Your guide to brand protection and creative marketing that doesn’t suck

THE TRADEMARK ISSUE | MAY 2019

BY

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3 Ways to Protect Your Brand Online—and Why It Matters

Crash Course: What to Do When Your Reputation Sucks

5 Best Practices for an Effective Corporate Feedback Forum

What, Why, Where, How? Building Out Your ngTLD Strategy

A Lawyer’s Guide to .SUCKS

The Evolution of “Sucks”

Editor’s Note

Protect, Provide, Progress

How to Own Your Sh*t Onlinep.12

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TheHustle.Sucks and

They’re Proud of Itp.26

p.28 This Podcast is Out to Prove

Seattle.Sucks...Sort Of

.SUCKS in Actionp.26

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What the Duck? Google Drama Highlights the Need for an Airtight Domain Strategy

How Burger King Claimed the Fast Food Crown When McDonald’s Lost Its Big Mac Trademark

What’s in a Name? How Festivals Claim Names and Protect Their Brand

Featuresp.20

Get .SUCKSp.30

6 7

“ this sucks”

“ that sucks”

“ you suck”

T he word “sucks” has a rather storied

past. Once upon a time, it was a word

used solely in a negative context,

to loudly proclaim “this sucks”, “that

sucks” and “you suck”. Like it or loathe it, “sucks”

has crept into our everyday vernacular—we use

it freely and commonly to describe situations or

things we emphatically feel are no good.

But the word “sucks” is losing its negative

connotations and is becoming a way to inspire

change rather than spread hate. When used

creatively, the word has the ability to empower

brands and individuals alike by using surprise,

audacity and playfulness to engage audiences.

“Sucks” has become a powerful weapon for

those looking to make a statement.

.SUCKS domains, owned and operated by

the Vox Populi Registry since November 2014,

are particularly powerful tools for a brand to

have in its belt. When used constructively,

.SUCKS can not only protect a brand, but also

spark positive conversation and cut through

the noise of today’s online world.

The Evolution of “Sucks”

8 9

To whom it most definitely concerns,

Your trademarks are the foundation of your business—we

don’t need to tell you that. But building and protecting a

brand is about more than staking claim to your signature

products, services and slogans. If companies want to

succeed, they need to earn their customers’ confidence

and trust.

In today’s online battlefield (which tends to be a bit

of a free-for-all) it’s surprisingly simple for competitors

or trolls to get the higher ground. All they need to do is

purchase a domain that lampoons your name or leave a

scathing review on Twitter and the loyalty is lost.

Sound like a pain? It is. But that’s why there’s .SUCKS. It

presents a powerful opportunity to own your sh*t, and be

the sort of open, honest, self-aware and tongue-in-cheek

company today’s customers truly admire.

A .SUCKS domain does three things for your organiza-

tion. First, it protects you, because owning the name lets

you stay ahead of attacks on your brand. As you’ll read

on page 13, the majority of people trust online reviews as

much as recommendations from a friend, which means

you need to be proactive in owning your channels and

managing your publicity. All brands have haters, and no

company is immune to mistakes.

Editor’s Note

page 28, shows that the best way to set your organization

apart is to be smart, keep it on-point and never settle for

blending in.

There are a lot of things in this world that suck, and

brand dissonance is one of them. Joining the .SUCKS

movement shows that you care enough about your

brand’s reputation—and your customers’ needs—to drive

change. And nothing sucks about that.

Let’s continue this conversation, so you can start owning

your sh*t.

Yours truly,

Christina Beavis Chief Operating Officer Vox Populi Registrye: christina@registry.sucks

Second, it provides a feedback loop where you can

be present for your customers, control the narrative and

ensure that constructive criticism is actually being acted

upon. On pages 14 and 15, you’ll find expert tips on how

to salvage a spiralling reputation and run an effective

corporate feedback forum—two ways you can put your

.SUCKS domain to use.

Third, it enables you to progress your brand, gleaning

the wisdom of the peanut gallery so you can build better

experiences for everyone. You can find actionable advice for

bolstering your digital presence, identity and credibility on

page 16—plus strategic insights on how to play the domain

game to prevent fraud and get ahead of competitors.

I’m so excited to be sharing this premiere edition of

Evoke Magazine with you; I think you’ll find it equal parts

entertaining and instructive. Along with our guides and

tips for owning your sh*t, we examine the lessons learned

from a few of the biggest trademark debacles, starting

on page 20.

And finally you’ll find two case studies that show

.SUCKS in action. “TheHustle.Sucks and They’re Proud of

It”, on page 26, demonstrates how the cleverest, savviest

brands win with today’s customers and prove that there’s

no such thing as negative consumer feedback. Likewise,

“This Podcast is Out to Prove Seattle.Sucks...Sort Of”, on

1110

N o matter how good your

products, services or

intentions are, nobody’s

perfect. And the sooner

you recognize that, the

sooner you can use a .SUCKS domain

to your advantage. This ngTLD can (and

should!) be used for three critical rea-

sons, which makes it a valuable platform

for every marketing, customer relations,

legal and brand reputation team.

Protect, Provide, Progress

Protect Your Organization — From Every Angle

Many consumers interact with their favor-

ite and most-trusted brands online, but

today’s online environment is a vulnera-

ble place to be. And whether you’re at an

established Fortune 500, a scaling startup

or a kick-ass not-for-profit, there’s no

doubt that blood, sweat and tears have

gone into building it. A .SUCKS domain

can help you avoid defamation by safe-

guarding related trademarks and ensur-

ing your domain is never used in protest.

Provide a Feedback Loop for Your Customers

It’s not always easy to hear construc-

tive criticism—but it’s always important.

Now more than ever, consumers expect

to see honesty and improvement, not

perfection. A .SUCKS domain busts the

feedback loop wide open and gives you

a place to have proactive conversations

with customers. After all, it’s a lot easier to

manage what people are saying when it’s

not being done behind your back.

Progress Your Brand at Every Opportunity

Protecting your organization and pro-

viding for your customers ladders up

to one thing: propelling your company

forward—and that means owning your

sh*t. It’s about more than safeguarding

your name online. It’s about using the

feedback you’ve collected to innovate

and drive change. And a .SUCKS domain

is the perfect place to start.

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How to

Own Your Sh*t

Online

PROTECT

TO PROTECT YOUR BRAND ONLINE — AND WHY IT MATTERS

W hat are people saying about your

brand online? What do your reviews

on Yelp, Facebook and Google look

like? What does your social media

presence “tell” potential clients about your brand? All of

these considerations determine your business’s online

reputation, the status of which can make or break your

professional credibility.

Why Reputation Management Matters

On the surface, this may seem quite obvious—you want

consumers to look favorably upon your company, right?

But imagine you were looking to hire a top notch candi-

date or close a key corporate account. Negative opinions

about your business can scare off potential hires, partners

and, of course, customers. The majority of people (84%)

trust online reviews as much as they would trust the

recommendation of a friend, so you can’t afford to let bad

publicity slide.

What Brands Can Do

Brands aren’t helpless when it comes to how their rep-

utation takes shape on the internet. There are a number

of actionable steps they can and should take to protect

themselves online—and they’re not as time consuming as

you may think.

1. Keep your ads and content off unsavory sites. Who your brand associates with dictates how users per-

ceive you—a sentiment shared by over 2,200 brands that

requested third-party vendors pull their advertisements

from far-right news platform Breitbart.com back in 2017,

due to its overwhelmingly conservative stance and strong

pro-Trump message. People and products want to align

with messages that they can get behind.

2. Treat your personal social media pages as an extension of your business. We’ve seen how Facebook

treats our personal data. Even with maximum privacy set-

tings, don’t put anything out onto the web that you would

be ashamed to share with colleagues, business partners

and customers.

3. Use .SUCKS as a forum for online reputation management—and solicit reviews the right way. Don’t just sit on your domain, give your customers a plat-

form for feedback—then take their feedback to heart. If

you haven’t designed your own platform, know the review

policies for the sites you’re targeting and make sure what

you’re doing is above board.

Brands can be fragile and one wrong move can undo a

reputation that took months or years to build. As such, it’s

absolutely critical that brands explore every avenue of

self-protection online to safeguard themselves not only

against online haters and trolls, but against their own

mistakes too.

Stay vigilant and be receptive: your customers will

take notice and appreciate the efforts you’re making.

Your brand’s image and reputation are some of its most

valuable assets, so it’s well worth taking the time to pro-

tect them properly.

3 WAYS

14 15

Crash Course: What to Do When Your Reputation Sucks

Bad press sucks, but sometimes it

just can’t be avoided. If you’re expe-

riencing the lingering ill effects of a

muddied reputation, we’ve come up

with a no bullsh*t guide of best prac-

tices for reputation management.

React Fast

If criticism or disaster strikes, be pre-

pared to react quickly, politely and

earnestly. Addressing issues and

getting a message out as early as

possible lessens the impact a crisis

will have on a company’s reputa-

tion. As soon as you catch wind of a

news story or viral post that could

negatively affect your brand, make a

public statement addressing it.

Take Responsibility

If you or your company are being

criticized fairly and truthfully, take

responsibility. Explain how you ex-

pect to change things in the future

to prevent a similar problem from

occurring. Be as genuine as possi-

ble—insincere apologies suck.

Manage Your SEO

The last thing you want is for your

brand to be associated with key-

words like “bad service” or “rip-off”.

After a PR crisis, you should try

to clean up your Google search

results by creating new content.

Aggressively cultivate positive,

highly-searchable content, either

through your own blog or as a guest

writer on another popular site.

Use Google Alerts

Set up a Google Alert for your

company name or brand. If you’re

mentioned in a positive or negative

comment, an alert will come straight

to your email inbox. This allows you

to address any issues as quickly

as possible, hopefully before they

become a bigger problem than they

need to be.

Show Appreciation

It’s important to be responsive to the

good and the bad, to help promote

positive engagements with your

company and demonstrate that

your customers are a top priority

across the board. Spend some time

thanking positive commenters and

cultivating strong online relation-

ships with your reviewers.

Ask for Help

There’s no shame in not knowing

how to address a PR mishap. Emo-

tions may interfere with your ability

to react cordially and professional-

ly—which makes sense, given that

the internet can put brands through

proper (and sometimes undeserved)

trials. When in doubt, hire a PR firm

to help you manage the incident.

Managing a compromised reputa-

tion is vital to protecting your brand.

You want your customers to feel re-

assured when choosing your prod-

uct or service. Using these tips, you

can avoid major reputation pitfalls.

Shutterstock: By wellphoto

PROVIDE

E veryone makes mistakes (some bigger than

others) but a PR mishap doesn’t have to be the

end of the world. You need to act quickly and

strategically in the wake of a publicity disas-

ter—and one way to do this is to ask for feedback from

current and potential customers to help determine your

next move.

Corporate feedback is vital for developing a bullet-

proof business strategy and planning long-term goals.

But how can you collect feedback in a way that’s both

practical and helpful?

1. Have a Strong Focus

It would be impossible to survey every customer about

every potential issue they have with your company or

product. Although it’s tempting to ask for any and all feed-

back, you should focus on a particular issue, be it ease of

use, communication, online presence or conflict resolu-

tion. If you are polling your customers on their opinions

after a crisis or scandal, consider sending out a survey that

specifically tackles this event.

2. Respond Quickly

People are more likely to give feedback if they feel that

the company is actively responding and reacting to their

comments. Sometimes all this takes is a follow-up email

promising that someone will contact them regarding

their issue ASAP, or providing a 24-hour helpline for im-

mediate assistance. By showing that you care about your

customers’ time and concerns, you have already made

the first step towards maintaining (or repairing) your rep-

utation as a company.

PRACTICES FOR AN EFFECTIVE CORPORATE FEEDBACK FORUM

3. Leave Space

It’s tempting to push “on a scale of 1-to-10” questionnaires

as a source of feedback because you can ask the exact

questions that you need answers to. But you’ll want to

leave some space for the participant to address issues in

their own words too. They might highlight something that

you would never think to ask about.

4. Use the Right Tools

Know which channels are most valuable for receiving

different types of feedback. If you only have a single

question, then a simple online poll might be the best way

to gather responses. If you need a more nuanced under-

standing of the customer’s experience, you can never go

wrong with an email survey. If you want ongoing insights

into your customers’ thoughts or pain points, consider

having a public chat room or portal where users can inter-

act with your company in real time.

5. Brush Up on Analytics

Google Analytics is a hugely helpful tool that allows you

to “poll” your customers online without any extra effort

on their part. You can use website analytics to discover

things that customers might never report themselves,

such as how long they stayed on a given page or what

made them decide to bounce. Using analytics will help

supplement the information that customers give willingly.

Corporate feedback can help your company grow

and shift to suit your customers. Any PR slip-up can be

managed if your customers feel that their complaints are

being heard and—more importantly—acted upon.

5 B E S T

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H ave you already thought to purchase multi-

ple domains for your trademark, motto, tag-

line and brand? Developing a well-rounded

domain strategy is crucial to maximizing your

reach and solidifying your brand image. Choosing the

right ngTLDs, targeting causes and audiences that benefit

from additional messaging, and establishing a vision for

your company are just a few ways to take your digital

presence to the next level.

Why Do I Need ngTLDs?

There are plenty of reasons to have an arsenal of ngTLDs

at your disposal. You may be interested in protecting your

trademark from all angles. Or perhaps your company is

trying to break into new, international markets. You may

even just want to boost visibility (multiple domains mean

multiple chances for exposure) or launch a new product

that requires a bit of extra web space.

What ngTLDs Should I Use?

In today’s fast-paced e-commerce and e-service envi-

ronment, it’s important to stay ahead of the crowd. The

right domain names can establish credibility, craft brand

identity and promote your business. But that’s not all:

these days, several companies choose to invest in mul-

tiple domains to prevent fraud, anticipate misspellings in

searches (Google owns google.com and googel.com) and

beat competitors who may have a similar name or mark.

Where Should ngTLDs Direct Visitors?

Though it’s certainly an option, not all ngTLDs should lead

users directly to your main site. You should really think of

creative ways to use each of your ngTLDs for a different

Why, What, Where, How? Building Out Your ngTLD Strategy

PROGRESS

Top level domains (TLDs) come in various forms and different types of TLDs mean different things. .SUCKS, for example, is an ngTLD (or new generic top level domain).

gTLDs

Generic TLDs (gTLDs) are the most recogniz-able—and, we’d argue, the most boring—do-mains on the web. These include your standard .com, .org and .net.

ngTLDs

From .money and .love to .dog and .SUCKS, there are hundreds of ngTLDs available for purchase today, and each can be used to relay a specific message.

ccTLDs

A ccTLD is a country code top level domain—that means using .ca to represent a Canadian business online, .cn for China, .fr for France…you get the idea.

sTLDs

These domains are provided by a sponsor and represent specific ethnic, geographical, pro-fessional and technical groups or communities. Examples include .mil (for the United States Military), .post (for postal services), .edu (for post-secondary institutions), and .xxx (for por-nographic sites).

Domains 101

reason—one may act as a hub for original content, anoth-

er could be a space for targeted messaging. The options

are endless. ngTLDs can even be used to host a corpo-

rate feedback forum for internal use.

How Can ngTLDs Support Your Company Vision?

When a potential customer sees your company name,

what is it that you want them to think and feel? What’s

your primary message, distilled into a sentence or two?

Relying on a mix of domains—TLDs, ngTLDs, ccTLDs and

sTLDS alike—can give you more room to tailor your mes-

sage to different audiences and causes. What’s more,

experimenting with different ngTLDs to see what mes-

saging sticks and what doesn’t can help you find your

voice in a crowded digital environment.

Building out your ngTLD strategy takes planning and

work. Never fear, you can see a clear ROI if you plot your

course and make the most out of every resource avail-

able to you. Owning multiple domains is the reality of

our future on the web. And if approached strategically, it

can be extremely beneficial to you and your customers.

So what does this all mean? We’re glad you asked.

18 19

If there’s one thing that trademark lawyers

don’t need to be told twice, it’s that brand

image is of fundamental importance to

success. You understand the value of a

name and you know what can happen if

a company fails to protect it. That’s precisely

why your clients need to purchase their own

.SUCKS domain.

Brands who are stuck in the .com age might

be too quick to shrug off ngTLDs and deny their

influence, but this is a mistake—one that could

cost a brand dearly. With that in mind, we’ve

compiled this handy guide to ensure the brands

you represent are utilizing .SUCKS domains to

their full potential (and saving you a colossal

headache down the line).

A Lawyer’s Guide to .SUCKS

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PROGRESS

Step 1: Find the Point of Contact

Before you can do anything else, you need

to identify the right person to speak to about

purchasing a .SUCKS domain. This will totally

depend on the company size and structure. It

could be the CEO, the brand manager, the head

of customer service or someone in compliance,

marketing or IT. It might be your day-to-day

stakeholder, but that won’t always be the case.

Step 2: Help Them Identify Their Weak Spots

Is a brand struggling with a bad reputation?

Have they had PR drama in the past? Do they

have particularly outspoken or loud critics on

social media? Make note of pressure points that

need working on and lead your client or contact

into a discussion by promising to reinforce any

creases or cracks in their brand’s reputation.

Step 3: Pitch the Value of .SUCKS

Pitch your client on the concept by educating

them on the ROI of .SUCKS and sharing strat-

egies for what the brand could do with the

domain (find inspiration on pages 26 and 28).

This takes the brainstorming work off their plate

and may make them more likely to consider your

point of view.

Step 4: Partner with a Registrar

Partner with a registrar like Unregistry or Rebel

to help move your project forward. These

companies can offer you designers, customer

advocates and brokers to bring a new .SUCKS

to life. They will assist you in buying, selling and

managing your domain names, providing infor-

mation and support along the way.

Some key points of value include:

• Guarding your property. Sitting on the domain for protection purposes is reason enough to own one.

• Prioritizing customer service. Using the domain as a feedback forum can boost your customer satisfaction and stop disgruntled customers from airing their grievances on another platform—one which your client has no control over.

• Breaking the mold. Building a unique campaign can draw attention online and maybe even go viral.

S T E P S

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What the Duck? GOOGLE DRAMA HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR AN AIRTIGHT

DOMAIN STRATEGY

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FEATURE

W hen it comes to domain strategy, many

brands leave a lot to be desired. Sure,

most are savvy enough to purchase

their primary domain right off the bat,

but many will then call it a day, assuming they’ve done

enough to cover their bases from a trademark perspec-

tive. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Your target

consumers aren’t always going to find you by way of your

official URL, so if you aren’t actively looking for cracks

in your domain strategy, you’re leaving yourself open to

attacks. Don’t believe us? Just take a look at the storied

issues between DuckDuckGo and Google.

Back in July 2018, featherweight search engine Duck-

DuckGo blasted the reigning heavyweight champ Google

via Twitter for anti-competitive search behavior. As with

all things in life, there are two sides to every story. Sure,

Google wasn’t exactly acting in good faith, but by not

claiming duck.com in the first place, DuckDuckGo left

itself vulnerable to competition. The question therefore

becomes: how can brands redefine their domain strategy

to ensure their trademarks are airtight?

DuckDuckGo’s Complaint

In a series of tweets, search engine DuckDuckGo accused

Google of shady behavior by calling out the tech giant’s

choice to purchase duck.com and redirect it to Google’s

homepage—a move DuckDuckGo says was made inten-

tionally to confuse consumers. The rival search engine

goes on to say that Google has made it “impossible to add

DuckDuckGo to Chrome…on iOS”, with many Android users

having the same limitations.

Google’s anti-competitive search behavior happens to

also be anti-consumer. After all, users should be able to

switch to their preferred search engine on any device with

ease. According to DuckDuckGo, its service is among the

top search engines in many countries. Blocking such ac-

cess is a clear violation of monopoly laws on Google’s part.

Google Relents

Since being called out, Google has amended its behav-

ior—sort of. Google owns duck.com because it bought On2

Technologies, which used to be called Duck Corporation.

And until recently, On2.com and duck.com both led users

to a redirect page that offered wayward searchers an op-

tion between Bass Pro shops, the DuckDuckGo search en-

gine homepage or the Wikipedia page for ducks.

Too Little Too Late?

DuckDuckGo eventually won the rights to duck.com in

December 2018, but that doesn’t make up for this peri-

od of confusion or the brand damage that resulted from

it. Think of all the traffic DuckDuckGo lost by not owning

duck.com—no doubt it regrets the decision to not invest in

relevant secondary domains sooner.

The Takeaway

The moral of the story is to always protect your trade-

mark—and to do it as early as possible. Your trademark is

essential to growing your business, and that means you

need to beef up your domain strategy to ensure you’re

not leaving room for unscrupulous competitors to swoop

in and attack. DuckDuckGo learned the hard way that not

being prepared sucks, and this has become a cautionary

tale for brands who haven’t covered all their bases when

it comes to domain strategy. To save yourself the head-

ache and heartbreak of lost business due to an incom-

plete domain strategy, consider claiming your trademark

in every way possible.

22 23

It all started with a small Irish restaurant chain called

Supermac’s and what it claims is a case of “trademark

bullying” on the part of the McDonald’s conglomerate in

the E.U. It ended with a genius, albeit devious, marketing

move by Burger King—the now-proud owners of menu

items such as “Like a Big Mac, But Actually Big” and “The

Burger Big Mac Wished It Was”. Ouch!

Apparently Burger King thinks that the Big Mac sucks

and thanks to this surprising turn of events it can now say

so in a way that’s equal parts petty and fun. How did this

all happen? Buckle up for a tale of trademark woes and

the comical marketing campaign they inspired.

The Dispute

On January 11, 2019, the European Union Intellectual Prop-

erty Office (EUIPO) surprised the trademark community

by overturning the McDonald’s trademarks for “Big Mac”

and “Mc”, allowing anyone in the E.U. to use those terms.

McDonald’s has expressed that it is “disappointed in the

EUIPO’s decision” and intends to appeal the decision.

This shocking turn of events came about after

Supermac’s faced-off against McDonald’s over owner-

ship of brand trademarks in the E.U. Supermac’s claimed

that it had been blocked from expanding into the U.K.

and other parts of Europe due to the fervent protection

of trademarks McDonald’s regularly uses (“Mac”, “Mc”,

“Big Mac”) and even those it doesn’t but was just sitting

on (including “SnackBox”).

Clear underdog Supermac’s noted that McDonald’s

was hoarding brand and product trademarks in its “war

How Burger King Claimed the Fast Food Crown

WHEN MCDONALD’S LOST ITS BIG MAC TRADEMARK

chest” in order “to use [them] against future competitors”.

The EUIPO heartily agreed, placing both “Big Mac” and

“Mc” up for grabs in the E.U.

This isn’t the first time something like this has hap-

pened to ol’ McDee’s either. In 2009, a Malaysian chain

battled for the right to the franchise name “McCurry,”

also winning its case. If you agree with Supermac’s and

McCurry and think McDonald’s sucks then you’ll love

how it got its comeuppance after the EUIPO’s decision

to nix its trademarks.

Marketing Matters

Burger King, already known for its off-the-cuff Twitter

marketing, wasted no time using the McDonald’s tragedy

to their advantage. After McDonald’s lost the right to “Big

Mac,” its main competitor snapped up the opportunity to

use the iconic name in a clever marketing scheme. A “Not

Big Mac’s” menu graced Burger Kings around Europe,

featuring a classy assortment of goods such as:

• Like a Big Mac but Actually Big

• The Burger Big Mac Wished It Was

• Kind of Like a Big Mac But Juicer and Tastier

• Anything but a Big Mac

• Big Mac-ish but Flame Grilled Of Course

It’s all fun and games until your brand is the butt of the joke.

“

”Simply villainous. Not to mention hilarious. And seeing

as the campaign earned viral attention online, successful as

well. While some might think that this type of viral market-

ing sucks, it’s difficult to deny its effectiveness, particularly

in a world where the sassiest brand personalities seem to

reign supreme amidst an internet audience obsessed with

edgy humor and memes.

If you’re a trademark expert, watch out. This whole

story goes to show the potential domino effect of losing

the claim to your brand name. It’s not just a legal impli-

cation—though that’s a huge part of it—but the potential

marketing blunders that come from not having the legal

right to prevent competitors from misusing your name.

If you’re a marketing consultant, take note! The timely,

creative and daring Burger King campaign can be a

teaching moment. Pay attention to your competitors,

your industry and what’s trending. There’s probably some

marketing gold in there somewhere, so long as you have

the patience to sift through the noise and the brashness

to grab a great opportunity by the horns.

Takeaway

It’s all fun and games until your brand is the butt of the

joke. This trademark drama illustrates that brand pro-

tection and marketing are two arms of your business

that can either sink you or elevate you on a whim. Keep

abreast of trademark news and learn from other brands’

trademark blunders. Channelling your inner Burger King

can help you stay on the cutting edge of viral marketing

rather than under its blade.

FEATURE

24 25

What springs to mind when you hear the word “Coach-

ella”? Probably not the geographic location of Coachella

Valley, California, but rather the world famous Coachella

Music Festival. This annual event has become so large

that “Coachella” has taken on a secondary meaning in

intellectual property terms. So what does this mean

from a branding and ownership lens? Despite being the

descriptor for a point on the map, “Coachella” can be

trademarked. Which is exactly what “Coachella” trade-

mark owner Goldenvoice did.

Trademark infringement sucks, so it’s helpful to

understand how a brand as big as the Coachella Music

Festival was able to protect its name—and why it invested

in doing so.

Goldenvoice vs. the Other “Chellas”

Wholechella (by WholeFoods), Combschella (by rapper

Sean “Diddy” Combs), Hoodchella (a rap festival) and

Filmchella (a film festival) are just some of the parties

on the receiving end of Goldenvoice’s liberal application

of cease-and-desists when it comes to defending the

Coachella brand. Goldenvoice’s argument is that asso-

ciation with the Coachella brand, by way of the “-chella”

suffix, serves multiple duplicitous purposes:

HOW FESTIVALS CAN CLAIM THEIR NAME AND PROTECT THEIR BRAND

1. It confuses potential consumers into

thinking the brand, mark or event is in someway

associated with the Coachella Music Festival.

2. It borrows from the hard-won goodwill and quality associated with the yearly music

festival and its true sponsors.

The reasoning makes

sense: Coachella fans and

followers don’t want to be

duped any more than Goldenvoice

wants other companies to dupe them.

Goldenvoice has worked hard to craft a certain

image for its product and has turned the brand into a

mega empire.

Goldenvoice protects its trademark with a ferocity

that some see as antithetical to the laid back, bohemian,

community-centric vibe of the festival itself. If that’s the

What’s in a Name?

case, why bother? Let’s

take a look at why trade-

mark protection is so important

and why other music festivals—and

other brands—should take a similar

stance on protecting their products.

The Value of a Trademark

It’s against Coachella’s terms and conditions for any third

party to give away Coachella tickets in unauthorized con-

tests, sweepstakes or draws. The festival believes that this

devalues its tickets and disrespects the advertisers and

promoters that paid for the right to partner with the event

(sponsoring radio stations, for example).

This is the same reason why Goldenvoice comes down

so hard on apparel companies like Urban Outfitters who

borrow its likeness, verbiage and style. Official sponsors

will be put off if they feel like their authorized collabora-

tions are diluted by unauthorized copycats. Goldenvoice

has a case against Urban Outfitters and Free People, as

the brands’ merchandise can reasonably be linked to

customer confusion, unfair competition and dilution of

the Coachella brand.

Cultural events, music festivals and the arts have a

particularly important duty to protect intellectual prop-

erty (IP). This is because many areas of IP come into play

when organizing, recording, performing, protecting and

disseminating the resulting products. Being thorough

about your copyright protection strategies can attract

bigger and better acts in the future, when the minutiae of

who owns what gets increasingly important.

Use It or Lose It

Elizabeth Kurpis, a fashion lawyer based in New York,

notes that, “What Coachella is doing here is not only typi-

cal, but it is their legal duty if they would like to retain the

rights to their trademarks”. Trademark infractions deval-

ue your brand and its sponsors and potentially damage

your reputation, not to mention that being lax about

defending what’s yours can actually weaken your case

if and when you decide to make a case for trademark

infraction. Learn from Goldenvoice and protect what’s

rightfully yours—no matter how “laid back” your brand is

meant to be.

The Takeaway

It’s simple: protect your trademark at all costs. Many

times, a simple cease-and-desist letter will suffice and

the offending party will back down without conflict. If that

isn’t the case, however, you must be prepared to fight for

what it yours. You can’t afford not to.

FEATURE

Shutterstock: By holleratyourbui

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TheHustle.Sucks and They’re Proud of It

hat’s The Hustle? No, we’re not

talking about the dance, but rather

the daily e-newsletter that’s taken

readers everywhere by storm thanks to

its conversational, relatable and funny

source of tech and business news. The Hustle has a

subscriber base of over 1.1 million, a mission to “educate,

inspire and entertain”, and, every now and then, it sucks.

Before you get your back up and accuse us of picking

on the brand, let us explain. In December, The Hustle

launched The Hustle Sucks, an online feedback forum

The Challenge

With a whopping 40% open rate on its daily e-newsletter, The Hustle clearly has a loyal reader base—and a number of them have strong opinions about what they like and what they don’t. The Hustle under-stands that it’s important to deal with criticism head on; however, the sheer volume of emails received, not to mention additional messages on various social media channels, made it hard to respond to everyone.

Knowing that it couldn’t afford to turn a blind eye to what its customers were saying, The Hustle decided to take action.

The Results

Launched in early December 2018, The Hustle is already seeing a posi-tive response from its community. In its first month, The Hustle Sucks received over 100 comments across eight categories, with as many as 24 upvotes on a single critique. For an e-newsletter with such high daily engagement, this level of user inter-action may not come as a surprise, but the feedback provided in this forum is already helping The Hustle prioritize the changes its readers want most.

Genuinity is attractive. Self-aware-ness is admirable. Humbleness is approachable. Rather than letting naysayers talk shit about their brand elsewhere on the web, The Hustle gives them a constructive platform to speak up and share their opinions.

The Solution

Stating that your own product sucks is a bold move, but when done in a tongue-in-cheek way with a dedicated domain, it can be inge-nious not insane. So, when The Hus-tle decided to build out a dedicated feedback forum, it chose .SUCKS. As Ryan explains, feedback isn’t always straightforward. “It’s funny to see one person say ‘I hate X’ and then another person say ‘I love X’, [which] is super common when you start to build a large audience.”

You’ll never satisfy everyone on the internet, and the team at The Hustle knows that. On TheHustle.Sucks, users can even like or dislike other comments, categorize their critique (editori-al, advertising, etc.) and respond to other people’s criticisms. It’s a place where conversations flourish, rather than fall on deaf ears.

designed to give disgruntled readers a place to vent.

Why? As Adam Ryan, VP of Media at The Hustle, notes,

“Having an isolated page to organize feedback and have

our audience interact about certain topics is an extremely

efficient way to collect feedback.”

When your brand hinges on being digitally savvy,

witty, relatable, clever and edgy all at once, you should

never shy away from consumer feedback—positive or

negative. But you should think outside the box in regards

to how you obtain this feedback. And that’s exactly what

The Hustle did by building www.TheHustle.Sucks.

Do

• Use a .SUCKS domain to get ahead of your competition and critics

• Point upset customers to a place where they can leave feedback

• Offer a customer service phone num-ber and email address

• Redirect to a useful page that gives peo-ple somewhere to share their thoughts

• Incorporate a .SUCKS domain into your digital marketing strategy

The Hustle has the right idea about staying on top of criticism. The brand uses a .SUCKS domain to point customers to a feedback page while also keeping TheHustle.Sucks out of the hands of their competitors. You can follow The Hustle’s example and use a .SUCKS do-main to nip complaints in the bud and build a stronger rapport with your customers.

The Dos and Don’ts of Using a .SUCKS Domain

Once you’ve established your .SUCKS site, consider these dos and don’ts:

Don’t

• Redirect to your main site without offering something useful to your visi-tors, like a feedback form or customer service number

• Sit on the domain name instead of us-ing it for something more beneficial, like making your customers feel heard

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This Podcast is Out to Prove Seattle.Sucks...Sort Of

oes Seattle suck? A group of city locals

seem to think so, and have even cre-

ated a podcast to voice their socio-

political opinions: “Seattle Sucks—A

podcast about hating the city we love”.

With 33 episodes available at time of

printing, the podcast averages 4.6 stars

out of 5 on iTunes and is the number one

result when searching all variations of “Seattle

sucks podcast.” They are also active on Reddit, and

currently boast 550 followers on Twitter.

On the podcast, they talk business, politics

and culture, with subjects ranging from Amazon

to activism, business to Jeff Bezos, composting to

internet megacorps—okay, they talk a lot about

Amazon, but let’s face it, Amazon sucks sometimes!

Up until recently, the podcast utilized the domain

www.SeattleSucks.com, but the team behind the

podcast recently shook things up by moving to a

.SUCKS domain.

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The Challenge

While the content of this podcast is entertaining and well presented, the original domain was...shall we say...a little blasé. A .com can be fine if you’re okay with blending in, but the Seattle Sucks team clearly isn’t. We like to think that they understood a .com wouldn’t do their product justice the way a .SUCKS could.

The Results

We’re not the only ones applauding the podcast on its use of a .SUCKS domain. As one enthusiastic Reddit user notes: “I love that you can have a .sucks website!” A .SUCKS domain used in this instance is creative, eye-catching and poignant, is indicative of passion and adds a dramatic flair. Podcast hosts and other creatives will find that a .SUCKS domain makes them stand out in a sea of digital products and standard .coms.

As podcasts become more popular among listeners and advertisers alike, Seattle Sucks honed in on a unique and creative way to market itself. A .SUCKS domain certainly packs a punch when your brand name already includes the word “sucks”, but it can be just as effec-tive if you are offering a solution to a sucky problem or are giving your customers a platform for construc-tive criticism.

Whether you want to jump on the Seattle Sucks bandwagon or start a site of your own, the internet is a magical hodgepodge of ideas, creativity and communication. We should all be inspired by Seattle Sucks’ drive to stand out and broadcast the messages that matter most to us.

The Solution

The colloquial term “sucks” is so relatable nowadays that it shows up everywhere—a playful joke, a legitimate critique, an important part of mastication (that’s chewing, get your mind out of the gutter!) When they registered their .SUCKS domain, the Seattle Sucks team were hitting on the reality that customers prefer being wooed by something edgy than bored by the status quo. The domain is also incredibly easy to remember, which cannot be understated amidst the billions of websites all vying for audience attention online.

The issue some people have with embracing an ngTLD for their brand is the fear that it will hurt their search engine ranking, but Google themselves have emphasized that this isn’t a valid concern. Using an ngTLD like .SUCKS won’t affect your SEO ranking either positively or negatively. That means you can suck proudly, knowing that your SERP spot is safe.

That means you can suck proudly, knowing that your SERP spot is safe.

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.SUCKS is obsessively dedicated to helping brands engage in honest dialogue with their customers

.SUCKS is an organic extension of any savvy brand that values trust, and

transparency above all else. We work with businesses who get it, because

they’re the most willing to be honest with themselves and their customers.

READ MORE AT GET.SUCKS/EVOKE