Billion dollar company VisionWorks using a .net for marketing

[hookbox]

I was watching CNN today and a VisionWorks ad came up that was using the domain Letsgosee.net

When large companies start using alternative extensions in their marketing campaigns it's obviously not good.

Pay $40,000 for a nice call to action .com or reg the .net for 10 bucks. I'm sure we will be seeing much more use of many different tlds in the future.

 

[Mahogany]

Food for thought.

 

[gemstar]

Once they see they cant succeed with that tld they run back to momma .Com.
Unless its a killer domain.Otherwise pffft........

 

[garptrader]

The vast majority of domain names in use are reg fee purchases. If the ideal domain is taken, another word or a few characters are added to find something available. Sometimes another TLD may be used but those DNJ sales are not the norm - thus the 1% industry turn. Adding hundreds of new extensions in two years will not help industry turnover. At some point we would hope to see end users "get it" and actually look at domains as valuable branding tools worth paying real money for. Perhaps in another five to seven years...

 

[JB Lions]

I was watching CNN today and a VisionWorks ad came up that was using the domain Letsgosee.net

When large companies start using alternative extensions in their marketing campaigns it's obviously not good.

Pay $40,000 for a nice call to action .com or reg the .net for 10 bucks. I'm sure we will be seeing much more use of many different tlds in the future.

Not good for the company. I wonder how many people are going to go here - http://www.letsgosee.com/

and wonder what's going on. I don't think it happens that much, because most companies think things thru. It's why when it happens, it's a story here.

 

[Grego85]

^ yeah, especially when their target audience can't see all that well in the first place!

 

[hookbox]

Not good for the company. I wonder how many people are going to go here - http://www.letsgosee.com/

and wonder what's going on. I don't think it happens that much, because most companies think things thru. It's why when it happens, it's a story here.

It's always the same answer that it's going to bleed traffic to the dotcom but personally I don't think we give present internet users enough credit. It's not like it was 5 years ago where people didn't know any better then to think dotcom was all that existed. Nowadays if someone sees a domain as .net then they will remember it as .net or .me or .whatever. Times are changing whether we like it or not.

 

[Asfas1000]

I think when people see a big company not sitting on the exact match .COM , they instinctively wonder why not. The short answer might be they are not big enough to make it their own.

 

[daj]

What is the most likely future scenario?

1. Millions of tlds in multi-languages to develop your website on. Tlds will be as cheap to own as domains. All businesses will switch to using their own tld extension.

2. Something will replace the domain industry completely. ICANN, domains, and tlds won't be needed.

3. .COM will still be king. The domain industry will be huge. Billion dollar .com sales will be common.

 

[Grego85]

The answer is D - none of the above

 

[daj]

The answer is D - none of the above

That's kinda my point.

Even if there were a million tlds to take the crown from .com, domaining will still never be a booming industry. There's so much hype and more people losing money in this industry than making it. Not even Godaddy has turned a profit since 2009.

 

[imc]

Think about this. When was the last time any of you visited Finance.com and more importantly, how much did the site owner benefit from your visit?

Yes, .com is a big deal, but in the end, every site owner has a short term or a long term goal in mind and they name their project based on this, among many others parameters. If Finance.com is gone, myfinance.com would do no less and make no more an impact than the one word version of it.

 

[DomainVP]

I own plenty of domains where the traffic bleeds over, and that's not all that bleeds over as well...

I don't give present internet users any credit, because I have run websites that dealt with hundreds of transactions ever day... and if people can mess it up they will... repeatedly.

The problem isn't navigating, it's remembering.

We are beat over the head with .COM over and over, my kids under 6 only know .COM and they live in the gTLD age. Most teens right now only know .COM and .NET, and only that it exists - I have a few in my family unit, and I often ask them internet questions to gauge what their awareness & experience of the internet is.

Most of them only know Apps, so if anything that is still the largest danger to Domains - if at all. Apps still need domains to run and promote. Snapchat just sealed a deal with Viacom to kick up their advertising so that they can reach a larger demographic.

I frequently use a site that is an .eu, good luck communicating that to anyone in the United States... most people are just oblivious and will forget the extension and will try for the .com.

When someone is navigating to a domain they will almost automatically want to type .COM, because an address can be hard to remember in itself.

Once they get there, they will be met with something unfamiliar to their subject matter, and they they will either give up or go to Google (.com).

At the end of the day, this .net is for a 'throwaway' promotion. I didn't even need to go to VisionWorks (.COM) website to figure this one out. But I did...

LetsGoSee.net - "Children's Eye Health Campaign to Raise Awareness of Importance of Annual Eye Exams"



Not really an earth shattering commerce idea that warrants the high priced acquisition of a .COM.

They have enough money to launch on a .net, and if the campaign is turning significant ROI they will buy the .COM and redirect to the .NET. Oh yes indeed, a redirect to a .NET to keep brand continuity for all of their endurables created today will probably say .net on them.

 

[imc]

The initial draw will most likely be a .com, but if I sell a better mouse trap at the .net guess who will do more business? The marketplace and the intelligence of the consumer will always win over any .com vs other tld/gtld differential.