It only takes a minute to establish if one is holding that magical key or just
toying with a rusty screwdriver. Today, in order to have a commanding presence with universal access on e-commerce,
domain names must act like very special golden keys as without it, the entire
exercise of Internet-centric commerce becomes almost useless.

Super-success in
cyber-branding lies in the sophisticated creation, development and ownership
of these powerful and magical keys, so that they may open an undiscovered universe
of billions of unknown customers around the world. Without this power and access,
what’s the point of being in the race for leadership and image positioning? 
It only takes a minute to establish if one is holding that magical key or just
toying with a rusty screwdriver.

Domain management strategies have now, in fact become ultra-sophisticated and
the most valuable components of building digital branding assets and the intellectual
property of any ambitious corporation. Domain names are no longer small issues
to be handled by the booming logo-centric-slogan-happy-agencies or web-tech-teams.
They now demand powerful strategic, boardroom-level discussions with a commanding
knowledge on global domain-registration laws and search-engine-visibility rules
while capturing all other nomenclature objectives to create such golden keys.

During the dotcom boom, a million domain names were registered a day. Even the
most unusual, silly and dysfunctional names were sought-after icons of get-rich-quick
dreamers. Ninety-nine percent of such names failed. Exhausted or expired, these
names have now disappeared. Along with them, the hundreds of millions of dollars
on short lived website campaigns. But today, now fully matured in concepts and
strategies there are some very powerful universal domain names that skate around
on e-commerce, open complex gates and passages and have carved powerful, highly
lucrative positions. The global power of e-commerce can only be demonstrated
by their superior and exclusive fluidity on the net. 

Smart businesses around the world are aggressively in search of such golden keys.
To approach such universal domain naming tasks starts with a serious audit to
professionally measure the strengths or weaknesses of the names; this process
is best served by highly objective views. The primary goal is to achieve power
and access for maximum impact. Today, only the very best names will dominate
the global marketplace. Weak, confusingly similar, or nearly identical names
do not have a chance of surviving the power and ubiquity of e-commerce.

The duplication factor alone will bury most names in complex global listings.
The most expensive websites are useless and the best campaigns will remain stuck
unless there is a deeper understanding of this subject. Then there are alpha-structures,
killing great websites and become liability to business itself. One must have
the knowledge to determine the message, personality and length of the name, plus
the choice of alpha characters, as each emits its own unique signals and demands
typing. General branding exercises cannot be mistaken for these complex naming
analyses and the strictest application of The Five Star Standard of Naming guards
against such expensive busts.

The hyper-visibility of a universal cyber-name is the main issue. A quick search
on Google is an instant test of any name’s visibility. To appear on the top or
on the first page is the most sought after idea but only an extremely small percentage
can achieve this as most names are poorly structured and stays buried in massive
duplication.  With high cost of promotion and intense global competition it’s
a brand-new frontier. A lot of money can be wasted in creating an artificial
bounce to highly expensive websites, but in reality it’s only those uniquely
designed domains that quickly rise to the top with very little effort. Only an
in-depth, highly custom analysis will point to the deep problems and illuminate
latest methods to fix them.

Today, it’s about global domainization, as m ultiple domain names create multiple
problems in multiple markets. There are highly sophisticated rules to be followed.
Be aware that there are too many fancy services offering strange global registrations
and localization often faceless websites and without references. Domains are
for the international audience and global customer base, so why have serious
language issues, where in translations and foreign connotations they may be embarrassing
or confusing customers. Cyber branding is an extremely global phenomenon.

Mind-share is more important than market-share. Customers must allow a name brand
to settle in their minds before they give out cash. As such, market positioning
is more critical than profit maximization. The human mind gravitates toward good
names; those that are user-friendly and trustworthy. When trying to process millions
of silly and randomly structured names, the mind quickly becomes exhausted.

In conclusion, logo-driven-branding has fallen into a deep sleep on these complex
matters, and there’s no need to wake it up. Currently with 95% of the domain
names stuck in traffic jams, a frank and very candid CEO-level discussion is
required while denials and refusal to face up to reality will simple keep the
e-commerce presence in oblivion, guaranteed. Today one needs a very special golden
key to open the gates of e-commerce and must now throw away that rusty screwdriver?

Naseem Javed is recognized as a world authority on Corporate Image and Global
Cyber-Branding. Author of Naming for Power, he introduced The Laws of Corporate
Naming in the 80s and also founded ABC Namebank, a consultancy established in
New York and Toronto a quarter century ago. Currently, he is on a lecture tour
in Asia and can be reached at [email protected].
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