build a brand to grow your business - crystal peterson, .co
TRANSCRIPT
BUILD A BRAND
TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB 2
.CO is…
3 WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
.CO is One of the Fastest Growing Global TLDs in History
2009 2011 2012 2013 2010
August 2009 Concession contract awarded
July 2010 Overstock acquired o.CO
April 2010 95% of Fortune 500 register
July 2010 .CO launched globally - 100K domains first 10 minutes, 300K in first 10 days
February 2011 .CO Super Bowl commercial – 110M viewers
June 2011 Reached 1M
domains
July 2011 Google acquired g.CO
April 2013 Reached
1.5M domains
28K
50K
290K
650K 900K
1.1M
1.5M
March 2010 Twitter acquired t.CO
November 2012 Launched membership program
March 2013 Nine .COs mentioned in TechCrunch in seven consecutive days
2008 Formed company to compete to win .CO contract
Today more than 1.5 million domains registered in 200+ countries & territories worldwide
October 2013 2 .CO’s featured in New York Times Square
It’s All About the Brand
WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
We Asked Ourselves 3 Questions:
1. Who are our major competitors? • .COM, .NET, .ME, .TV, .ORG, .INFO, Facebook, Search…
2. What have our competitors done in the past? • Fought over “shelf-space” at registrars
• Competed over price
• Treated domain names like commodities / utilities
3. How can we change the game and do it better? • Have a better product (-- we do!)
• Build a Global Brand! (--DE-COMMODITIZE!)
WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB 6
Search myhomebusiness.com
TAKEN
.com
TAKEN
.net
TAKEN
.org
TAKEN
.biz
TAKEN
.eu
TAKEN
.info
TAKEN
.us
TAKEN
.me
TAKEN
.mobi
TAKEN
.tv
TAKEN
.co.uk
Available Domain Extensions
.bz
.pro
.tel
.us.com
The Ugly Search for a GOOD Name (both to left and right of the ‘.’)
WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB 7
Our Vision: To be the premier space where innovation and opportunity flourish - the coolest “place to live” online.
7 LESSONS LEARNED While Building Our Brand…
9 WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
Brand Lesson # 1: To Build a Great Brand, You Need a Great Product
More than a Domain. With a .CO you get
more than just a name- perks, benefits, support
& community love!
Short and meaningful. It signifies .COmpany
worldwide
Strong SEO. Endorsement by Matt
Cutts from Google
Real brands, real sites. trademark friendly
policies and premium pricing ensure no
domain ghetto
It’s available. Provides new and fresh
inventory of domain names
Brand Lesson # 2: (While You Need a Great Product) - Your Customers Don’t Really Care About it. They Care About Themselves. So Focus On Them!
11 WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
Naval Ravikant “Mainstream awareness of .CO is building
with huge brands like Amazon, Twitter, and
Overstock; and so is awareness of
entrepreneurs that their next domain doesn’t
need to be 23 letters long or lack vowels.”
Dave McClure “.CO is quickly becoming the hot new geek
TLD in Silicon Valley…With .CO, startups can
launch businesses and brands on a short, cool,
credible domain name -- without having to
shell out a million bucks to do it.”
Brand Lesson # 3: Influential Early Adopters Can Help You Get Traction Fast
12 WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
Tech stars High Profile
Use Cases & Business Development
Web Entrepreneur Consumer Events &
Sponsorships
SMB Channel Sales & Marketing
Innovators & Trend Setters
Disruptors of the status-quo
Early Adopters
Design conscious and eager to try new technology
The Masses They go for what works
Trickle Do
wn
Effect
Brand Lesson # 4: Don’t Try to be All Things to All People – Target the Right Customers
13 WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
Incubators & Accelerators
Event & Media Companies
Communities & Co-working Spaces
Brand Lesson # 5: Great Partners are Force Multipliers That Will Help You to Succeed
14 WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
Brand Lesson # 6: If You Love Your Customers. They Will Love You Back.
WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB 16
India Companies, Startups and
Entrepreneurs
Littleeye.CO Profiler service for Android
based smartphone applications.
TheGraffiti.CO A brand consultancy agency.
Thunk.CO A green community site.
Eventifier.CO Analyze and archive event
media.
TechCurry.CO A blog about the India market written and produced in the
UK.
Samagra.CO Provides sanitation and clean
energy to the urban poor living in the slums of India.
Select examples. For a directory of .CO users, visit our website.
17 WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
Brand Lesson # 7: Don’t Listen to the Naysayers. Let Your Success Silence the Critics!
WHERE BIG IDEAS BELONG ON THE WEB
Crystal Peterson - [email protected]
Director, Global Sales & Channel Marketing
@dotCO /dotCO