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THE WHITE PAPER DEDICATED TO DOTBRAND
Seven years ago, brands were presented with a new opportunity to increase their online reach with the New Generic TLDs Program (New gTLDs) launched by ICANN in 2012. The traditional .COM or .FR extensions could now give way to brand-specific extensions that can be fully customised by corporate entities, called BrandTLDs or CorpTLDs. This was a major and unprecedented innovation for a brand’s digital presence.
There is still a certain amount of scepticism, however, with regard to this new market and many companies have still not fully grasped the change. Yet this development is a great boon for brands, a real opportunity to present a modern edge and to stand out from the crowd: BrandTLDs are a key component of the digital marketing toolkit. And as we gear up for a new round of applications expected in 2022 (or later), the need for brands to embrace this change as an opportunity would seem paramount.
SafeBrands has fully understood this and provides support to brands from the very first stage in the process of acquiring their own extension. This has been the case for .TOTAL and .SFR, to name just two. These past years of experience and dedication to brands and their TLDs has persuaded us of the need to publish a white paper entirely devoted to this topic.
The purpose of this paper is to assist clients in their understanding of this new virtual world of unlimited opportunity. Intended for companies that are still reluctant to act and for those wanting to get started or delve deeper in this great adventure, this paper aims to enlighten and to aid conscious decision-making in the adoption of their digital strategy.
WANT YOUR OWN .BRAND ? SAFEBRANDS AT YOUR SERVICE
Although nothing is set in stone, ICANN is likely to open a new phase of applications at the end of 2018. This time, we expect that most applications will come from businesses wishing to secure their .trademarks, rather than ‘pure plays’ with generic TLD projects.
SafeBrands gained a great deal of experience during phase one by managing a range of cases including .total, .sfr. .aquarelle, .mutuelle and even .bostik. As a result, we are able to help businesses think strategically about how they can best secure their .trademarks. These cases may take time to implement, especially if they form part of a comprehensive naming policy which involves senior management.
SAFEBRANDS SERVICES FOR YOUR .BRAND CREATION
SafeBrands manages the set-up and monitoring of your TLD, in compliance with ICANN rules:
- Strategic thinking: Introduction to procedures, analysis of opportunities, marketing and legal advice, action plan.
- Implementation: Drafting of a launch plan, preparing a list of reserved or premium words, implementing registrar accreditation procedures and allocation of domain names.
- Day-to-day monitoring: Reports showing the proper maintenance of the TLD (ICANN obligation), maintaining compliance with the various specifications, registrar accreditation, and monitoring of zone file sharing.
- Emergency management: 24/7 out-of-hours service, responses to requests and complaints from ICANN or third parties by our specially-trained team.
- Advice and information: Monitoring ICANN rules, adaptation of strategy, managing press and industry relations.
Our comprehensive services provide you with a range of expert domain name knowledge and specializations. We also offer high-quality legal, technical and administrative know-how that can only be gained through experience.
