ICANN-gTLD: a name game but not just anyone allowed to play

The application fee per gTLD starts at US$185 000, and can easily cost up to US$500 000 to integrate. Still, this investment is no more expensive than a large single highway sign over a 10-year lease. The latter is about thousands of such luminous cyber structures sparkling over high density, hyper-information highways.

If played correctly, it will become the cheapest, fastest and most effective device to achieve global image presence.

Game is not for a novice

The gTLD game is not for novice. It will be a mistake to apply the commonly used worldwide branding practices of purchasing a US$10 domain name, US$20 website, US$30 logo and US$40 slogan and, voila, the blitz starts in less than 24 hours. This tactical game requires stamina and is about creating marketing weapons creating nomenclature hierarchies and supporting sub-brand architecture to work like a money tree.

Qualified organisations with interesting concepts, winnable name identities and a 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 possess the stamina to create and own globally workable powerful name brand identities.

Why would someone invest? Simple, the motivation will be to declare cyber image warfare and achieve market domination.

What should corporate teams learn about this new armoury? Why this is so different from the current US$10 domain name?

Need a deeper understanding

These big questions need a 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 outsmart 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 game is very exclusive, and requires special knowledge and teamwork for the next big surge.

Three key questions

Three key questions for the movers and shakers of today:

1. What type of countries will lead in this international wild card race and why?
   
2. What will really happen when the global public gets charged with the gTLD dot buzz?
   
3. Why big money no match to a good programme, good name and good proposition?