Introducing "757".....a Great Rebrand

As an FYI I'm from an area/region in the world formerly referred to as "Hampton Roads" Virginia. I say formerly because this is what occurred two days ago on December 10th; https://www.pilotonline.com/inside-...0191210-bu36t6mbwne6djlwtq7z23smyy-story.html

I feel very blessed that I was able to be part of the process to rename our area despite "757" not being my first choice. Other popular choices were;

Coastal
CoVa (meaning Coastal Virginia)
SeVa (meaning Southeast Virginia)
Tidewater (an old regional name)

I was for renaming our area "SeVa", but I'm good with it being called "757" especially because I own domains like 757Waterfront.com, Welcome757.com, Vacation757.com and Bank757.com

All together I'd invested a little over a thousand dollars in names that I thought might become our new brand, and fortunately the "757" was one of the names.

For those of you who are new to this industry, domains like these are considered "Geo" domains.

Finally, i may be prejudice, but I consider the new "757" area to be one of the Best Kept Secrets in the world. Thanks NamePros

 

Thanks for sharing the news with us @ThatNameGuy and congratulations to your regional leaders in working with a consulting firm and others over many months to come up with a name that feels sleek and modern and has links to what residents had informally called the area. I had not realized how populated the area was - almost 2 million people. Assuming the final ratification stage happens, the names you hold should find good use, especially the welcome and vacation in my opinion.

I think the broad message to us all is to stay alert and engaged with what happens both regionally and globally, and to look at how names are used in many ways.

Thanks again,

Bob

 

Nice. What domain did they go with? Cannot visit the website

 

@NameDeck the new regional name being recommended for the area of 1.7 million is simply 757. Apparently youth have used it for decades. Assuming that final ratification happens it will be used in new tourism and community initiatives. The results of the rename was announced to community Dec 10.

The link worked for me in Canada. I suspect that it was because of restrictions either from their news feed ToS or advertiser content that they are blocking out of North America. Or since they stress Europe something related to tracking of information and GDRP.

Bob

 

And the greater area then can be called 757 Max

 

Bob...thanks for the explanation. The parent company for the Virginian-Pilot is Tribune Publishing who also publishes the Chicago Tribune. I've registered a complaint with them....it won't be my first and I'm sure it won't be my last.

As for rebranding from "Hampton Roads" to "757", it reminds me a lot of major companies/entities who rebrand to just initials like International Business Machines rebranding to IBM and the European Union becoming simply EU.

Like you noticed, it was the millennial's from my area who were mostly responsible for the move to "757". With regards to domains/names, there are so many things you can do with an area/region that has just "3" characters/digits (auto stickers, hat and shirt logo etc.). I'm already having a lot of fun with it, and it will open doors that will help with my domain and branding business.

Interesting that no one has mentioned in the press etc. that the "757" is the name given a Boeing Jet that was built from 1984-2005. Originally a little over a thousand were built, and 650 of them are still in service. Personally I can relate to "757" because it's been my area code for over 50 years, and I've flown on a Boeing 757 dozens of times since 1984.

It's because of my familiarity with the domain and names business I plan to become an Ambassador for the new "757" Best Kept Secret!

Thanks Bob

 

I had forgotten from the earlier discussion but checked and see that it is the area code in case some reading the thread do not realize why that particular number fits the region.

I think that as @ThatNameGuy says there are many things to potentially brand around. Branding around numbers is more popular in some parts of the world. 757 itself is not just a number, but to me there is a certain nice symmetry of repeated digits divided by another odd digit. I must look more into why the airplane used the number.

Thanks again for the thread.

Bob

If I could offer some friendly advice, I think you shouldn't do that. The European restrictions reply to European access no matter the source, if I understand correctly (possible I do not). I don't know all the legal, but I am sure they have good reasons for the block. Thanks for telling us that the paper is linked to the Chicago Tribune. I had just presumed it was a local paper.

PS In case wondered the name 757 in .com is for sale by a Chinese domain investor currently. No idea what the asking price is (it is Make Offer).

 

By the way, re the runner-up names, while I like tidewater a lot, I suspect it is widely used and maybe not distinctive enough. Still I might have picked it from your list.

Not sure if you realize, but Seva has deep cultural meaning and there was an uproar when a company decided to rebrand on it a few years ago. They abandoned it after listening to those who complained. They had paid 6 figures for the domain name. Here is a link to the story, and it was also covered on a DNW podcast I think (certainly the renaming initially was). A lesson in how careful one needs to be in finding a name for a major company. What attracted them about the name was ultimately the reason they could not use it.

Bob

 

Thanks @Bob Hawkes and @ThatNameGuy for further info. I think using the area code is pretty nice.

We use it here for the big cities as well for slang or whatever you want to call it.

I know of some hospitality businesses just using the area code. It works.

As for the site not working, yeah, probably due to GDRP. I guess they are not 100% sure how to be compliant so they decided to block the EU. Better safe than sorry

 

The millenials use area codes as sort of "badges of honor" and pride. Many companies are formed around the area codes. I've seen that in areas I live and frequent. Particularly California and Hawaii. Good luck to you!

 

Bob...i'd already done a whole lot of research on the name Seva. I even spoke to the gentlemen who had paid 300K for the name and decided not to use it for it meant something different in Sanskrit than he intended to use it for. It means, "Selfless Service", and I felt it would make for a great rebrand for our area. I thought it would, in a round about way, make our region to be more "giving" of ourselves, and everyone would benefit....duh, what was I thinking.

Ironically Seva.org is in use, and it is giving back to the world "Eye Sight". Check out their website and you'll see what I mean. I'd spoken with their CEO, and when I explained to her why and how we might want to rebrand our area to SeVa (standing for Southeast Virginia) she understood, and didn't have a problem with it.....go figure?

 

Area codes and airport codes have been used in branding forever. Mainly because the real name is usually taken. In Montreal there are plenty of 514 and Yul brands. The bonus is that you can trademark "### Restaurant", but you can't trademark "City Restaurant" (or at least not in the specific city).


As for the site not working .. it's likely either:
1- A legal thing because of cookies.
2- They have syndication agreements that gives exclusive content distribution rights to third parties. Same reason why some shows are available on Netflix in some countries but not others .. because other TV networks acquired exclusive rights for the show before Netflix (or were willing to pay more). It's pretty standard practice for a lot of media companies.

 

Thanks....not sure if you know who Pharrell Williams is, but his input was one of the reasons we rebranded to "757". With a lot of the millennial's using #757 to refer to our area, it was a no brainer for them. At 72 years old young I'm what is considered a "Baby Boomer"...born right after WWII, and the millennial's are now referencing us as "OK Boomer"....which could very well be "WTF Boomer". And you know what?.....they're 50% right

 

Hahaha...In your area they may call it "757 Boomer."

 

Bob...there's a grammatical term for the "symmetry" around "757" with the "7" being on both ends, but I forgot what it is? On another note...72% of consumers relate more to area codes than zip codes.

On another note, i've done research to determine the most valuable area codes, and some domains I'm interested in like 888LuxuryHomes.com are available to buy at reg fee. There are still lots of domains available to hand reg if you're a little creative and you know how to market them.

Thanks again Bob

 

Interesting conversations. Learning alot.
I know one thing for sure that domaining is taking a new form. What used to be less valuable are becoming the choice of values going forward.

 

oskaaay....i'm not sure where you're from, but there's a saying here in the US, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks". I'm not sure who came up with this, but I'm here to debunk this theory.

Fads come and go, but most area codes in the US, first introduced in 1947, are here to stay for a while anyway. Things like rebranding create opportunities for ideators like me. But I'm not your typical domainer who seeks to buy a single domain at auction just because it fits a particular domain narrative. I find that to be a total waste of my time. Why would I buy a domain at any price where there's one chance in 50 that I may sell it in a year. I know a lot of really smart people who are way smarter than me that don't get it either. When I tell them the "average" domainer is only expected to liquidate 2% of their portfolio each year, they look at me like I'm crazy.

Bottomline, this old dog sees opportunity in what I consider a seriously flawed business model. While I don't believe in the philosophy about "old dogs and new tricks", I do believe in the philosophy, "if you're looking for a new good idea, read an old book"

Thanks for chiming in oskaay, and good luck!

ps. i was born in 1947 when the area code system was introduced 72 years ago, and as fate would have it, I'm exploiting new opportunities 72 years later.

 

That's interesting to note that at your age you still well-positioned to take opportunities that some youths are leaving on the table.

I can gladly say, you are a grandpa with positive and exceptional traits.
Nice meeting here sir!

 

I guess you're as young as you feel, and while I've done a lot of things in my life, what I refer to as the "name game" is the most fun. I just changed my Avitar for when I arrived late in Vegas (area code 702) for NamesCon last year, and what a blast I had. Besides the niche for area codes I'm creating, I can't believe the rest of the world hasn't heard the expression BoGo that stands for "Buy One Get One" where I come from. Someone said the Brits don't like it because it represents greed I see it as "catchy" thus the reason I own BoGoAir.com (buy one airline ticked and get the other for ???) and BoGo30.com where you can buy one of anything and get the second one 30% off.

oskaaay...the biggest challenge I have ahead is figuring how to best monetize my domains for all my creativity is moot unless I can figure that out. Not to worry however, for I have things like experience, knowledge, passion, and love on my side.

Now off to the gym where I'll buy a little more time to fulfill my dreams. Thanks again

 

Be VERY careful .. there is absolutely nothing new here. Area codes and airport codes have been used as alternatives for city names in branding for many decades now. They are generally not the first choice when it comes branding. They are popular alternatives when the city+keyword is taken .. or more likely .. too expensive. Which means that you will be VERY limited in terms of potential price mark-up. So in the end while these domains are definitely very usable, they generally aren't the best of investments as a domainer unless the area code is for a big market + an in demand and relevant keyword (and grammar is correct and the words are actually in the correct order).

Just because there might be a potential use for a domain does not in any way mean it is good enough to be of investment quality as a domainer. Remember that the 757 "brand" (like almost ALL city center area codes) have specifically already been used for ages apparently. It's not like they came up with a new and unique name. The fact 757 has been used by a portion of the population for many years and those domains were still available are an indication of just how little value they have. In this specific case it's not just necessarily the "757" portion, but most of those combinations above just don't have an end-user when you really stop to think about it. 757Media or 757Travel would be good combinations as geo+media and geo+travel are valuable domains .. while vacation+geo and specifically bank+geo are not ideal combinations, despite having decent keywords. Those are awkward domains because they are in the incorrect order and/or missing an expected preposition (BankOfGeo.com) .. or an S at the end in the case of a index/listing site (GeoBanks.com).

Palindrome

 

Some good points @Ategy. Thank you. One thing I am not clear on is why you say geo+travel is potentially good but vacation+geo not. I would view them as sort of similar. Like I live in Victoria which does get a lot of visitors per year. To me VictoriaTravel and VacationVictoria could both be desired, although the meaning would be a bit different. To me VacationVictoria is probably going to be about things to do, places to stay, where to eat and buy during a trip to Victoria. It is possible that VictoriaTravel means the same, although I would see it as more likely to be a travel services agency. Thoughts?
Bob

Edit I did not mean to use examples for sale, but just now checked and see that both words have been held a while and are for sale. The travel one has a BIN about 5x more, although priced asked is not always a good measure of relative worth. I think the limit of any geo is its strength - it has a clear end use, but also that limits the number of other possible uses which is a negative.

 

This is why I am constantly say that people need to be very strong in English if they want to get into domaining. The two could not be further apart in terms of quality! VictoriaTravel.com is a $x,xxx end-user domain ... VacationGeo.com are the types of domains that stays in your portfolio unsold forever ... or if you're lucky maybe eventually you might get some lowball $xxx offer from someone who doesn't really understand language or branding or just can't afford anything good.

But in the end when you factor the probabilities of sale times the potential pricing multiple .. you're looking at a long term overall portfolio loss even if you do sell one or two for cheap. Just guestimating for sake of argument, but a 0.25% sell-through portfolio with an average sales multiple of 50x is going to lose money in the long term.

It's VERY important to remember that words generally have a natural order. Yes .. sometimes that order can be overlooked if it ends up sounding like a good catchy brand. But go and ask someone what they think would be on VacationVictoria? They'll just look at you weird because it's awkward English (nothing specifically to do with the keywords). In this case you've get the huge bonus for alliteration so it's not as bad as most other combinations like Vacation757, but it's still awkward. VictoriaTravel would indeed be a good name for a travel agency, and I'd think be safely over 1% sell-through and 100x multiple (which is the minimum you need to break even with your portfolio).

ADDED: I need to stress that Vacation+Geo is far from being the worst domain combination .. the actual problem is that they are in fact even "good" domains (compared to most of the domains we see all over NamePros). But the problem with domaining is that AS A DOMAIN INVESTOR .. you need GREAT domains .. "good" simply isn't good enough from a domainer's perspective when you need to have a high sell-through and high-multiples just to maintain your portfolio.

 

Initially, I thought Vacation(Geo) is a great string of words, so I checked for a place I vacation often. It turns out VacationHawaii.com is owned by one of the largest timeshare companies in the world. Regardless of what we think, a multi-million dollar company is using it.

 

Bob...this guy Ategy is way smarter than you and me. It's like he's been here the whole time we had a collaborative effort including hundreds stakeholders and businesses to rebrand "Hampton Roads" to "757". I suppose he knows Pharrell Williams too...our local celebrity who helped with the rebranding process. btw, Bank757.com is 10X better than Bankof757.com....and you're absolutely right about VictoriaTravel vs. VacationVicoria...it's like comparing apples and oranges.

Ategy, thanks so much for your help, and I know I'm bad for your industry I'm so sorry. Please do carry on

 

Vacation757 is a great one!