T H E W H I T E P A P E R

THE WORLD’S LARGEST BRANDING REVOLUTION STARTS JANUARY 2012

When market domination via name identity is most desirous, here is an authoritative analysis on the global complexities of corporate nomenclature that are creating new challenges for global cyber name branding

This document outlines why on January 12th 2012, since the inception of ecommerce, the biggest revolutionary changes which are about to take place to the global domain name system. What is ICANN’s new gTLD platform all about? Why is market domination via name identity the new game changer? Why are mass customer acquisition platforms the new frontiers? Why will global cyber branding only work within globally workable business names. Why will the largest majority of current business names simply not work on the new platforms? Prepared for senior executives in non-technical language this document is critical for business expansion and for the image and name identity centric teams.

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The World’s Largest Branding Revolution Starts January 2012

While the largest majority of businesses around the world are still asleep a monstrous tidal wave approaches the corporate brand name identity management poised to shakedown old marketing structures and morphs them into intricate global cyber-modules, something like never seen before since the inception of the internet.

A very tiny portion of the corporate sector is actively engaged in this debate while a thin layer of zealots are combatively entangled with the violent opposition tabled by the associations of the advertising associations the world. Who is right or wrong is no longer the issue as the domain name expansion is already a rapid expansion path. Here are the key facts.

On June 20th 2011, ICANN, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers, created a global shockwave in Singapore, where a thousand delegates witnessed a long awaited gTLD program released, creating new types of domain names with unlimited potential. The application fee per name starts at USD $185,000 plus another $500,000 to integrate. Still, this investment is no more than what a large single highway signage costs over a ten-year lease. This one is more about thousands of such luminous cyber structures over high-density, information highways.

January 2012, ICANN starts accepting applications over the next three months. This small window is only open to accept about 500-1500 applications and will remain shuttered for next few years. Come May 2012 some all those 500-2500 anticipated applications will go online. The transparent process of approval will begin. The world of global cyber name branding will reach to upper stratosphere and the year 2012 will start changing the old marketing games forever.

What are the key dramatic changes to domain name system due to the new gTLD program?

Option One: Dot brandingDoors are open to create cyber-name-identities like ‘tax.deloitte’, ‘john.canon’ ‘hr.ibm’ or ‘rio.hilton.’ But unlike the early domain name game this one is ultra classy and surely a sophisticated maneuver. Why these features are so important to national and global marketing requires some in-depth study. When correctly applied, a gTLD is a highly suitable device to catapult a name identity into a global stratosphere; such achievements in the past took decades of prolonged advertising costs to achieve any significant global status.

Option Two: Destination brandingA destination gTLD like dot-London would automatically create thousands of sub brands like, hotel.London, taxi.London, work.London or shop.London. Each of these sub brands could be sold or rented out to highest bidders. Also thousands of standalone local brands would wish to become a sub brand under the city’s master gTLD like Maxxi.London, Digitech.London, Microlink.London or Cooper.London such brands will enjoy the benefit of being part of a larger .London brand hierarchy and find this domain an easier way to remember.

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Option Three: Generic brandingThe most dynamic and volatile parts of the gTLD are the generic names. Who will finally be the owner of mighty vertical brands like .milk, .rice, .loan, .home, .food, .car or .phone and how much would they be willing to spend in bidding wars in order to achieve such market dominating name identities? Especially, when such gTLD ownership immediately creates worldwide sub branding opportunities to be fitted under a single generic brand and create successful money trees. Once this new game is properly understood, it certainly allows the creation of 'billion dollar domain babies' where superpower naming ideas become billion-dollar intellectual properties for their holders.

The Fear Factor: The Global Ad Agencies The unison attack by the world’s most powerful groups of agencies against ICANN’s new gTLD domain name program must not be taken lightly. After all, these global bodies represent the real persuaders of emotions.

They influence our taste, habits and behavior, like mix of cereal, length of the skirts, width of ties all the way to commercials and reality shows that teach us how to role play in cubicles or dance at weddings. They are the advertisers, public relationists, market researchers and logo-slogan centric magicians. They have successfully taught us commercialization and modernism, always showed us brighter and colorful ways but currently in throws with reckless hyper-consumerism going through some depressive tumultuous times.

What do they not see in ICANN’s new gTLD domain name system, and what are these nostalgic Mad Men so afraid of? Is it really that fear factor? The gTLD issues over years have percolated broiled and roasted around the world in huge open public grilling. Why now so suddenly the spring of opposition demanding regime change at best?

In Support of OppositionSome of the panic buttons for top established brands and their agencies are the eruption of “name fortifications.” For example, a Telco acquires “dot cell,” “dot mobile,” “dot call” etc. and fortifies their current brand while creating a barrage of digital campaigns against a particular well-established name brand.

In the right hands, a gTLD is surely a game changer. Imagine the colorful maze where hundreds of mega brands create their own “brand new stars” and set the stage where galaxies start to collide. Sure, this may happen as it did when the first domain names were introduced. Old established brands were pulled out along with the roots. So many sectors got changed or wiped out overnight while far too many blossomed. As a global cyber-name brand marketing weapon, a gTLD can provide very powerful action.

The other issue is for holders of “mega-dot-com-brands” about the emergence of “better and sharper dot brand names” with wider capability to expand on “customer touch points.” Truly, what will happen if Expedia.com, ETrade.com, Travelocity.com or eBay.com were confronted with a better dot brand name with more magic that directly threatened their base while replicating profusely with unlimited sub-name-brands around the world?

ICANN took years to build this program but only allocated few months for the advertisers to sort all this out. But on the other hand, what if agencies were asked 20 years ago to accept the domain name? The fear factor would be equally immense as early domain names too crushed the very old and most cherished models.

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The domain names rapidly evolved all by themselves without any advertising campaign and quickly engulfed the world without mercy. Although they changed the landscape but overall created wonders for the world at large, the magic is still unfolding every second as we live in a digitally mobile and interconnected world.

Irrespective it makes a great topic for the boardrooms as Jan. 12, 2012, comes closer. On this date ICANN will accept applications of proposed names from around the world? The global race is on and we need to explore the key issues.

A gTLD is primarily a powerful cyber branding class act for larger brands skating on regional or global landscape. The more you digitally compress a traditional campaign, the more its brand name identity becomes fluid and rises on the global cyber-branding stage, reducing dependency on traditional advertising support.

Remember a time when in order to make an impact a synchronized series of a hundred full page newspaper ads was needed around the world on the same day? This now can be achieved instantly, repeated endlessly and all for a fraction of cost.

Imagine if thousands of big brands acquired new gTLDs and their hyper-name identity expansion was all domain-name-management-driven while fees were directed to ICANN, domain name registries, registrars, Google AdWords, SEOs, etc. What special role would be left for the ad agencies to play in this space?

A study from ABC Namebank already points to some 18,700 organizations worldwide that may directly profit from the gTLD platform whereby tens of billions in new revenue may get directed to domain services sectors. Would agencies be sidelined or become new owners of domain registrars to have their power play?

The Advanced Name GameThe winners and losers of the gTLD application will ultimately be determined by true powers of the proposed names. Some very established name brands, regional or global, may not qualify. When you start to accept “one Internet, one world” a new thinking of “one name, one owner” towards market domination via name identity appears to be very desirous.

Logo-slogan-centric hammering at every branding exercise at most agencies precludes them from tackling the global corporate nomenclature complexities. According to their mandate, name identities are never the ultimate drivers of image positioning, but logos and slogans are.

It worked wonders during the last century. There is nothing so complicated about this topic as its simplicity resides in the volumes of pages of major international trade directories, where identical and similar names sit in tight columns. Is this the reason for senior marketer and brand pushers to be quiet on the gTLD naming issues, while their associations are parading paper-maché monsters and chanting about cyber-squatting?

This century, the digital compression on global cyber-branding is forcing the name identity to do all the heavy lifting, and gTLD could further accentuate that power.

The new gTLD approach is a logical and rightful nomenclature evolution towards global cyber-name branding expansions. This subject of corporate nomenclature at this level of global naming complexity is neither taught at world’s leading universities nor discussed in top MBA courses. AARM research shows that less than 2% of marketing executives have any idea about gTLD and would not be able to articulate the subject in any way without a formal study.

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Wired Hub of HorrorAmong the developed nations, fears of one Internet, one world is slowly growing; where some 3 billion online users would create a round-the-clock global pulse of opinion, more powerful than any single nation could withstand.

The gTLD now shakes the tree by pushing the global cyber nomenclature issues to the top of the agenda. The flowering of AdWords marketing has pointed out that we are simply driven by name identities. The search engine model has divided the global corporate nomenclature into good workable and expandable names or duds.

What does this all mean to brand owners and creative services? Can brand holders adjust fast? Are they ready to accept the 3-billion-person online universe?

Can they recognize the ultimate goal of “one name one owner” as currently enjoyed by less 1% brand name owners of the world? Will they now acknowledge the hidden cost saving powers of the Five Star Standard of Naming? Will they become just good spectators or emerge as real game changers? Will name evaluation be the next big hush-hush term in the boardrooms?

Only those organizations that can boldly face the obvious and hidden strengths and weaknesses of their current names can truly cope with future in light of the new global cyber-name complexities. The fear factors created by half-knowledge are just part of the learning process while the successful image of name brands all over the world in the future will be increasingly and primarily driven by the power of their name.

This point alone is contentious enough to demand an open high level debate.

If Dotcom is a Pyramid Then ICANN’s new gTLD Dot Brand is a RootA typical domain name is a “pyramid”: for example, under www.ibm.com, the entire universe of IBM is parked. Their history, products and services, management, global offices, investment, shareholders, stock-related information, human resource, public relations, community services, staffing and hundreds of other items all nicely arranged like a pyramid. There is only one domain name www.ibm.com and it belongs to IBM. Great, so, what’s so special about it, as millions of other companies are doing the same thing? Hold this thought for a minute.

The ICANN’s gTLD brand is a “root”: now say IBM acquires this new gTLD “.ibm” and it selectively creates a series of sub-domain cyber brands: mainframe.ibm, cloud.ibm, delhi.ibm, hr.ibm, or shares.ibm. The variations are endless and as a global player, they could offer geo-socio-cyber-contact-sub-domain-connections all over the world. As a root, the gTLD name brand grows into a tree with branches and provides a more flexible and user-friendly setup. Only IBM would have this no one else and only they will decide how many sub-domain extensions will be created in the world. No one else.

If mass customer acquisitions and out reaching cyber customer touch are the next challenges for the ever-expanding universe of online users, then such Roots play a far more advanced game then the traditional single domain name stacked up with contents like a pyramid.

The management has two options: either just keep the pyramid and keep adding to its solo structure, or start thinking about the free flow growth of a root into many different branches to strategically interlink or uplink and become a large tree. In either case performance will be dramatically different.

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The subject gets even more complex for global entities when there are too many sub-divisions within too many sub-brands, each with splintered name identity already polluting the market place and that’s where proper rules have be applied to harmonize corporate nomenclature.

The naysayers all over the world are already blasting ICANN over this gTLD program, but their fears have more to do with lack of understanding and readily available skills to adjust to this global shift towards large-scale cyber identity management.

Qualifying FactorsFirstly, the centrality of corporate nomenclature - as without a perfect name solution there cannot be a winnable proposed name application. Secondly, according to a soon-to-be-released study by ABC Namebank, 97.4% business names cannot pass the gTLD test for being too long or too many words (eg Transcontinental Logistical Support & Services, 20th Century Fox, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Bang & Olufsen, ConocoPhillips, PriceWaterhouseCoopers) or too difficult to pronounce or spell (eg Axciomner, Acczess, Multiplexerion) or too diluted and in serious trademark conflicts (eg National, United, Gulf, Western, Eastern or General).

All this forces immediate action upon organizations, either to have a perfect naming strategy and join the game or simply back off and watch the race as a spectator.

Who Will Give Birth to the gTLDs First Billion-Dollar Domain Baby?How can an organization assess practicality, profitability and competitive advantage and related options before the prescribed deadline? Once properly understood, the new gTLDs will certainly allow the creation of "billion dollar domain babies," with superpower naming ideas becoming billion-dollar intellectual properties for their holders. This will be an amazing game to play and to watch.

The gTLD knowledge hierarchy When all you have is a hammer, everything appears to be a nail. The gTLDs are not just about trademark filing and battle posturing for cyber-squatting. They are about the potential to create unusual global intellectual properties offering multiple opportunities for rapid image expansion and -- most importantly -- the achievement of market domination via name identity.

The ICANN gTLDs are also not just about mass domain name registrations. Rather, they are about massive customer acquisition and the creation of intricate layers of customer access.

Most of the current debate is focused on the grind of one of the single key aspects, while ignoring all the other interlaced facets -- what's missing is the reflective shine and brilliance of the idea. An interdisciplinary approach to all gTLD matters is a must. Early cinema provides a good example: It incorporated dozens of diverse and seemingly unrelated issues, which led to the eruption of a full-fledged industry.

The integrated approach to gTLD is the fastest way to get the boardroom's attention. Otherwise, the discussion can become splintered, with fragments of ideas scattered in separate departments -- from technology to legal to domain name registration to webmasters.

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The Direct Impact on Big and Small Businesses:

How businesses should appoint an Internal Leadership Team to tackle all name-identity issues on an organized basis towards 2012 and beyond.

For big businesses, it would be imperative to create layers of protection and to acquire a deeper understanding of how to cope with these new and emerging trends.

For middle-sized and regional businesses, it opens highly cost-effective global opportunities to reposition, re-name, and re-brand their entire operations as new opportunity.

Any company at the grassroots marketing and business development level must evaluate all of its name brands and identities to answer the following key questions.

What are the hotspots whereby slight change in spelling, alpha structure, the meaning and the shade of a name identity could seriously be jeopardized?

What are the competitive forces in the marketplace that are already attacking a brand name identity and how can they harness new powers to further intensify their attack?

What are the brand new opportunities that could be brought into play as an extension or protection layer to the current brand identity?

What are complete and brand new concepts that could be created around existing name brands to support and expand sales?

What are the most sophisticated name expansion structures that will provide a global scale leadership for any new or existing name brand identity?

If evaluated names have been found weak and damaged, what positive options are available to them with this new global policy?

The Last Century Branding & The New Millennium NamingThe last century business naming concepts were based on one of the following models, as names were casually picked based on a family name, a geographically based name, a pure descriptive or a dictionary word, or created name, a name based on some initials or acronyms or some numbers. This approach provided great shelters and umbrellas for business identities all the way to beyond the industrial revolution.

In the last quarter of the last century the explosion of small business and e-commerce, made it impossible to for new and old business to find the distinction especially in expanding global and e-commerce markets. The dotcom creation further fueled the race but also brought huge respectability to this old notion of naming over coffee-time-chit-chat-naming into very formal and global scale naming tasks.

Today, only those organization that have reviewed, analyzed and have made solid commitment and adjustments to their global naming strategies are equipped and fit enough to run this race, as the rest and he largest number of business are under the dead weight of a seriously dysfunctional name identity.

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Major Key Points

A gTLD with the right name-identity combination offers the following: The fastest way to create hyper-visibility and global presence;The most intricate device for attracting massive customer acquisition;The game changer from the old school of traditional marketing and branding.

A gTLD offers corporate management opportunities to energize marketing:Fast-track evaluations of current name portfolios to determine long-term action plans;Realignment of naming architectures to accommodate too many or too few identities; Reassessment of current name ownership strategies in light of this new age frontier.

A gTLD process has hidden naming challenges in the program:How to differentiate power and evaluate a proposed name (example .car .auto .motor);How to select a winning combination (.locomoto, automoto, .udrive, idrive, .ucar mycar);How to price and sub-brand domain naming architecture for a winning master candidate.

A gTLD race will create spectacular opportunity or catastrophic failure:Any gTLD application without a highly appropriate proposed name will fail;Any gTLD without a strategic branding and global image expansion model will fail;Any gTLD without a wide usage sub-brand creation methodology will fail;Any gTLD misrepresenting sub-brand name evaluation will fail;Any gTLD without commanding knowledge of global corporate nomenclature will fail.

If we place the entire gTLD process in a hierarchy, the base would consist of all the big picture concepts and specific ideas. The middle part would be where all the procedures of application, funding, financial modeling and legally guided long-term application processes reside. On the very pointed top of the pyramid would be the proposed name, with full consensus and analysis. Without its absolute winning certainty, the entire exercise would simply be futile, and the pyramid would collapse.

How much for that ICANN gTLD? Is $185,000 the right price for a single gTLD? No, it’s definitely not. If a gTLD is supposed to provide worldwide exclusive use of a name identity with unlimited sub-name-brand-extension-domains, this amount is insufficient for ICANN to add on critical features in the same application process. A gTLD is like buying a powerful car engine, and being given a list of body makers, mechanics and tire shops for optional fitting.

This is just how it was before the revolutionary assembly lines of Model T, now a century later we are again at the unassembled gTLD production lines, while cyber highways await the grand race of those magnificent folks and their high flying name identities.

The $185,000 price tag is very modest. Looking from the end-user’s point of view, current global advertising expenditures run well over USD $500 billion annually worldwide. There are far too many organizations spending tens of millions monthly in keeping their main name identity visible. ICANN could have easily offered a full blown million dollar ‘hassle-free turn-key global cyber name identity solution’ package with all the streamlined functionality support so necessary to this new frontier. Instead, it is fragmented into different areas where overly-protective disciplines seem to prevent this new mechanism from becoming fully mobile. A rush application based on a grand and novel idea with a snazzy name could backfire.

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On the other side, the brilliance of the technical and legal minds so often become entangled in their own hardwiring of the left and the right types of brains. The concepts and discussions are either marketing driven or techno-legal jargon while crisscross confusion and protective arenas only create trepidation among real decision makers. The law firms and domain registries are posturing for power to fill the vacuum but their disconnections to marketability are too obvious. The domainers have already earned their stripes on the easy-come-almost-free domain names but on this marathon they are boldly working and there will be spectacular successes and some catastrophic failures. Most importantly ICANN is releasing the updated New TLD Applicant Guidebook with a new website and soon to launch its advertising campaign.

Undoubtedly, the markets are seeking bold leadership with clarity and comprehensive understanding. The big question is will all these special skills intertwine to complete the circle, or obscure the goal by creating more smoke?

Old domain name mentalities see the $185,000 cost very expensive as the equivalent to buying 18,000 domains. The neo-cyber branding model sees this as no different to the cost of a bubbly TV ad commercial that gets pulled within days for some politically incorrect message. There are all kinds of other routine mega expenditures like running a dozen full page ads in cities around the world to make an impact for a single day or a logo-slogan-branding remake exercise, but not to forget the frequently allocated million dollar budgets to fight out losing trademark battles over mediocre names. For now a gTLD ownership offers the cheapest and fastest tool to create global cyber name identity domination in the marketplace.

Power Play of Name Evaluation There was a time, when businesses names were simply picked out of a hat, literally, and at times very successfully. Later, the complexity of the marketplace boosted the name lists to such huge quantities that they had to use larger drums, truly. This is how most business names came about, and on that note, there are hundreds of articles relating to their grand successes and mega failures. Today’s biggest question of image expansion is not how and where you got your name from, but rather if it is still producing orchestrated music by ringing cash registers or making choking noises. Let’s be honest, is your name identity shooting straight like an arrow or is it a dead horse being dragged by creative teams? Here are some answers.

The rapid invention of global cyber branding, social and mobile media compounded by new gTLD platforms from ICANN has made the ‘name evaluation report’ the most powerful play of rational argument during any image expansion strategy in any organization in the world.

To name a few trends, the most common challenge is when the combination of two words compressed into a single name shoots an entirely different meaning and no longer projects the original double barrel theme. When several words are forced into creating one highly condensed telescoped name, this only creates a monstrosity only understood by its creators but not the public at large. Management stays convinced of combining words into one while the customer has no idea of the creative force behind and sees the oddity through an entirely different lens. If your name is emulating multiple perceptions it will also cut your sales and profits in equal multiples.

Organizations are also simply not aware that an extra letter added or chopped off from their name may have already shifted the force of the desired message into some unknown confused meaning and turning customers off.

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Organizations only see their name identity always surrounded by a full blown graphic package. But in reality, most names came across naked and stripped of all the fancy dressage, they pop-up either in conversations or on the internet where they look and sound very different in the rhythm of the language and so often lose their desired meaning and perceptions.

Higher costs of customer acquisition are forcing businesses to discover both the obvious and the hidden messages in styles and mixed personalities embedded in the alpha-structures of their names. After all when a name is supposed to act as an important umbrella it must clearly project, attract and sell, otherwise names become the destroyer of good projects. Start ups, always use up most of their initial funding in an aggressive launch but get shocked when their name identity fails to connect with potential buyers.

When an international mandate erupts into foreign sounding names, by desire or by accident, depending on the markets and goals the name expansion so often becomes a major embarrassment. Organizations, using single or dozens of names must streamline their portfolio based on sound analysis. Are there too few or too many names, are they helping or destroying each other’s turf?

Name Evaluation BenefitsIf business expansion and image visibility is your goal than you have be very bold to face the real name evaluation. As a name evaluation report will answer what secret messages of love, hate or profanity is your name identity emulating? Therefore, always drive your campaigns based on the true profile and with full awareness of hidden meanings of your name. Or else, your campaigns are a shot in the dark.

You obviously started out by selecting the best name with the best intentions and it may have worked wonders in the past, but with intense shifting trends, the best of the best names lose their power. Meanings are washed aside by new perceptions, new values and trends under the impact of new technologies. Without a solid name identity, you have no real brand. Without a far reaching cyber-presence you may be out of e-commerce dynamics. Without absolute 100% name ownership, you are not in the image building game on a grand scale. You must attempt to have all such uncertainties fully resolved.

List all the names currently in use and measure all the direct and indirect marketing and adverting costs as you begin an internal audit to address your naming architecture. Open a bold discussion and seek out non-biased professional name evaluation with authoritative analysis and solid recommendations. Do not confuse this with a typical

Re-branding exercise as this one is all about the black and white issues of global corporate nomenclature and not the logos and graphics. Advertising and branding services can introduce such name evaluation reports to their clients and energize their image strategy based on factual and third party evaluations. The more the clients know about their name problems the more they would be open to embrace changes on the corporate image front.

These power play name evaluation reports clarify lingering opinions or emotionally charged colloquial expressions stemming from historical attachments. These issues often prohibit the corporate culture from constructive and logical discussion about the core of the naming problems and their impact on image expansion plans. After all name evaluation report places the teams on the right track and provides that high level rational required for solid decisions therefore the sooner you know the real truth behind your business names the better.

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Will The Dotcom Kingdom Collapse?Once ICANN approves the new super-powered gTLD domain names, what will happen to the some 100 million strong dotcom domain name kingdom? Will the new gTLDs and their massive sub-domain traffic of unlimited brand extensions create global cyber identity chaos? Will global trademark wars erupt on several legal fronts? Will cyber-squatting hit the fan? Relax no such things.

Surely, the sudden influx of 1000 new powerful gTLDs will create the biggest buzz, as overnight hyper-visibility and marketing coups of various old and new brands will steal the show. Currently, a regular dotcom costs USD $10, but this new gTLD about USD $500,000 each. However the markets will face some serious questions about this new style of hyper-cyber-branding poised for global market domination.

After all, the new gTLDs are never supposed to be for everyone, as they can only be custom fitted to very special type of business ventures with very specific features and combinations. On the other hand, the fanfare of massive influx gTLDs will further infuse renewed interest in global cyber branding expansion, enticing new ventures, putting higher demands for regular domain registrations. The dotcom kingdom will shine even more. The drama of gTLD approval will unfold making front page stories around famous and unknown name identities incubated to their overnight meteoric successes showcasing their smart strategies; equally some failures will also provide disastrous experiences and separate the winners and losers.

The other primal fear of dotcoms losing their power is based on the structural differences between the two types of domain names. Current $10 dollar domain like Sony.com is a suffix-based name, while a $500,000 GTLD, is a suffix-less, domain root like dotSony. No need to worry as the global markets will learn very quickly as they did in differentiating the @ symbol for email and the .com as a suffix of a URL.

A good educational campaign from ICANN is anticipated to educate the global audience. How and why the usability of this new type domain will bring revolutionary powers to a brand, huge savings of costs and image expansion time, while changing the future of the internet requires a very special knowledge.

Nevertheless, the gTLD game is sophisticated and requires a strong qualified team to play. Branding industry and trademark professionals, over and above their special craft should consider acquiring world-class nomenclature skills, to manage name usability, suitability and marketability issues with deeper understanding of global naming in order to have any authoritative say in this competitive arena.

The Trademark Tremble Why so much fear is being created against the gTLD in the name of protecting global trademark owners? Say, if ICANN, somehow, allowed a third party a gTLD called .panasonic, will the sky fall? No, not at all, as Panasonic, the true and rightful trademark holder will hit the unauthorized gTLD with a club and no judge would oppose issuing a cease-and-desist order.

So are there enough empty headed candidates to apply for such globally recognized and protected names? No, why would someone spend USD $500,000 and months to get such a name approved? The problem is not here, it is on the other side of the trademark spectrum where weak and deadbeat trademarks based on diluted names, but protected in narrow classification in search of a global presence are clashing with each other all over the world.

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When ICANN issues a third party a gTLD ‘dot united’, will all of the 113,647 existing large and small businesses worldwide using ‘united’ name panic? No they cannot. Exclusive global ownership of the word ‘united’ was never their cup of tea in the first place. It was always ‘disclaimed’ in each and every one’s trademark application for being a dictionary word.

They knew all along that there are over 100,000 identical names floating in the market place; United Airlines, United Bank, United Church, United Way, United Trust, United Bakeries, United Taxis, United Trucks, and United Logistics. Why will they hit the ceiling in rage now? They will not. Coy they will be, and embarrassed as they are, aware of the high dilution of their name they will stay mum. They will simply protect their own basic turf, under their specific classifications of trademark ‘wares’, they simply cannot declare war and stop anyone using the name ‘united’.

This is how the majority of the business names are. Open any trade directory in any city and the proof is right there. Somehow, the senior management always buries the name-weakness issues under the rug and keeps pushing the brand name even if it means losing its exclusive ownership in the long run. So long you can open a hotdog stand in the lobby of United Airlines, called United Doggies, as United Airlines has no exclusive ownership to the name ‘united’ like ironclad exclusive marks Rolex, Panasonic or Sony, diluted names are becoming a joke and a total waste of branding budgets.

So of the 100 thousand major businesses using United, who will end up owning dot-United gTLD and what will the other 99% do for their long term image expansion on the global front poses some very serious questions. The answer may not be forthcoming as the management of these organization were always convinced that they have been the true ‘united’ name brand leaders, whether they exclusively own the name or not.

Currently, 94% businesses around the world have such dysfunctional names and their branding agencies and law firms both have some serious responsibilities and challenges to find them the right strategies.

Showrooms Not GaragesIf ICANN creates a gTLD garage, agencies should create cyber showrooms. ICANN, rightfully from its inception, is a very superior technical organization, surrounded by teams of highly intelligent people working on the long-term integrity of the Internet. Like a real high-tech garage full of engineers and mechanics designing high speed luxury cars, they are rolling out the great new gTLD program.

But what the image brokers and ad agencies now need are not garages but rather showrooms, where prospective customers could comfortably see the finished models, smell the interiors and take the cyber vehicles for the test drive. But there are two serious lingering questions, first, how to approach it with all the special prerequisite necessary to articulate such topics and what to recommend with solid and proven strategies to complete the full circle and close the deals.

It’s all about this colossal shift of the old methods of branding and marketing communication to globally accessible, instantly scalable and almost free digital medium where the domination of globally workable world-class cyber name identities provide the spearhead and hyper-visibility. To play the modern games of massive new customer acquisition, it’s about, eat-sleep-work-local & think-market-play-global. Unfortunately 99% businesses names are not capable to expand globally. This creates a major opportunity to educate the corporate leadership on this new global reality and bring in positive changes.

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Therefore, as a starter the global corporate landscape urgently needs professional Name Evaluation Reports to professionally lay out senior level discussion contents and openly tackle the name identity issues. What better way for branding agencies to bring in a massive re-organization of the corporate nomenclature on a grand scale and start helping clients with new vigor and power, and assist them professionally with right world-class tools to win the next layers of global wars of image and name identity domination?

ICANN-gTLD: a name game not for everyoneThe gTLD name game is not for anyone. However, organizations or individuals with right concepts, winnable name identity and very healthy turnover must quickly decide and evaluate whether they should enter into this sophisticated space or just adopt a defensive posture. They must have the desire to lead with solid value propositions and equally posses the stamina to create and own globally workable powerful name brand identities? This game is not for children, it will be a mistake to apply the commonly used worldwide branding practices of purchasing $10 domain, $20 website, $30 logo and $40 for slogan and viola, start a big blitz all in less than 24 hours. This game requires stamina and is about creating marketing weapons and creating nomenclature hierarchies supporting sub-brand architecture to work like a money tree.

Why would someone invest? Simple, the motivation will be to declare cyber image warfare and achieve market domination. So what should corporate teams learn about this new armory? Why this is so different from the current $10 domain name?

These big questions need some deeper understanding of global naming architecture to identify correct naming opportunities and advance knowledge on what types of names will work and what will fail? Who will lead and who will follow? What will be the new hyper speed procedures of creating global brands and what type of names will out smart on sub-name-brand architecture in down the road expansion?

The surprise will hit the fan when a spectacular story breaks and occupies all the available market share space of opportunity in no time. This is how old brands were washed out overnight in the first phase of e-commerce. In the 90s, the first generation of early domain names provided cutting- edge weaponry that changed the global landscape forever, creating thousands of new brands and crushing old monikers, permanently altering advertising and branding platforms. This gTLD system is the next big surge.

The Prerequisites of Name Centricity & EvaluationTo ensure a winning strategy to a proposed gTLD idea with a crowning name identity the following are the prerequisites. This particular global game specifically demands name centricity and facing up to the harsh realities of proposed name evaluation. All this stretched under with full legal review, intricacies of registry services, and with continued demands on corporate nomenclature to deliver successful sub-branding architecture to allow growth to mature into a money tree. This global name-centric strategy is a real game changer and it will surely create spectacular successes and possibly some catastrophic failure

When applying on the dot-brand scene, great names like Google, Sony, Panasonic, Rolex, Microsoft or CNN will be straight forward wins. But names like United, National, Star, Total, Union, Monster, Metro or General will have serious problems. So will be the very long, descriptive or multiple part names. For the applicants of generic gTLD applications like dot-bank, dot-casino, there will be too much competition while some other hidden gems may have great sub-branding architecture potentials.

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Destinations brands will be the safest but their complex sub-branding would require solid policies to avoid creating internal dilution among its sub-name-extension holders. The pricing of any sub-brands will be directly reflective of their marketable exclusivity and real profitability. A complete program of gTLD to turn into a full grown money tree must have solid branches and good distribution to create shade and comfort.

Typically, on the dot-brand front, when a name’s alpha structure is too weak to be distinct, diluted with hundreds identical or similar names, it becomes incapable to withstand the global scrutiny and as such hangs in limbo, it just co-exist, it can neither enforce its rights nor stop others to use the same name. Tens of millions of big businesses around the world have names in limbo, where they feel stuck in the historic pride of their own name and its odd struggle and often do not have unlimited budgets to declare all out trademark wars. Most names in use today are often not qualified enough to be trademarked on any serious global plan. A quick review of any global trade directory in any industry sector will provide a glaring proof of massive duplication. Good name identities have nothing to fear while diluted and poorly structured names should not complain about gTLD but rather conduct internal name evaluation reviews and boldly explore burden of confusion in the market place and figure out long term winning solutions.

Harvesting a gTLD Money TreeOnce, a unique idea with right name identity has been decided, the challenge will be how to create, nurture and grow with highly pragmatic and successful sub-name brand-hierarchy so the master gTLD root takes a shape of tree with strong branches and gets ready to blossom with successful layers of multiple sub-brands into a money-tree?

The prime challenge is to get the attention of the CEO on the image positioning and marketability side of the organization along with tactical suitability of the name, and workability of the process. The presentations have to tailor for the image dependant and expansion hungry side of the organization. The justification of the big initial costs for the entire challenge must ease out as logical process toward long term marketing advantage.

A gTLD is not just a domain name technology and sub-name registration but rather a long term marketing weapon creating distinct competitive advantage. Authoritative analysis of corporate nomenclature and commanding knowledge of the image expansion knowledge are essential. The process must be seamless, firstly the final resolution of the proposed name identity, fully supported by expert and authoritative analysis , the legal issues of trademarks and application processing with sub- branding contractual issues backed by a legal team and finally, the registry and technical solutions backed by a registry team.

These final name consensus building processes, though fully cognizant of the global registrability issues are far more focused on corporate nomenclature and marketing branding grey areas apart from pure application of trademark laws and black and white registrability issues. Depending on the corporate culture, type and size of organization, style of gTLD application this proposed name consensus is the most delicate and intricate part of the entire application process.

Furthermore, today’s biggest question proposed name application is not how and where a name comes from, but rather if it is still capable producing orchestrated music by ringing cash registers for all parties or will it choke and gasp.

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In the extensively crowded global markets a name identity must shoot straight like an arrow and not end up like a dead horse to be dragged by creative teams? Such soft issues have to be sorted out way before a name is even tested for global registrability or inscribed on an application with a $500,000 dollar draft. Therefore, a professional name evaluation process is the most powerful prerequisite for any rational arguments during preplanning a gTLD strategy for any organization in the world.

When an established organization is told that there most cherished, new or old name, under exposed or heavily advertised will not work on this global platform due to serious and some hidden limitations the shock waves and tsunamis will pour out of the boardrooms.

The thunder would ignore the fact that only less than 1% of names of the big organizations around the world are fit enough to pass the acid test of global suitability and registrability. But it raises two interesting points, firstly, if the goal is to expand the business so why the organization is being suffocated under a dysfunctional name identity and secondly now the gTLD challenge offers a serious and logical opportunity to fix it under a long term master plan.

There are far too many other naming issues, but here to name a few trends, the most common challenge is when the combination of two words compressed into a single name shoots an entirely different meaning and no longer projects the original double barrel theme. When several words are forced into creating one highly condensed telescoped name, this only creates a monstrosity only understood by its creators but not the public at large. Management stays convinced of combining words into one while the customer has no idea of the creative force behind and sees the oddity through an entirely different lens. If a name is emulating multiple perceptions it will also cut sales and profits in equal multiples.

Organizations are also simply not aware that an extra letter added or chopped off from their name to accommodate some trademark conflicts may have already shifted the force of the desired message into some unknown confused meaning and turning customers off.

To Change or Not to Change for gTLDOrganizations never believe that there are dozens or thousands of other identical names, they justify their purity and sanctity in every possible ways, at times blame their own trademark agent for not doing a proper job and refuse to face the truth. For this reason alone there are some hundred plus specific names that are being commonly used by some one hundred million businesses all over the world. Names like United, General, Star, National, etc.

The other largest group falls into geographic, descriptive, dictionary based and surnames. Some of these businesses are the oldest and largest in their place of origin, but pure name branding disaster on the global scene. Therefore the big question is if the ecommerce world is stretching perpetually outbound then the corporate leadership has to quickly decide why they are letting their old names choke their expansion. This name evaluation process ultimately will be a very positive wake-up call to most organizations.

There are other subtle naming issues. Organizations only see their name identity always surrounded by a full blown graphic package. But in reality, most names came across naked and stripped of all the fancy dressage, they pop-up either in conversations or on the internet where they look and sound very different in the rhythm of the language and so often lose their desired meaning and perceptions. The gTLD application program is purely based on naming issues and not graphic variations.

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Higher costs of customer acquisition are forcing businesses to discover both the obvious and the hidden messages in styles and mixed personalities embedded in the alpha-structures of their names. After all when a name is supposed to act as an important umbrella it must clearly project, attract and sell, otherwise names become the destroyer of good projects. Start ups, always use up most of their initial funding in an aggressive launch but get shocked when their name identity fails to connect with potential buyers.

Also when an international mandate erupts into foreign sounding names, by desire or by accident, depending on the markets and goals the name expansion so often becomes a major embarrassment. Organizations, using single or dozens of names must streamline their portfolio based on sound analysis. Are there too few or too many names, are they helping or destroying each other’s turf?

Old Brands & New gTLD Challenges All organizations obviously started out by selecting the best name with the best intentions and it may have worked wonders in the past, but with intense shifting trends, the best of the best names lose their power. Meanings are washed aside by new perceptions, new values and trends under the impact of new technologies.

The process also calls of listing all of the names currently in use and measure all the direct and indirect marketing and adverting costs as you begin an internal audit to address your naming architecture. Open a bold discussion and seek out non-biased professional name evaluation with authoritative analysis and solid recommendations. Do not confuse this with a typical re-branding exercise as this one is all about the black and white issues of global corporate nomenclature and not the logos and graphics.

Advertising and branding services can introduce such name evaluation reports to their clients and energize their image strategy based on factual and third party evaluations. The more the clients know about their name problems the more they would be open to embrace changes on the corporate image front.

These power play name evaluation reports clarify lingering opinions or emotionally charged colloquial expressions stemming from historical attachments. These issues often prohibit the corporate culture from constructive and logical discussion about the core of the naming problems and their impact on image expansion plans. After all name evaluation report places the teams on the right track and provides that high level rational required for solid decisions therefore the sooner you know the real truth behind your business names the better.

Will Google Search Replace Domain Names?The growing notion among big ad agencies and marketers that as search engine finds the answers instantly so there is no real need to enter a ‘specific domain name’ in the browser and therefore domain names are far less important. They are absolutely right. Why would you type www.rolex.com, just enter ‘Rolex’ or ‘Panasonic’ and you are there before you blink.

But where they are seriously wrong is when you enter something like ‘National Trust’ ‘Premier Traders’ or ‘United Manufacturing’ as uncontrollable citations will gush out from all corners of the world. This debate originates from a serious lack of understanding of corporate nomenclature; usability of a name in relation to ‘precise-search-ability’ v/s ‘open-search-ability’.

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Often corporations mistakenly believe that their name is the only one ‘one powerful name identity’ Example, The United Manufacturing & Distribution Chicago Limited is convinced that they are the ‘United Manufacturing’ while the customer refer to them as UMDC to avoid a long descriptive name, and often they are called UMDC Chicago to differentiate from other city locations in Atlanta and Baltimore, their domain is www.unitedmfgdistributionchicago.com, as ‘united manufacturing’ was already gone, their stock symbol is UNMAD. Now try to find them on the ecommerce, as every name combination buries them in thousands of citations. Across the world among the established business communities such clusters of multiple names are a common scenario. Often none of these names show up on the top of a search page. After all a very miniscule number of businesses in the world have a single globally workable distinct and name identity?

To bifurcate the topic, the role of search engine is to throw the big net and the specific role of distinct domain name is to come to surface for a quick catch and the big question is that the specific role of the domain name is to come on the top no matter how it is accessed.

If businesses around the world are already spending USD 400 billion annually to keep their name identities afloat so why the largest majority of names still lost in the fathom. Google’s algorithms and Ad words trawl. Good names pop up and work with ad words and other pay per click models. The rest stay at the bottom. Let’s examine the three types of searching.

First, someone enters ‘footwear’. Thousands of citations pop-up nicely stacked to choose from, in this type of search, advanced knowledge of a domain name was not required. Second, someone enters a specific name of a footwear brand, like, ‘Moda Shoes’, ‘Quality footwear’, ‘Footsie,’ ‘Star’ or ‘Babe’. Thousands of citations pop up and further sub searches may eventually provide that sought after answer. Lastly, one enters Nike, Reebok, Adidas or Bata and the right site pops up instantly. There is nothing wrong in any of the above search procedures, they all work, but the last one is most desirable from the marketing and image expansion point of view. The bigger question is why this obvious hindrance to sales is not corrected immediately. Who are the real beneficiaries of these lingering name disfunctionalities?

Now back to the argument. The owners with confusing and diluted origins resort to be discovered by random guesswork searching and prefer a search engine approach. This group is often find refuge under the scrambled SEO options and prays for direct hits. This group always wants to justify that Google is a better way to randomly check then to type specific URL in the browser. True without search engines and SEO they would be literally doomed. The facts remain despite such heavy costs of customer acquisition dysfunctional names still constitute the largest majority.

The new ICANN’s gTLD program of global cyber name identities is neither for diluted, conflicting or dysfunctional names, nor for names that are not worthy of such expensive and exclusively undertakings. However, the spotlight has now shifted to ‘naming’ and hard core corporate nomenclature issues. The big question of today is if at the end of any major branding if there isn’t a distinctively exclusive and memorable name capable to withstand global scrutiny, why such branding projects haven’t been erased yet? Is there any link between continuous higher burn rate on duplicated and generic type name brands which never make it to the top?

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Using the search engine as nets, rightfully, they work wonders, like big huge drift nets and bottom trawlers they overflow the decks, but when you are looking for a special guppy fish distinctively called ‘Nemo’ the game gets sophisticated for all parties; the search engines, the searchers and the ‘searchees’. In conclusion, Google search will not replace domain names and the winners and losers of the name game will become more easily identifiable creating a wider divide among winners and losers.

The Five Star Standard of Naming www.fivestarstandard.com

If you have a super brand, then let the whole world see it. If you think that you have an exclusive and absolute 100% Ownership to that brand name identity, then you must prove it. Today, 99% of some of the most advertised and intensely promoted name brands cannot.

Names like Rolex, Sony, Panasonic or PlayStation can. Such brand names are exclusively and absolutely 100% owned by their respective corporations, giving them global respect and an undisputed understanding of their ownership to customers all over the world, resulting in global power and a Five Star Standard Status.

Is your brand name identity worthy to be exclusively owned by you or is it already being shared by hundreds of others?

Achieving the Five Star Standard of Naming

A star is awarded for each YES answer:

FIRST STAR: Is your name easy and simple? YES - NO

SECOND STAR: Is your name one-of-a-kind? YES - NO

THIRD STAR: Is your name highly related to your business activity? YES - NO

FOURTH STAR: Is your name globally protectable? YES - NO

FIFTH STAR: Is your name with a matching and identical dotcom? YES - NO

THE STAR RANKINGS: how many stars did your name identity get?

FIVE STARS: The brand name holds a winning combination, and is fully capable of traveling around the world without hassle, and consequently owns a bright future. Such Five Star name identities cost very little in promotion as they attract customers based on their shine and personality, therefore promoting themselves with unparalleled personality and dynamic appeal. All super successful brands around the globe have attained Five Star Status.

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FOUR STARS:The identity is somewhat solid, yet still lacking in some critical area. A deficiency of any of the five key components makes the name very difficult to push. Costs will always increase and sales may be low.

THREE STARS:The name identity is injured; excessive adverting is constantly needed to keep the name alive, marketing messages keep changing and overly-exaggerated graphic support is required to cover up the missing components. The name appears bandaged in an attempt to keep it upright.

TWO STARS:The name-identity is seriously damaged; all the efforts are uphill battle. Sales are difficult, recognition is never achieved and limitations are constantly hurting the name identity.

ONE STAR:The name-identity has been exhausted and is simply dying; no amount of advertising will protect it or make it a big brand. Customers have little respect for the brand, while the markets and competition become increasingly aware, rendering your brand in a vulnerable position. It will either fade away as a forgotten identity or be overtaken by more dynamic identities.

Can you now measure the progress of your high maintenance name brands? After all, brand name identity development so often confused with logos and graphics is strictly a black-and-white exercise that demands a commanding knowledge of the subject of nomenclature.

The Five Star Standard is the real acid test; denials will only prolong the agony.

The Five Star Standard of Naming was originally created and developed by ABC Namebank two decades ago, and has been written about in various publications over the last decade. There are many other proven methods and proprietary techniques that ABC Namebank applies to name branding projects to ensure an absolute and clear 100% ownership of the name identity in the global marketplace for its clients. Market domination via name identity is the ultimate branding front.

The Next move:There are three serious questions for boardrooms today; firstly, if the current name is clearly not available for global use then why is the corporation still struggling in creating global presence all this time? Secondly at what point will the corporation bite the bullet and make a decision to solve this most critical issue?

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TACTICAL TRAINING & ORIENTATION OFFERED BY AARM www.aarm.org

For CEOs and senior management, tactically advanced or intermediate level companywide orientation modules are ready to deliver a deeper understanding of the issues and to prepare internal teams on how to cope and stay ahead of the curve. Such sessions are a must for strategic marketing, brand and advertising budgeting and immediate corporate planning teams. There are many different types of modules formatted for in-house sessions, webinars or video-conference modules.

The National & Global Implications of Cyber Name Branding 2012What are the specific tactical options available for your organization at this stage?What are your name evaluation hot buttons for national or global cyber name branding?What are the key steps to get your name identity ahead of your competitors on fast track basis?What are the new platforms for mass-customer-acquisition?What are the Top Ten Steps to market domination via name identity? What will it take to get your internal teams ready to articulate on these new platforms?

Additional Strategic Themes & Topics for Scalable Agenda

Name identity positioning in hyper-accelerated mobile e-commerce

The new real powers of cyber-name-branding

How to capture super hot new global gTLD domain name assets

Why are you already overspending?

How to create an image savvy culture?

Which portion of marketing & advertising budget is wasted?

How new image does attracts new capital?

What is the true ownership of your brand?

Can your name identity face up to the Five Star Standard?

How to turn brand equity into cash?

How to measure if your corporate team is ready?

Contact us for details on customized agendas and global availability:

Robert StaceyPresidentAARM416 561 6841robertstacey@aarm.orgwww.aarm.org

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THE LEADERSHIP

Naseem JavedWidely recognized as a world authority on image positioning and name identities, Naseem has created brand identities that today, reach a combined annual turnover of $40 Billion per annum.

He founded ABC Namebank International some 30 years ago. Where he led teams on various issues of branding and image identities for clients like IBM, Texaco, Honeywell, Bell Canada, KPMG, Bell South, RBH, GENTRA, CENTERPOST, OMNI-TV, Royal Bank, Sasktel, Johnson & Johnson, Air Canada, Radio Shack, General Motors, Merck, BBDO, Petro Canada, Rogers, and COMPORIUM

He has led the teams and personally created the brand identities of TELUS, CELESTICA, GENNUM, INTRIA, OMNI-TV, VINCOR, TRANZUM, EPCOR, INTEQNA, KEYBASE, PRIMECODE, DUPLIUM, POLLARA, VISATRONIX, ACRODEX and ZARLINK and many more.

He introduced “the Laws of Corporate Naming” in the 80’s and also founded ABC Namebank in Toronto and in New York, some 30 years ago. Author of “Naming for Power” his cutting-edge research on developing powerful iconic name and corporate image identities with global cyber-branding image for e-commerce is published around the globe regularly.

Naseem is a powerful Keynote speaker and has been invited to speak at over 100 of the world’s top conferences, and has been profiled in hundreds of articles around the world. He has also appeared on hundreds of Radio and TV programs, circumnavigated the globe many times and brings an extremely rich international flavor to his work. Naseem has personally created global name identities which, when combined, receive a turnover of $40 billion USD per annum.

Naseem offers guidance and leadership in understanding the current global landscape and communicates ideas that will have direct impact on your growth and expansion strategies. Over the years, Naseem has extensively circumnavigated the globe focusing his energies on emerging markets. He has continuously identified new trends, which are regularly published in major newspapers of the region. He is up to date with many aspects for innovative opportunities in “a new world market” which offers great possibilities for all kinds of national, regional or international expanding businesses.

www.abcnamebank.com

www.naseemjaved.com

nj@njabc.com

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