When the idea of new gTLDs were introduced, it seemed logical that big brand owners would be the first to adopt.  The cost to own one’s own “dotBrand” is somewhat restrictive because of the application price of $185,000 in addition to the costs to run the new TLD.  Among the Fortune 100 though, one would assume the costs would be seen as minimal in comparison to the advantages of protecting a brand or expanding services and offerings.

From the list of the 1930 applicants released today, DNN has compiled a list of 36 Fortune 100 companies that have applied for new TLDs.  Of those, 20 companies are applying for more than one new gTLD and 16 of them are merely applying for their brand name in a new extension.

Amazon, Google and Microsoft are applying for the most new TLDs from this list, which would make sense based on their respective brand and product positions on the internet.  All of these companies can be considered pioneers of a new way of using brands on the internet.

Several of these corporations are being assisted by legal or brand management agencies such as Fairwinds, CSC and MarkMonitor. This information came from the ICANN filings and we have also noted in the list below.

Click continue to see the list

(more…)

In writing a previous post equating user names on social media sites to domain names, it raised my curiousity what big brands were up to on Twitter.  It’s understandable in the early 1990′s, as the internet was slowly emerging, brand managers and/or executives couldn’t see the potential for a brand like McDonalds to be on the internet.  Could you imagine a global brand not owning their .com today?

So do these brands stay ahead of the curve now?  The answer is No, not really. DNN took the Top 100 global brands from Business Week and checked Twitter to see which companies were actively using the 2 year old micro-blogging service to further their brand.  The results are indeed similar to the early days of domains, most brands don’t get it.  The chart follows after the jump. (more…)

The Rebranding Game by Ryan McCarthy at Inc magazine focuses its attention on Simulscribe, a company who rebranded and changed their name to PhoneTag several months ago.   Inc also ties in a secondary article to this story which attempts to advise entrepreneurs on how to buy domains.  While the advice on buying domains isn’t the best, the article on rebranding provides start-ups and businesses with an interesting perspective from a company who chose a ‘bad’ name and struggled with coming up with a new and better name. (more…)