Blogging Tips

A global branding and naming crisis is around the corner with ICANN’s new policies that will dramatically change the global branding scenario. According to the news, ICANN will be accepting applications for exclusive rights to domain suffixes such as .fly, .cola, .ibm, .hotel, .pizza and so on for a non-refundable fee of US$185,000 each, to provide exclusive global ownership to any root suffix.

To put it simply, you as a business, can now acquire exclusive ownership of any root suffix you like. Quite obviously the kind of fee associated with this ownership is not what small to medium businesses can afford to pay, however what small business owners need to be aware is to create a unique name identity which is exclusive and can stand the virtual storm of the domain name and branding crisis to come very soon.

It’s now even more important to acquire a brand name for which you have 100% ownership. Your unique name should possess all the attributes so it could survive the crazy world of e-branding. Players in the domain name industry will acquire every possible generic domain suffix through this policy. If your business name is generic you will be lost in this tide.

Think of names like Sony, Google, Panasonic, Microsoft, they all have 100% ownership of their names, with a matching .com domain name. On the other hand brands made out of dictionary words such as United, National, Eastern, Central, General, orange, red, blue, etcetera will be heavily duplicated and therefore face an uncertain future in this open global bidding. Any major player with a diluted name will need a professional game plan to address these sensitive issues.

The current brands face big challenges now. They need to answer and act upon tough questions regarding their brand, such as, is their current brand name can survive and maintain its unique identity in the years to come? Can they afford to change or modify their business name? If so, what strategies will they adopt to find a name that appeals to wider customer base and is equally passable under the new ICANN policies?

Marketing is getting more global than before. Today, even small businesses can create globally popular brands. While at it, it’s important to lay down iron clad foundations for the brand to survive and thrive in the years to come.