Domains, Branding & Madison Avenue

[lordbyroniv]

How does a company leverage multiple domains so as to increase cash flow?

Assuming there is a company, lets say - Bank of America.

They own bankofamerica.com.

They buy a another domain, lets say loan.com because they make mortgage and business loans available to their customer and it makes sense for them to have a generic in the industry they are in business. Direct Navigation, etc...

Lets say, they want to start a campaign for a niche product, so they buy another domain. Lets say they buy travelcash.com so as to target travellers looking for money. Branded campaign.

My question, how does all these multiple domains HELP or do they DETRACT fro the branding strategy of Bank of America?

Is buying multiple domains really necessary for their endgame?
Why collect the domains?

What Competitive Advantage do they acquire? Is it necessary, and if so, why?

Is Madison Avenue missing out by not buying domains or are domainers off target?

Thanks
Just curious as to others opinions

 

[lordbyroniv]

More and more I think Madison Avenue is going to be very late to this party

Still many opportunities

Tougher to find good domains and costs of entry are higher , but great opportunities abound

 

[Biggie]

More and more I think Madison Avenue is going to be very late to this party

Still many opportunities

Tougher to find good domains and costs of entry are higher , but great opportunities abound

they don't have to spend big bucks on domains necessarily

many big corp will register a 4 or 5 word domain, just for a specific campaign.

this way they can see the direct traffic from the ad which contained that url.


one company who got smart is Sony's movie division

all their movie titles are "sony.com/movie name"
rather than "joethemovie.com"

 

[lordbyroniv]

Yes, Sony is a good example of ways to circumvent buying domains and also reinforcing branding in SONY

But other examples of domains, for consumer goods, services, products, etc... seems to me there is a limited supply of good names for SEO and brand recognition to take hold

I am not only a believer in generics but as equally in descriptive words

 

[dnalias]

question is, relative to a Big Corps branding and marketing campaign at which point does a good domain provide a better ROI?

For example you can sponsor a NASCAR racing team for millions of dollars or you can own motoroil dot you know what. this is just one example.

 

[Gerry]

For example you can sponsor a NASCAR racing team for millions of dollars or you can own motoroil dot you know what. this is just one example.

Odd you would use NASCAR as an example. Naturally only the big boys can jump in this foray of sponsorship. What used to be cheap and drivers and teams having to court sponsors, now the sponsors come after them throwing sponsorship money.

But considering all the Television coverage, the pre-race shows for hours on TV and radio, then the race itself...you are talking about 5-6 hours of continuous exposure and essentially a 5-6 hour commercial.

And studies have shown NASCAR fans to be exceptionally brand loyal.

But your point is not lost. Equal exposure and perhaps for a much reduced price would be strong bold signage in turn 3 or 4 promoting your dot com. Then again, most racetracks have 2 at the most (exception The Challenge in Charlotte) races.

 

[lordbyroniv]

Or you can be a small company with a good domain and spend a little bit of money in the right venue to generate interest

Nascar is a good example - a company with a domain xxxx.com on a racing car could go a long way in a Nascar event to get maximum ad bang for your buck

But motoroil.com is a generic

How about descriptive words as well

Good domain names with proper exposure is powerful advertising

Obviously different people will disagree as to what makes a good domain

Artichoke.com ????

 

[dnalias]

Odd you would use NASCAR as an example. Naturally only the big boys can jump in this foray of sponsorship. What used to be cheap and drivers and teams having to court sponsors, now the sponsors come after them throwing sponsorship money.

But considering all the Television coverage, the pre-race shows for hours on TV and radio, then the race itself...you are talking about 5-6 hours of continuous exposure and essentially a 5-6 hour commercial.

And studies have shown NASCAR fans to be exceptionally brand loyal.

But your point is not lost. Equal exposure and perhaps for a much reduced price would be strong bold signage in turn 3 or 4 promoting your dot com. Then again, most racetracks have 2 at the most (exception The Challenge in Charlotte) races.

you are correct, NASCAR was a bad example.

let's say a mid sized company spends x dollars on print advertising per annum vs. the cost of a good domain name ?

again this is just an example and i'm wondering what other examples people can think off that would justify the cash flow proposition originally posted in this thread.

 

[Gerry]

you are correct, NASCAR was a bad example.

let's say a mid sized company spends x dollars on print advertising per annum vs. the cost of a good domain name ?

again this is just an example and i'm wondering what other examples people can think off that would justify the cash flow proposition originally posted in this thread.

Actually, it was a good example in the sense it is difficult to imagine (here in the states) a more "brandable" branding opportunity.

And it does take some major cash. It has become so huge in fact that Donald Trump and a few other savvy folks are buying up land on lower Staten Island to bring NASCAR to the Big Apple in 2010.

For the smaller or mid size companies wanting to make a presence and awareness, good development and site building with metatags galore and link exchange seems to be a good starting point.

Or to simply offer a product or service that is free where others charge for it. Word of mouth is a tremendous source of exposure. Have something wonderful and unique then the word will get around.

The same goes for poor website design and crappy service. That is word of mouth that will definitely spread like wildfire.

Or you can be a small company with a good domain and spend a little bit of money in the right venue to generate interest

Very well stated and to the point.

But that "good domain" is still a necessity? Or building a brand or a loyal following in a niche specialty.

I have a medical specialty site that through yesterday has achieved 536,256 users for 2007, up from 355,000 in 2006. It is a portal offering free continuing education credits for all medical specialties. The domain name Ceuq.com, says nothing to anyone outside of the medical profession. Yet word of mouth from colleague to colleague has taken this site to a whole new level nationwide. Soon I hope to sell paid sponsorship and job listing as there is a nationwide job shortage crunch in nearly every specialty. Plus, I have fantastic rankings on Yahoo and Google without paying a penny for those rankings.

I own thousands of domain names many for the sake of owning them. I have very few websites.

Ideally I would love websites for each and every one.

But I think the key here is to perhaps start out with a product or service or market you are very familiar with and passionate about. Find a niche, fill a void, offer something no one else is. Know your target audience and demographics.

My site is free to use but offers real value to these folks. The value comes in the form of saving hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars a year having to renew professional licenses which require a certain number of continuing education credits on an annual basis.

 

[lordbyroniv]

Actually, it was a good example in the sense it is difficult to imagine (here in the states) a more "brandable" branding opportunity.


But that "good domain" is still a necessity? Or building a brand or a loyal following in a niche specialty.


But I think the key here is to perhaps start out with a product or service or market you are very familiar with and passionate about. Find a niche, fill a void, offer something no one else is. Know your target audience and demographics.

I am of the opinion that a QUALITY name that has intrinsic BRANDING QUALITY and also SEO Generic Quality so it can get good positioning is invaluable. Descriptive quality .com's that the user can afford to develop or alternatively the user can afford to pay for outside media exposure (radio, televsion, etc) has the potential to generate significant revenue.

Choice of domain as always is key. The right domainnames should work as a significant lead generator that Madison Avenue hasnt quite grasped yet.

The real estate is getting scarcer and scarcer and more and more expensive. And Im not necessarily talking about generics - in fact these MAY be over-priced in some cases where the industry is not broad based.

I would rather own aluminumsiding.com than necklace.com - even though the former has two words as opposed to the latter with one word generic. The descriptive domain in this case is a much broader based industry.

So to answer your question, I do not believe a good domain name is a NECESSARY condition but - if you dont build your marketing plan on a sensible foundation, and choose a domain name that doesnt generate you customers then what are you doing? Surely a good domain is at least a SUFFICIENT condition for success if you are building a web based business (or even a brick and mortar business with a web component). And finally you most certainly better know your niche market when you are developing as a great domain is most probably useless without a good business plan.

Havent we learned anything from the garbage heap of late 1990's history?

 

[Gerry]

The real estate is getting scarcer and scarcer and more and more expensive. And Im not necessarily talking about generics - in fact these MAY be over-priced in some cases where the industry is not broad based.

Not debating the fact that a good domain can be crucial.

But in my case, I was not willing to pay what the price the owner was prostituting CEU.com.

But I have the crucial CEU in my domain.

Proper metatags and making the site SE friendly is paramount.

Anything and any site can be branded and marketed successfully with proper planning and execution.

 

[lordbyroniv]

I hears ya but a good domain goes a loooooooong way

Check naturalbeauty.com that is up to 11k on Namejet right now

Thats an excellent descriptive name to brand and a competitive word combination for SEO

IMHO its a 30k domain minimum

Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely !

Can I afford it? No

 

[lordbyroniv]

From the recent dnjournal article :

"The secondary market for unique, marketable domains has risen greatly and we feel that everyone from corporate executives to brand managers on Madison Avenue are starting to understand the value of a domain name."

TOLD YA

 

[simon johnson]

I've personally worked with a few global companies on this issue. In every case we have used product names, product launch names, product launch slogans and trademarks as domain names names. These are all niche sites for a specific brand or purpose.

Hope this helps.

 

[lordbyroniv]

ya, makes sense