Tag: MakeWay.World

Amazon Web Services targets startups and creators with .aws by Tony Kirsch, Neustar

MakeWayWorld-logoIt will come as no surprise to those who’ve read my blogs that I get pretty excited about seeing .brand domains launch.

MakeWayWorld-logoIt will come as no surprise to those who’ve read my blogs that I get pretty excited about seeing .brand domains launch.

At Neustar we’re all in on promoting .brand usage in any industry, from all around the world and as such, we’re always watching closely for any signs of new domains on the horizon, trawling for case studies or any hint of new activity.

So imagine my surprise when a brilliant .brand example jumped out in front of me at JFK airport.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently launched a campaign around its AWS Cloud solutions, appealing to startups, creators and ‘builders’. The catchy tagline “Build On” rounds out the branding nicely – and the go-to location for information is the new address www.buildon.aws.

The campaign includes a great video that speaks to ‘the new builders’ of today’s startups and big businesses, as well as billboard and other display advertising at major airports and train stations throughout the US. All these efforts use the www.buildon.aws call-to-action.

build on amazon web services aws dotbrand

“Widespread advertising using a .brand domain is still something we’ve seen only sparingly, and Amazon has gone big here with its buildon.aws campaign.”

Credit where it’s due

This is an extraordinary effort from AWS. As I’ve written in the past, we’re under no illusion that changes to branding in major organizations is easy. In fact, my entire job revolves around slowly but surely making the case for brands to change their approach to branding, marketing and online navigation. And that can be a gamble – it’s no easy feat and I acknowledge that.

And that’s why I’m so impressed by this launch from AWS – for a brand as established, recognized, and customer-facing as Amazon this must have taken a lot of effort.

It takes guts to see the potential benefits of .aws to the brand as a whole. It takes trust that customers won’t be deterred by an unfamiliar domain. And it takes some awesome forward-thinking to rethink customer experience in this way and consider how to create the most memorable, meaningful call-to-action possible.

Back to advertising basics

I’ve written before about the considerations required for using .brand domains in advertising, and how a simple ‘back to basics’ approach to advertising theory can remind us of the most important aspects of audience, medium and recall.

AWS has done an excellent job here of applying solid ‘old-school’ advertising principles to a ‘new-school’ asset. And who would expect less of Interbrand’s number five ‘Best Global Brand’, especially one highlighted as one of the top growing brands in 2017?

You don’t get to a position like that by sticking to the status quo, and Amazon has really shown its mettle here.

For example, the decision to include ‘www’ in the call-to-action is a clever tool to avoid any possible confusion around the new .aws extension and to reinforce audience education that this is a legitimate address.

Also, given the ads appeared largely in locations where people are commuting, recall is vital for the success of the campaign – so the ‘build on’ branding and a call-to-action that sticks in audience’s minds are essential.

Throwing down the gauntlet

With almost 9,000 domains registered under .brand domains, momentum is undeniably growing. In fact, this isn’t even the first domain on .aws – Amazon has also created specific product domains like www.ecs.aws and www.kinesis.aws.

However in this burgeoning space there is still an opportunity to be a ‘first mover.’ Widespread advertising using a .brand domain is still something we’ve seen only sparingly, and Amazon has gone big here with its buildon.aws campaign.

It’s truly impressive to see a brand of this size get a campaign like this off the ground using its .brand domain.

And it’s not a stretch to say this serves as a challenge to other .brand applicants: tackle the challenges of internal engagement and take advantage of the unique branding opportunities offered by .brand domains – or be left behind by those who are.

This article by Tony Kirsch, Head of Professional Services, Neustar, was sourced with permission from:
http://www.makeway.world/2017/10/amazon-web-services-targets-startups-creators-aws/

Makeway.World Launches Stats Hub Tool To Monitor .BRAND Usage

There are 568 brands that have launched their own gTLD in 41 countries with 6,856 domains registered, an average of 12.07 domains per brand gTLD today. But previously finding this usage information was difficult. So now MakeWay.World has launched Stats Hub to enable a quick and easy way to see how many domain names each .brand gTLD has registered, how they’re being used, and any other TLDs owned by that applicant.

There are 568 brands that have launched their own gTLD in 41 countries with 6,856 domains registered, an average of 12.07 domains per brand gTLD today. But previously finding this usage information was difficult. So now MakeWay.World has launched Stats Hub to enable a quick and easy way to see how many domain names each .brand gTLD has registered, how they’re being used, and any other TLDs owned by that applicant.

The Stats Hub provides for the first time information in one centralised location that can be searched and filtered to find what you need quickly and easily. It’s updated daily from ICANN’s Centralized Zone Data Service.

For example, it has been reported the German car manufacturer has been issuing domain names to some of its dealers. Entering “audi” into the search, today one can see there are 585 .audi domain names registered, 436 of which “resolve”. Other data includes date delegated, non-resolving domains, redirecting domains, Bing results, highest Alexa rank and number of domains in Alexa.

The data can also be sorted by industry or location to compare what others in a region or field are doing with their TLDs, or by the volume of domain registrations to see who is leading the way in .brand domains.

The brand generic Top Level Domain with the most registrations is the French MMA IARD, a subsidiary of Groupe Mutuelle Du Mans Assurances, which operates insurance agents and boasts 3.3 million clients. There are 1,754 .mma domains registered, however very few of them are being used with only 11 resolving.

The third biggest of the brand gTLDs appears to be .neustar with 507 domain names registered, 10 of which resolve. Neustar is one of the bigger players in the new gTLD world and has developed MakeWay.World and the Stats Hub as a resource for those interested in new gTLDs, particularly brands. It is the third biggest for backend registry services when it comes to domains under management (5.757 million) and the second largest when it comes to new gTLDs backend registry services are provided for (222).

One can also find out quickly and easily there are 19 .brand gTLDs in Australia and 18 in China, but only 3 in Canada. The sector with the most .brand gTLDs is information technology (85) followed by telecommunications (42) and insurance (33). Statistics go back to 23 June 2016 when there were 4,678 domains registered

MakeWay.World suggest the following uses of the Stats Hub:

  • .brand applicants and project owners can easily discover who else applied for a .brand TLD and investigate how others in their industry are using them to get inspired and make more informed business decisions.
  • Media and analysts can crunch the numbers and gather data, statistics and interesting facts to accompany articles and reports.
  • Digital marketers can stay up-to-date on the strategies being implemented by some of the world’s most innovative companies, as this select group of ‘Digital Superbrands’ emerges.
  • Other brands can keep tabs on the .brand community and gain inspiration while we await a second round of new TLD applications.