Act 4: Reconstruction While a myriad of new extensions were open for recording, the time was to select .COM, .CM, .OM, .CO or .CAM records? .FR or .FRL? The decision to make registrations in all new extensions of course has a high cost and is no longer necessarily wise. This is also why, some brands have chosen a .BRAND: its own TLD, its own sovereignty, its own management rules! Many brands have opted for this configuration and we can see now the blooming of .BNPPARIBAS, .ALSTOM, .SNCF, .LECLE... Read More
Category: .BRANDS
.BRAND: The importance of the digital strategy, or the McDonald’s case
McDonald’s! The symbol of globalization: from the invention of the express service by the eponymous brothers to its successful franchise by Ray Kroc (I recommend the film ‘The Funder’), McDonald’s is an example of post-war entrepreneurial success. The BigMac, the Filet o’Fish? These are the inventions of franchisees that headquarters have agreed to develop throughout the world. A model of innovation. What about their digital strategy? When Internet arrives and everyone talks ab... Read More
.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer
Act 3: Depression Five years ago, the number of domain name extensions was alright: less than 500. It was still possible to register its trademark and its company’s name in the extension of its choice and to act against fraudulent deposits. Attacks were unusual and you defended yourselves when smart little ones made contentious deposits. Some extensions only accepted subdomains registrations, such as Australia and the United Kingdom. Impossible to save at the root and impossible to regi... Read More
.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer
Act 2: Expression We left off on the time when the brands did not feel the Internet revolution, the techniques evolving and the registered domain names. (Read act 1: Denial (and anger)) The example of McDonald’s is interesting. In 1994, Wired, an American magazine created a year earlier, communicates about the case of mcdonalds.com. Joshua Quittner, a journalist at Newsday, contacted McDonald’s and asked if they would be interested in registering mcdonalds.com. There was litt... Read More
.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer
Act 1: Denial (and Anger) The brand, a forbidden territory. Everything is played out by attacks, complaints, courts. A ruthless world. Since the 23rd of June 1857 and the creation of the first system of trademarks by France, it is possible to benefit from an exclusive right of use for a term on different applications. Otherwise the law is coming. The arrival of the Internet will shake up this foundation. If one remembers the Milka conflict with Kraft foods, which led to the famous oppos... Read More
Schmidt launches its new website in dot brand: Home-design.schmidt
Schmidt is one of the first French brands of kitchens, but also the first kitchen furniture export company in France. Schmidt group has decided to launch its new website in « .brand » (dot brand), .schmidt and thus has joined many big companies which have made this bet, like BNP Paribas (mabanque.bnpparibas), MAIF (voyagepro.maif), Club Med (corporate.clubmed) or the latest, SNCF (oui.sncf). Schmidt chose to regroup its activity under the « home design » designation which describes well its indu... Read More
Why are Dot Brands dragging their feet?
Ok so here’s the thing, we’re over 2 years into the new gTLD rollout now, a new era of the Internet, and everything seems to be going swimmingly…. Or is it? On the face of it, momentum is building. Over 16 million domain names registered in the past 2 years and 60% of them would still have been available under a .com e.g. nameshield.website and its .com equivalent nameshieldwebsite.com. That’s great because it means that New gTLD domain names are being registered instead of the equivalent .com. ... Read More
What has become of the big dreams of the big .BRANDs ?
In 2012, ICANN received 643 applications for restricted use generic Top Level Domains extensions by brand owners. Recently, a surprising proportion of these, so called, .BRAND applications have been withdrawn, often resulting in the loss of the entire application fee ($185,000). Why have these brand owners taken the decision to relinquish control over their very own piece of the Internet infrastructure? Is this a tactical response to a strategic direction or are they simply lacking the ideas an... Read More
