommendations: Determining the necessary funding from the Cardano Treasury for the 2025 Marketing Budget.

• Accountability and oversight: Establish mechanisms for accountability of Vendor Partners and the oversight of the marketing programs through a Marketing Program Manager (MPM).

• Justified budget estimates: Providing budget estimates for each Workstream based on detailed descriptions and industry data.

• Flexible fund allocation: Allowing flexibility in committing funds and the possibility of rolling over uncommitted funds.

• Performance evaluation: Implementing a system for evaluating the performance of Vendor Partners and the overall effectiveness of the marketing initiatives.

• Community engagement: Developing programs to support and enhance the marketing capabilities of the Cardano community and ecosystem projects.

If implemented, the proposal would provide several key benefits to various parts of the Cardano community. These benefits include:

1. Support for Product Roadmap and Go-To-Market (GTM) Success:

• Benefit: The Product Marketing Planning & GTM Workstream will align marketing with Cardano's 2025 product milestones, creating a cohesive strategy to promote key projects and updates.Demonstrated Value/ROI: The $1.5M budget (split between planning and campaigns) could yield outsized returns by boosting adoption of major milestones, measurable through user acquisition rates, transaction volumes, and market sentiment shifts.

2. Enhanced Global Brand Recognition and Reputation:

• Benefit: The development of a unified Global Brand Strategy, Creative Campaigns, and a robust Public Relations program would position Cardano as a leading Web3 project with a consistent and professional identity. This includes increased media presence in high-value outlets, thought leadership opportunities, and a stronger social media footprint.

• Demonstrated Value/ROI: Benchmarking against Web3 peers (e.g., Solana, Uniswap) suggests that a well-executed brand strategy can drive ecosystem adoption and user growth, metrics that could be tracked via KPIs like audience reach, engagement rates, and developer onboarding (as monitored by the Marketing Program Manager).

3. Improved Community Engagement and Empowerment:

• Benefit: Workstreams like the Marketing Community Grants Program, Community Management, and External Education & Long-Form Content would provide direct financial support, resources, and educational tools to community members and ecosystem projects. This fosters grassroots marketing efforts, grows an active user base.

• Demonstrated Value/ROI: The proposal cites the goal of producing "a new wave of Cardano evangelists" and increasing ecosystem adoption. ROI could be measured through metrics like community growth (e.g., Discord/Telegram members), increase in Dreps, active participation in governance, project participation rates, and network usage stats, aligning with industry benchmarks of ~10% revenue reinvested in marketing yielding proportional ecosystem growth.

4. Strategic Event Presence and Ecosystem Activation:

• Benefit: The Event Management & Marketing Workstream would unify Cardano's event strategy, covering the Cardano Summit, regional gatherings, and industry event sponsorships. This increases opportunities for community networking & education, and showcasing ecosystem advancements both within and beyond the core community.

• Focusing on:

• Enterprises: Position Cardano as leader for the enterprise infrastructure segment.

• Builders: Events provide platforms to present projects, attract funding, and collaborate, boosting innovation.

• Developers: new developers onboarding.

• Community Members: Regional and community events foster inclusion and participation, especially in diverse global markets.

• Broader Web3 Audience: Sponsorships at industry events elevate Cardano's profile among competitors and potential partners/contributors.

• Demonstrated Value/ROI: Historical data from Cardano Foundation Events (2022-2024) likely showed measurable outcomes (e.g., attendance, partnerships formed), and the proposal's scale suggests a higher ROI through increased event impact, potentially tracked via attendance numbers, media coverage, and subsequent ecosystem activity.

5. Data-Driven Marketing and Accountability:

• Benefit: The Program Administration, Reporting & ROI Workstream and Market Research, Testing & Strategic Planning Workstream ensure the marketing program is guided by facts, overseen by a Marketing Program Manager (MPM), and evaluated with clear KPIs. This maximizes accountability, minimizes waste and maximizes effectiveness.

• Demonstrated Value/ROI: The proposal references Gartner and Deloitte findings where ~10% of revenue spent on marketing, yields proportional returns in brand equity and revenue growth. For Cardano, with a ~$1B+ revenue profile, this could translate to significant ecosystem value, measurable via Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) and program attribution metrics in the MPM's Annual Report.

6. Demonstrated Value or Return on Investment to the Cardano Community

The proposal's value lies in its potential to transform Cardano's marketing from ad hoc efforts into a strategic, community-aligned investment. Key ROI indicators include:

• Ecosystem Growth: Increased developer activity, dApp usage, and transaction volumes, as seen in Web3 peers like Ethereum and Polygon after marketing investments.

• Brand Equity: Higher awareness and trust, quantifiable via audience scoring, media placements, and social media metrics (e.g., follower growth, engagement).

• Community Activation: More active members and evangelists, tracked through participation in grants, events, and community channels.

• Financial Efficiency: The flexibility to roll over unspent funds and rigorous vendor performance evaluations (Outstanding, Average, Unacceptable) ensure Treasury resources are optimized, preserving ADA's value for future use.

This proposal benchmarks against Web3 leaders and industry standards (e.g., 10% of revenue) for a strong ROI. For Cardano, with a ~$1B+ revenue profile, a proportionate marketing spend could drive $100M+ in ecosystem value annually (assuming linear returns), though actual outcomes depend on execution and market conditions.

For every workstream, milestones will be defined and tracked through Requests for Proposals (RFPs), KPIs, reporting, and performance evaluations. The community will ultimately receive a more structured and transparent approach to planning, executing, and evaluating various marketing efforts. Specific outcomes include enhanced global brand recognition, increased community engagement, strategic event presence, data-driven marketing, and support for product roadmap and go-to-market success.

Initiative Funding (ADA) Funding (USD) Paid in Workstream 1 ₳1M $500K USD Workstream 2 ₳1M $500k USD Workstream 3 ₳3M $1.5M USD Workstream 4 ₳1M $500K USD Workstream 5 ₳1.2M $600K USD Workstream 6 ₳13.3M $6.65M USD Workstream 7 ₳3M $1.5M USD Workstream 8 ₳1M $500K USD Workstream 9 ₳1M $500K USD Workstream 10 ₳1M $500K USD Total Allocation ₳26.500M $13.250M USD

Achieving the deliverables requires 1 MPM overseeing a distributed vendor network, working across 6 to 12 months per Workstream within the 2025 proposal window. Depending on the streams, the durations will vary as per the PDF linked. The exact resources required will need to be fully scoped with vendors. However, the estimated team size and duration for each workstream is ~3-5 staff members, creatives, or marketing professionals as proposed by each vendor.

The present GMC members offer substantial expertise in marketing, communications, campaigns, event management, and community engagement, enabling a strong start to this initiative. The GMC's composition is expected to change through future elections, potentially adding diverse backgrounds and expertise that will enhance its ability to progress the Cardano ecosystem. This flexible structure will keep the GMC aligned with community requirements.

• Expertise and Focus: The GMC is composed of professionals with specific expertise in marketing, communications, campaigns, event management, and community engagement. This focused expertise makes them well-suited to effectively manage and execute the various marketing initiatives outlined in the workstreams.

• Efficiency and Accountability: Delegating authority to the GMC allows for a more streamlined and efficient execution of the marketing plan. The GMC can directly oversee the work, ensuring that it aligns with the overall strategy and that vendors are held accountable for their performance.

• Strategic Implementation: The GMC is responsible for developing the 2025 Cardano Marketing Budget Proposal. Their understanding of the proposal's goals, objectives, and strategies makes them the logical choice for managing its implementation through the workstreams.

• Data-Driven Approach: The proposal emphasizes a data-driven approach to marketing, with a focus on KPIs and ROI. The GMC is equipped to monitor and analyze the performance of each workstream, making data-backed decisions to optimize results.

Governance & Delegated Authority

This proposal requests that the GMC in conjunction with Intersect Operational Services and any selected MPM, be granted delegated authority to manage the entire allocation, as our expertise in governance, accountability, and strategic resource management ensures optimal outcomes for the Cardano ecosystem. Drawing on our extensive background and knowledge of the Cardano ecosystem, the GMC are confident that the various growth and marketing initiatives can be managed and implemented effectively, in accordance with the strategy outlined in the bootstrap committee charter.

The proposal will be maintained and supported after initial development through several mechanisms:

• Achievements of 2025 will be used to enhance the long-term strategy for 2026-2027.

• Accountability and oversight of vendor partners and the marketing programs will be managed by a Marketing Program Manager (MPM).

• Performance evaluations of initiatives and vendors will be conducted.

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be tracked, and regular reporting will be provided per milestones, with a final comprehensive report.

• Recommendations will be made for future contracts and initiatives based on the outcomes.

GMC Bootstrap Committee, Marketing Working Group, https://forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-growth-and-marketing-budget-proposal/143055

The proposal has several key dependencies, both internal and external. Internal dependencies include:

• DRep Approval for GMC to fully oversee and administer this budget.

• Growth & Marketing Committee: staffed at 80+% (minimum 8/10 members) with Community Involvement from vendors and Subject Matter Experts (SME’s)

• Budget Committee direction for uncommitted funds.

• Hiring a competent Marketing Program Manager (MPM).

• Availability and performance of vendor partners.

External dependencies primarily revolve around broader Web3 market conditions and the overall success of Cardano's technological development and adoption.