Asia's rise helps drive logos into shade
By Naseem Javed
Forget the bricks and mortar for a minute, and just dream of owning a universal
domain name identity in cyberspace, along the likes of priceline.com, food.com,
creditcards.com or cheapflights.com, as such identities are valued in tens of
millions and continue to double in price every year.
The entire domain name industry has advanced to a more mature level, which now
fully recognizes the value of having a generic globally recognizable domain
identity as a true cyber-real-estate asset. But the name game in this current
race must be played
under the correct laws, as most of these assets sometimes simply evaporate into
thin air.
For global and serious regional players, it is important to have universal name
identities based on professional corporate nomenclature and laws for global
navigation. Time is running out, as new emerging players from all over Asia are
capturing the space at a frantic pace, poised to become global entities and
this will make name identities even more important.
The value of owning an a useful name is soaring. Business.com was originally
sold for US$150,000; what was once considered outrageous soon became banal. The
name later sold for $7.5 million, and was resold for $350 million in 2007.
Fund.com has sold for $9.9 million, AsSeenOnTv.com was sold for $5.1 million,
Altavista.com for $3.3 million, Express.com for $1.8 million, Wallstreet.com
for $1 million, Creditcards.com for $2.75 million, Pizza.com for $2.5 million,
Sex.com for $12 million, Porn.com, for $9.5 million and so on. As you read
this, all over the globe, big and small similar auction deals are being
consummated every hour.
A powerhouse name on universal cyber space is a sure bet to get the customer's
attention. Spending millions on promoting a deadbeat name the old-fashioned way
is like dragging a dead horse. Instead, why not acquire a name that shoots
straight into the spotlight like an arrow?
This way, the premium price would cover lingering costs, as the old-fashioned
branding processes are now being replaced by the linguistic forces that drive
names to extraordinary heights, on top of search engines, resulting in massive
hits, quick success and instant stardom.
There are also many not-so-promoted mega failures, as the game is often played
on creative impulses with little or no knowledge of cyber nomenclature or
global domain management systems. Most victims become trapped for failing to
assess their project through a name evaluation report. The real challenge is
not to acquire the most expensive and most bizarre name, but rather to
recognize how that name will appear to global customers at large, and how the
name-positioning game will be played, and under what laws.
Whimsical, intuitive and creative concepts often become dead on arrival.
Prudence is in getting a solid name evaluation before the launch, and not
after.
All over the corporate world, there has been a sudden realization that it's
only the name that can be referred to, talked about, typed, scribbled, chatted
and sung about. Logos remain elementary, and they have become irrelevant
branding tools.
The current cyber-real-estate domain assets lack long-term trademark
protection, as many similar variations of names can easily be created, causing
confusion within cyberspace. Food.com can be varied along the lines of
Food.net, Food.tv, or region-specific suffixes such as Food.asia, food.in or
food.jp. There are 5,000 possible permutations that can be derived from a
single word alone. On the other hand, a name such as Sony is truly one of a
kind, alongside its matching Sony.com domain name, making its name alone a
billion-dollar asset. There are many other great billion-dollar value names.
The question is how to own one.
Today, most businesses seem to have some serious disconnection between their
old identity and their cyber-presence, and now the battlefield is forcing the
logo-based branding shops to scratch their heads and start thinking.
The cyber platform, which has crushed the bulky print medium and shrunk large
TVs into handheld devices, has made domain name identities a sure-powerhouse
issue. No brand identity will survive without being a frontline champion of the
mobile society, and this has created a serious shortage of good names
worldwide. Simply put, when it comes to such universally accepted and
recognized cyber-real-estate assets the question is; you have it or you don't;
you're either in the game or out. It's that simple.
Naseem Javed is an authority on global image positioning and global brand
name identities. He founded ABC Namebank
in Toronto and New York some 30 years ago.
Head
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