Powerful brands outperform the market (McKinsey) and are more likely chosen by consumers (University of Cologne). Brand managers are seeking for opportunities to strengthen their brands – especially in digital media. How relevant are domain names 35 years after the very first commercial domain name has been registered? More than ever. A domain name is the touch point of your clients to your company, to your products, to your brand!
A dotBRAND is a top-level domain (TLD), using its brand name to the right of the dot. It provides incredible flexibility and empowers customers to connect directly to your brand.
Let us show you 4 brand building opportunities a dotBRAND TLD offers.
➊ Harmonized digital appearance
More than 370 million domains have been registered till end of the second quarter 2020. While country-code domain names were at 160 million registrations, the most registered top-level domain has been .com with almost 150 million registrations. In a saturated market available short and generic domain names are rare. A common nomenclature that underlines the strength of your brand is hard to realize. By owning a dotBRAND, your organization controls the entire name space – and thereby an entire branded corner of the web. This gives you the possibility to run and use any domain name you like.
Instead of dealing with artificial ‘brand-anything-123.com’ domain names you benefit from memorable domain names like ‘product.brand’ or ‘campaign.brand’.
Health care and medical devices company Abbott has gained an harmonized international appearance through .Abbott. Besides for local subsidiaries (www.fr.abbott or www.es.abbott) the dotBRAND TLD is also used for microsites like www.diagnostics.abbott or www.betterhealth.abbott
❷ A dotBRAND reflects innovation
In contrast to domain names, you cannot just register a Top-Level-Domain and use it. You have to apply during certain windows of opportunity. There has been just one yet – in the history of the internet. 563 of the major global brands did apply and companies like Apple, Microsoft or BMW are benefiting from their own dotBRAND top-level-domains now.
We see unique and innovative uses cases, like www.betterask.erni – the main website of a Swiss Software Engineering company or the supportive campaign of the new James Bond movie of one of the top sponsors DHL: www.notimetodie.dhl
❸ Central brand management
The pure number of more than 2400 ICANN accredited -so called- Registrars and even more Resellers simplify the process of registering a domain name – at any place of the world at any time.
As a brand this can be a challenge, as you might not have full control over every registration. It may end in domain names that do not follow a common nomenclature or branding strategy.
A dotBRAND can just be registered through a single registrar and thus you keep full control of the registrations.
❹ Consumer trust
The number of phishing websites or fake shops has tripled within the last two years, according to the Google transparency report. The difference between a faked and a company’s website is melting and so is the visitors trust.
By owning a dotBRAND and its secure space, which can just be controlled by you, you add more security and trust to your digital communication.
Saint Gobain Weber, the manufacturer of industrial mortar, utilizes its .Weber TLD for all its subsidiaries, like www.uk.weber or www.fr.weber. Another great example is Bugatti. For displaying just authorized partners the website www.partner.bugatti is used. Easy, memorable and trustworthy.
It’s only THE brand if it ends in .brand!
Florian Nahnsen
Senior Consultant dotBRAND
LEMARIT offers a one-stop-shopping experience for companies that want to apply for a dotBRAND. Following a pre-application check, LEMARIT guides through the full application process, provides an own ICANN approved Germany based Backend Registry and supports companies to find the best methods of using a dotBRAND in real life. Once established LEMARIT is your partner developing, maintaining and managing a dotBRAND.
