.brands Spotlight: ads.amazon

Sep, 2021 | Latest News, News Slider

.brands Spotlight: ads.amazon

It’s been almost ten years since the application for .amazon was submitted to ICANN and for the majority of this time, it seemed entirely possible that the global giant may not have the opportunity to get its own .brand.

However, the team at Amazon worked their way through a myriad of ‘interesting’ policy and international governmental challenges to finally get access to .amazon last year and the launch of the TLD in the last few months is big news for the .brand community.

Creative use of .amazon should come as no surprise however. Amazon have been incredibly active in the new TLD program through the submission of over 70 TLD applications, numerous launches of generic TLDs to date and of course, the extensive use of .aws in global campaigns that we have commented on regularly here at makeway.world.

A number of redirects are in place for the key Amazon brands – including prime.amazon, kindle.amazon and alexa.amazon – but these seem to have minimal activation to date.

However, ads.amazon is the organization’s first foreray into using .amazon with some vigour and is designed to support Amazon’s advertising business which generates nearly 7 Billion in quarterly revenue according to recent reports.

What we really love is the use of ads.amazon/<code> as a short link on social media, replacing the previous link identity of advertising.amazon.com/<code> in April this year.

We’ve long proposed that organizations invest in improving the link identity and consumer brand trust for their social media links given that scammers can create branded alternatives with ease.

Using ads.amazon as a link shortener delivers unprecedented security for Amazon and simply cannot be spoofed by cyber criminals.

What’s next for .amazon? Only time will tell.

What we can say is that we’re really excited to see what they come up with given their reach and historical focus on innovation and pushing the industry boundaries.

GoDaddy acquired Neustar's registry business as of August 3, 2020.

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.brands Spotlight: Insurance industry

Oct, 2017 | Latest News

.brands Spotlight: Insurance industry

The .brands Spotlight series takes a deep-dive into interesting facets of the .brands space, looking at Stats Hub data to find insights about how .brands are being used across different industries, regions and organizations. This Spotlight piece focuses in on the global insurance industry.

Summary

The insurance industry is the largest sector in the .brands space in terms of total domains registered. This is perhaps more impressive when considering it includes just 34 TLDs – ranking it fifth in this regard behind the information technology, banking & finance, telecommunications and automotive industries. While average usage is very high, this is influenced heavily by just a handful of brands that make up the large majority of activity within the sector.

Key statistics

Total TLDs delegated: 42

Including TLDs from

AXA STATEFARM ALLSTATE MMA PRUDENTIAL

Total domains registered

Average domains per .brand

Industry percentage of all .brands 25% 25%
Proportion of active TLDs (more than 2 domains registered) 55.9% 55.9%
Proportion of active domains (resolving or redirecting) 94.7% 94.7%

Key use cases

insurance industry spotlight allstate automotive

auto.allstate

A redirect to Allstate’s automotive insurance products.

sete.mma

A regional domain redirecting to local MMA broker information.

insurance industry spotlight esurance automotive

auto.esurance

A redirect to information on Esurance’s automotive insurance.

fizzy.axa

A microsite hosting information on AXA’s new insurance product, Fizzy.

Industry spotlight: MMA displays a clear strategy

While there are over 2,000 .brand domains registered in the insurance industry, 95% of these are contained in just five TLDs – and lead heavily by French-headquartered company MMA (MMA IARD SA).

Over the last year or so, MMA has registered 1,759 domains in its .mma TLD, 97% of which are active. The vast majority of these are redirects, set up as part of an extensive strategy using locations and regions to direct visitors to local broker information. For example, the domain antibes.mma displays contact details and product information for Antibes, a region in southern France.

This is a clever way for MMA to implement its .brand TLD and use it to create more localized experience for customers, in a similar strategy to that used by Audi.

Redirects, redirects, redirects

Though by far the dominant player in its sector, the MMA model of registering a large volume of domains and setting them up to redirect to existing content is illustrative of the industry as a whole. In fact, of the insurance industry’s 2,185 registered domains, 92% are redirects. Behind MMA in terms of registered domains is Esurance Insurance Company’s .esurance, which has only one non-resolving and 145 redirecting domains. Similarly, Prudential Financial Inc.’s .pru and .prudential TLDs have a combined 142 redirecting domains out of 144 total; and all 20 .allstate domains redirect to existing locations on Allstate’s website.

Where MMA’s redirect strategy is based largely on geographic locations, other companies like Allstate and Esurance have opted to set up redirecting domains based on product and service offerings, such as auto.allstate, claims.allstate and homeowners.esurance, marrying relevant, deep content to insightful, short URLs.

Conclusion

As a highly complex industry with a wide range of detailed products and services, insurance companies by their nature tend to have large multifaceted websites that would otherwise be very difficult to navigate and would force customers to rely on third parties like search to find the information they need. The current usage of .brand domains within the insurance sector shows a clear trend towards redirect strategies.

This approach can provide memorable, meaningful pathways to deeper website content that improves the customer experience and also reinforces the brand in the link. With one of the highest rate of domain usage than any other industry (94% vs industry average of 67%), the insurance sector – and a few key players in particular – is leading the way in this regard.

GoDaddy acquired Neustar's registry business as of August 3, 2020.

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Did you ever stop to think what the ‘link’ is all about?

Oct, 2017 | Latest News

Did you ever stop to think what the ‘link’ is all about?

By Tony Kirsch
Head of Professional Services, Neustar

From as far back as the 1400s, marketing has existed with three simple objectives;

1. to inform consumers about products and services they may want or need;
2. to brand that experience in order to build loyalty or recall; and
3. to prompt customers to take action.

And despite a myriad of technical innovations over that time, the game remains pretty much the same. But things do change.

Innovations evolve from raw, often simplistic initial forms into something far more elegant as utilization spreads and they benefit from continual refinement and learning. This is the core of progress. To question the existing and follow the potential of finding a better way.

This leads me to the URL shortener, or the ‘link.’ A tool built from necessity in a social digital world. A tool that until recently, no-one stopped to ask ‘what the hell are we doing?’

Saving the character count

Writing content for social media has its own particular requirements due to the audience, typical behavior and general restrictions of the various platforms available. Twitter in particular presents a challenge for marketers to adhere to the 140-character limit. However, even this in itself has evolved with Twitter making changes to the treatment of photos, videos and quotes within the character count over the last few years.

But because of these limitations, a new ‘best practice’ has developed – the use of a URL shortener – where the destination URL of the content (typically on a long URL) is transformed into a short URL.

In addition to keeping the number of characters down so you can share more of your genius, one of the additional benefits of using a URL shortener platform is that it can often provide you with great insights into how your posts are being shared, clicked and are otherwise performing.

Options aplenty

Sure, there are lots of options to shorten your URLs – from free services through to more advanced and expensive analytical providers. And if you think about it, you’ve seen them everywhere.

Market leader Bitly (who noticeably rebranded themselves away from bit.ly in recent times) shortens upwards of 400 million links a month which is a staggering number in itself.

Others are infused in your daily social feeds – from bit.ly to goo.gl to ow.ly. And we never blink an eyelid.

The game is changing

The first time I really started to think about this was when Bitly reported that shortened links that have some reference to your brand were capable of driving up to a 34% increase in click-through rate. We’re not talking about minor improvements here – 34% is a massive boost in any context.

And so brands took the advice, to varying levels of success:

Some did a good job by using a shorter ccTLD or similar – ibm.co etc.
Some added a little extra to the domain – on.nfl.com
Some threw a dot in a strange place or abbreviated their brand to make it work – bloom.bg, xfin.tv, ora.cl
Others just completely hacked something together out of their brand – capitl1.co, at.van.fedex.com, s.gm.com

But despite this clear insight from the organization who really has the data to make such a statement, a large proportion of brands – some of whom really ought to know better – still use generic links in social media.

Time to get real

The .brand juice flowing through my veins was starting to pulse as this all started to formulate in my head. We’ve been teaching all of our customers to use their .brand to get people to the content they want through simple and powerful URLs.

So what really is the difference between a social media link and a link we may use in a TV campaign? Are we constrained by slightly archaic mindsets and could our .brand approach work across traditional and social media platforms?

Looking at the BrandFinance Global 500 brands, 142 of those applied for their own .brand TLD but a staggering half of those .brand owners are using a generic URL shortener or no shortener at all.

Something’s wrong with this picture. Could this be an opportunity to not only see .brand usage increase, but start the process of meaningful link development?

A new way of branding links

For organizations with a .brand, there now exists a better way to approach social links. The ability to create something short, with your recognizable brand to the right of the dot, means the best of both worlds – custom links, control of data and an accurate representation of your brand in every post.

In fact, this can be one of the simplest ways to get started with a .brand domain as we’ve noticed with organizations such as HSBC, Philips and our good selves at Neustar.

But even then, not all customized links are created equal. It’s all well and good to include your brand in your links, but what about that randomly-generated text after the slash?

Think about it, what looks better:

i.neustar/3nsdD7
or i.neustar/socialblog

This part of your link gives people a preview of what to expect. If your brand comes after the dot, the text after the slash gives you the chance to feature a product, service, promotion, content piece and so on, so people know exactly where they’re going when they click.

Which of the options above is likely to get more clicks?

Highly-available tools allow you to easily set up branded link shorteners with the freedom to also customize the extension – and for many of them it’s a free service. It’s almost too simple, and is out there waiting and available for any brand to take advantage of.

The importance of brand in social

The matter at stake here is bigger than freeing up a few more characters in your Twitter posts.

It’s about building things that people can identify and can trust. It’s about increasing visibility of your brand, and your product. It’s about creating a consistent experience for customers.

With a custom link shortener using a .brand, your company’s identity can be present and strengthened with every post, while creating a more trustworthy experience for audiences that they’re more likely to engage with.

On top of this, customizing to the right hand side not only looks better, but gives people something they can identify and connect with.

Identifying, connecting, tracking, building trust, branding. All of these outcomes are crucial to what marketers try to do every single day.

So why are so many stuck in an old way of thinking?

Mark my words, this is a game changer and in the very near future we’re all going to reflect on this and wonder why it took us so long to come up with this simple and efficient improvement to the ever powerful ‘link.’

GoDaddy acquired Neustar's registry business as of August 3, 2020.

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.brands Spotlight: Banking and Finance

Aug, 2017 | Latest News, News Slider

.brands Spotlight: Banking and Finance industries

The .brands Spotlight series takes a deep-dive into interesting facets of the .brands space, looking at Stats Hub data to find insights about how .brands are being used across different industries, regions and organizations. This Spotlight piece focuses in on the global banking and finance industries.

Summary

The banking and financial industries comprise almost one fifth of the global economy, with total assets of $163,000 billion USD. As one of the most globalized and information technology-reliant sectors, it is no surprise that the banking and financial services sector is one of the most heavily represented in the .brand space.

Key statistics

Total TLDs delegated: 59

From companies including:

BARCLAYS BRADESCO HSBC NAB JPMORGAN CHASE

Total domains registered

Average domains per .brand

Industry percentage of all .brands 10.3% 10.3%
Proportion of active TLDs (more than 2 domains registered) 11% 11%
Proportion of active domains (resolving or redirecting) 56% 56%

Key use cases

home.barclays

The home page of Barclays Bank PLC

letsride.hsbc

Redirects to the homepage of a British Cycling initiative sponsored by HSBC UK.

fundacao.bradesco

The Bradesco Foundation: “Education that broadens horizons and transforms lives.’’

developer.nab

NAB is opening up its APIs to “…empower developers to create the next generation of innovative customer experiences”.

Industry spotlight: How Barclays brings simplicity in a cluttered online world

Of the banks and financial services companies using .brand TLDs, Britain’s Barclays Bank is the leader in terms of domain registrations. With 123 registered .barclays and .barclaycard domains, 32 are currently actively resolving or redirecting.

Barclays has long been a leading innovator in the British financial sector. It was the first high street bank to introduce ATMs (1967) and was the first to offer a debit card (1987).

In May 2015, Barclays became one of the first major brands worldwide to migrate from a global “brand.com” to a .brand TLD.

Troels Oerting, Barclays Group Chief Information Security Officer, said at the time, “The launch of the .barclays and .barclaycard domain names creates a simplified online user experience, making it crystal clear to our customers that they are engaging with a genuine Barclays site.’’

Servicing so many disparate sectors around the world, Barclays makes extensive use of multiple domains and pages to maintain contact focus on individual markets.

Given the size and scope of the banking and financial services sector along with the heavy competition in this market, .brands are a chance for companies to differentiate themselves and improve customer experience by getting people where they need to be, quickly and easily.

Barclays, for example, targets the SME, start-up and self-employed sectors with a range of dedicated sites such as entrepreneurs.barclays.

South American bank leading the way in innovation

Brazil’s Banco Bradesco maintains the most active .brand in the finance sector, with 106 out of a total of 116 registered domains resolving or redirecting. Bradesco is Brazil’s second-largest private bank, and is internationally recognized as a technology innovator.

It was the first to introduce internet banking in Brazil, and today uses biometric palm print identification for its network of 35,000 ATMs.

Banco Bradesco’s position as the cutting-edge bank introducing new technology in South America has led it to the .brand path, using its .bradesco TLD as its primary address at banco.bradesco, with several sites set up using these domains for specific, additional functions of the business. These include sites such as financiamentos.bradesco, funacao.bradesco and universitario.bradesco.

These .brand sites allow the bank to provide specialized services for customers, including one-stop shops for purchasing and finance options.

Challenges in the banking and finance sector

Traditional players in the banking and finance sector may be able to trace their founding back for centuries, but rapid technological change in recent years means that long-dominant institutions find themselves increasingly exposed to new competitive forces.

Developments in technology and regulatory reforms are reducing entry barriers. Similarly, social change means younger generations have new demands and expectations that traditional institutions possess little competitive advantage in delivering.

The rise of fintechs, neobanks and challenger banks — and an international move towards open banking — has given rise to potential challenges for established players.

Conclusion

Totalling more than 10 percent of all domain registrations, the banking and finance sector is strongly represented in the .brand space. Top adopters include five of the world’s ten largest banks: Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, BNP Paribas, and Bank of America.

Using .brand sites allows these early adopter companies to separate their functions and deliver customers to dedicated websites addressing their specific needs, essential in a busy world where banking needs are more diverse than ever before.

GoDaddy acquired Neustar's registry business as of August 3, 2020.

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Upcoming webinar – .brands 101

Aug, 2017 | Latest News, News Slider

Upcoming webinar: .brands 101

You may have heard that over 550 big brands have a .brand Top-Level Domain (TLD), such as .microsoft, .ford and .barclays. But what exactly is a .brand TLD, and what can you do with it?

Following our successful .brand update webinar in June, we’re pleased to bring you another webinar that goes ‘back to basics’ on .brands.

Register for this webinar to hear:

• An explanation of what a .brand TLD is in plain English (also perfect for bringing co-workers up to speed)
• Why some big brands have a .brand, and what to do if you want one too
• The different models being utilized with .brand TLDs
• The five real reasons .brand should be used

Come along for a great refresher on the fundamentals of .brand TLDs – or invite your colleagues to introduce, educate and inspire them about the .brand movement!

GoDaddy acquired Neustar's registry business as of August 3, 2020.

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MakeWay.World is the online hub for news, resources, tips and inspiration on .brands from global dotbrand experts.