[BIP-840] Fund OpCo Marketing Team (Q3–Q4 2025)

PR with Payload

https://github.com/BalancerMaxis/multisig-ops/pull/2094

Service Provider Name: Balancer OpCo Limited

Leader(s): @0xDanko @Marcus @AliG

Pledge to abide by [BIP-702] Balancer DAO Service Provider & Grantee Standards: Yes

Domains of Operation: Marketing

Introduction

Balancer OpCo Limited (or the “Balancer OpCo”) is a wholly-owned operating subsidiary of the Balancer Foundation. It is an integral element of the Balancer Foundation corporate structure supporting the Balancer DAO. It serves two primary functions (1) Administrative and Operational; and (2) Product Development.

Since the passing of BIP-798, the Balancer Foundation has taken the lead on marketing efforts to ensure strategic aligment with the broader ecosystem. This proposal requests a 6-month budget to fund the Marketing team and campaigns.

Retrospective

Based on our OKR approach presented on the last BIP-798, these are the objectives successfully met:

Objective 1: Maintain essential communications and social media management

Marketing operations and community engagement maintained

• Successfully onboarded a new marketing team member (FTE/contractor).
• Effectively collaborated with the BD team on partner engagement, including onboarding and meetings.
• Created compelling copy for social media (X & Medium) and official communications (X & Discord).
• Successfully engaged and managed artwork design across marketing campaigns.
• Ensured consistent community management and moderation.
• Seamlessly integrated user support, community engagement, moderation, and newsletter responsibilities under the ad hoc marketing team.

Objective 2: Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy

Comprehensive marketing strategy developed

• Derived clear marketing objectives and KPIs from the broader Balancer strategy and roadmap (Ecosystem Council & BLabs).
• Developed and proposed an additional marketing budget allocation with a comprehensive marketing plan presented to the community (this proposal)

Objective 3: Implementation of the marketing plan and transparency

Pending approval of this proposal for budget allocation - see below

Over the past two years, Balancer’s marketing has matured from fragmented efforts into a coordinated, narrative-driven function—thanks in large part to the Beets team. Their most recent work laid strong foundations in community education, ecosystem storytelling, and consistent content delivery.

As Balancer enters a new phase with V3, hooks, and new products, this proposal builds directly on that progress. It shifts the focus toward more campaign-driven execution, higher-touch partner support, and sharper alignment with protocol growth goals—while retaining the learnings, tools, and momentum built so far. The Balancer Foundation builds on the progress made so far—retaining institutional learnings, tools, and playbooks, while retooling for a more execution-focused approach.

The marketing team proposed in this budget is set to execute a clear, focused plan that aligns tightly with Balancer’s product roadmap, ecosystem priorities, and growth strategy. This includes further support for Balancer V3, with deeper storytelling around its innovations (StableSurge, MEV Capture, reCLAMM and others), and increased visibility through events, media, and partner campaigns. A full breakdown of this plan—including content streams, key milestones, and thematic priorities—can be found here.

Proposal: 6-Month Budget for Marketing Team (Q3–Q4 2025)

This budget reflects a 6-month operational window designed to sustain and scale Balancer’s marketing efforts during a critical phase of product and protocol evolution. It is aligned with internal resource planning across different service providers and Balancer Labs, calibrated for high-impact delivery across strategy, execution, and amplification.

The proposed budget covers both:

• Core headcount: A lean, focused team responsible for leading strategy, creating high quality content, executing campaigns, managing design systems, and maintaining brand coherence across touchpoints.

• Strategic program spend: Flexible budget lines for, thought leadership from Balancer, activating earned media, establishing presence at targeted events, producing high-quality brand assets, and distributing content that drives awareness and adoption.

Together, these components are structured to:

• Keep Balancer visible and competitive in a crowded DeFi landscape.

• Support major product rollouts on Balancer V3 and other projects building on Balancer with precision marketing.

• Evolve the protocol’s brand and narrative in a way that resonates with new LPs, partners, and developers.

Total request: $122,500 (USD)

A. Cost Basis Breakdown

1. Headcount – $81,000

To clearly present the contributions of three key individuals (3FTE), detail their specific roles, key achievements with examples, and their collective impact on the budget proposal. Briefly outline the context of their work, including challenges and resources.

Role	6-Month Total (USD)	Function
Senior Marketer	$45,000*	Strategy, PR, event coordination, Partner Management, content creation
Junior Marketer	$18,000	Ops, content scheduling, content creation
Art Director	$18,000	Visual identity, campaign design, content creation

This lean internal team is essential to achieving Balancer’s long-term strategic goals. Their close alignment with product, governance, and ecosystem partners allows for fast, consistent, and high-quality execution across all channels. Keeping this team in-house ensures Balancer can maintain narrative control, respond quickly to market shifts, and build lasting visibility in a highly competitive space.

*Note that 22,500 USDC was already allocated on BIP-798; hence this proposal asks for a smaller allocation of $58,500

2. Program Spend – $64,000

Program	6-Month Total (USD)	Notes
PR (Agency, media outreach, exec PR)	$25,000	External agency, founder placement, media pipeline management
Event Sponsorships	$15,000	Mid-tier DeFi events, merch, branded booths, speaking slots
Brand & Content	$24,000	Polished videos, content series, whitepapers, influencer collabs

B. Objectives and Key Results (OKR) Approach

Program Spend – PR ($25,000)

Purpose: To maintain and amplify Balancer’s presence in external media, strengthen protocol narrative in top-tier publications, and coordinate executive visibility.

Key Deliverables:

• Retainer for PR agency or consultant with crypto-native and mainstream media relationships.
• Proactive media outreach around Balancer V3, upcoming new products and partnerships.
• Executive visibility & coordination: placing core team (e.g. founders, PMs) in relevant podcast interviews, panel discussions, and written profiles.
• Crisis & narrative control: timely responses to industry news, FUD, and ecosystem shifts.

Expected Outcomes:

• ~6–8 earned media placements over 6 months.
• Placement in at least 2–3 industry podcasts or interviews.
• Clear thought leadership presence across high-trust channels like The Defiant, Blockworks, Bankless.

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Program Spend – Event Sponsorships ($15,000)

Purpose: To ensure physical brand presence in key industry moments and enable in-person partner building and user education.

Key Deliverables:

• Sponsorship of select DeFi/crypto conferences (ETHCC, DappCon, etc.).
• Production of branded collateral: banners, merch, pitch decks, etc.
• On location setup costs and logistics coordination. (in partnership with other service providers)
• Speaker slot applications or panel hosting for relevant Balancer topics.

Expected Outcomes:

• Balancer presence at 2–3 events.
• Lead collection and in-person discussions with protocol partners.
• Strengthened alignment with L2s and protocols in the Balancer ecosystem.

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Program Spend – Brand & Content ($24,000)

Purpose: To level up how Balancer communicates—visually, verbally, and strategically—across all content formats.

Key Deliverables:

• Branded videos & explainers (2–3 over 6 months), including product tutorials, video or podcast production and campaign trailers.
• Design & production of Balancer brand uplift & preparation of execution guidelines. Templates for interfacing key growth audiences on different owned channels.
• Informational collabs: Tactical collaborations with crypto-native educators and thought leaders.
• Paid content pilots: Testing promotion on high value news outlets, with tailored special content built for high engagement and conversation across crypto sphere

Expected Outcomes:

• Stronger narrative and visual coherence across channels.
• Improved comprehension and reach of new feature launches.
• Increase in campaign-driven traffic and engagement (benchmarked per launch).

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Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Media & Brand Awareness

• 6–8 earned media placements (e.g. interviews, features, PR mentions)
• 2–3 executive appearances in podcasts or panels.
• 2 campaign-specific media pushes (Balancer V3, reCLAMM etc)
• Presence at 2–3 key events through sponsorship, speaking slots, or branded presence (e.g. ETHCC, DappCon, Devconnect)
• Balancer Brand uplift & template updates. Balancer Brand & Engagement Guidelines preparation.

Content & Comms

• 10+ longform content pieces (Mirror, Medium, partner co-posts)
• 30–40 Twitter threads/posts aligned with major initiatives
• 2–3 branded video explainers or campaign trailers
• Collaborations with crypto-native opinion leaders to build narrative presence.

Ecosystem & Partner Alignment

• 3–5 co-marketing activations with partners (e.g. Aave, Arbitrum, Spectra)
• Support launch of 2 partner projects built on Balancer with bespoke content.
• Positive qualitative feedback from at least 3 ecosystem partners

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Conclusion

The marketing team under the Balancer Foundation will support ecosystem growth, raise awareness of Balancer’s technological edge, and drive adoption of its innovations through consistent and strategic communication.

This budget will cover 2025 and ensure the continuity of essential marketing operations, growth campaigns, and product launches.

Specification

The multisig 0x10A19e7eE7d7F8a52822f6817de8ea18204F2e4f will interact with USDC at 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 by writing transfer, passing 0x3B8910F378034FD6E103Df958863e5c684072693 as recipient and the amount 122500 as 122500000000.