Hyper-visibility 2011

Millions of million-dollar websites have slipped into the abyss, and the proof is sitting right on Google.

Super-success in cyber-branding

Super-success in cyber-branding lies in the sophisticated deployment of a cyber naming strategy to ensure the 100% exclusive ownership of a powerful domain name identity to work as a magical key, so it may open an undiscovered universe of billions of unknown customers around the world.

Global cyber presence has now become an ultra-sophisticated process, and remains one of the most valuable components of building digital assets. This global presence is no longer a creative issue to be handled by logo-centric-slogan-happy branding; rather it is founded on visibility, access and undisputed ownership that you simply either have, or don't.

During the dotcom boom, a million domain names were registered a day. The billions of dollars wasted created a chapter in corporate branding while the proof stands still at the cemetery of dead names.

But today, now fully matured in its concepts and strategies, there are some very powerful, universally-recognized domain names that skate around in the e-commerce arena, open complex gates and passages and carve powerful, highly-lucrative positions.

For the next boardroom meeting, here are some key questions.

• Evaluation: where is the cyber name identity on e-commerce now? Is it a magical key or a rusty screwdriver?

  The duplication factor, combined with weak and confusingly similar names, alone will bury best campaigns. Unless there is a very deep understanding of this highly specialised subject, one is simply headed towards oblivion.

  Corporations can show off their brand identities, but most often, they cannot prove with great confidence their direct ownership of that specific name identity. But identities like Sony, Panasonic, Rolex, and Microsoft do.

  Both in cyber-space and in print, their unique power of identity is clearly obvious; there is no question about their exclusive ownership claim to their identity among the global populace, while millions of other lookalike and sound-alike names are simply owned by millions of other Toms, Dicks and Harrys.

  It only takes a second on Google to prove the ownership of any identity and begs the question: why share an identity with thousands of others?

• Superiority: how is the identity positioned, and what message and personality does it communicate through its linguistics and alpha-structure?

  Each emits its own unique signals, while demanding typing. General branding exercises cannot be mistaken for these complex naming analyses, and the strictest application of the Five Star Standard of Naming available on Internet is a must.

  Without character and personality, to the global customer it is simply lost in the crowd, while without linguistics, it ends up at the bottom of search engine results.

• Complexity: what about domainisation, as multiple domain names create multiple problems in multiple markets?
  How does the master naming architecture apply to a business? Cyber branding is an extremely global phenomenon; market positioning is much more critical than profit maximisation, while mind-share is more important than market-share. Where is the centrality of the selling proposition and how is it being projected?

Conclusion: the current turbo-charged, hyper-accelerated global image repositioning is causing shifts and creating new chasms among countries. This is a void to be filled with new players, new ideas and new global icons.

The new gTLD

ICANN: what about the new gTLD, as this new revolutionary USD$187 000.00 per domain name programme offers some amazing solutions, as the fastest and most economical way to acquire an exclusive global name identity for the worldwide ecommerce?

But this game is very intricate, demanding sophistication in corporate nomenclature with image leadership skills.

In 2011, ICANN plans to process 1000 'proposed name' applications. This will make gTLD expertise the hottest topic for new billings for advertising and strategic consulting agencies, provided they embrace the corporate nomenclature rules and are equally able to articulate these issues to their top clients with specific naming solutions surrounding the global complexity and stringiest application rules of ICANN.

To cope with timelines and this gTLD space, smart agencies are starting to form strategic alliances to capture this high profile, cyber-branding business.

Currently, with 99% of the cyber name identities stuck in traffic jams, a frank and very candid CEO-level discussion is required. Denials and refusal to face up to reality will simple keep your ecommerce presence in oblivion, guaranteed.

Marketing is global; burn all the books that say otherwise. As a billion brand new websites are heading this way like a tsunami from the emerging world, the challenge for executives is to embrace the future head on, and acquire a deeper understanding of this visibility subject today and start studying deeply the new gTLD platform from ICANN.

Now, all that's needed is that hyper-visibility.