Domainer Hubris: Who Needs Madison Avenue? (We Do!)

Where mainstream radio & television advertising was once too expensive for many companies to consider, Google has changed the ground rules for broadcast media Buys.

Why leave success to domainers, industry insiders and the fates when affordable tools exist to reach the mass market? Anyone who doubts the power of brute force marketing need only look Here or Here.

Of course, unlike the sale of tangible, material products, when it comes to the sale of domain names, there are none of the manufacturing, fulfillment, shipping or other costs generally associated with the sale of traditional products. Are there potential rewards for non dotCOM domain name sales based on a mass marketing approach to the end user? I believe there is.

Over and over again, I hear that Madison Avenue doesn't understand domain names. Well, from my vantage point, it appears that domainers don't understand the benefits of Madison Avenue any better.

Examples:

.LA (Laos) sees lackluster results after Rebranding as Los Angeles with little marketing.

.PRO (Professional) emerges slowly out of the starting gate after making changes and relaunching without a Madison Avenue style marketing campaign.

.ME (Montenegro) gains traction with strong prelaunch marketing to domainers.

.CO (Colombia) registrations number 500,000 domain names in the first two months following relaunch based on smart, compelling, constant marketing to the domain trade. You've seen these auction results:

mesothelioma.co $76,000
Insure.co $60,000
Denver.co $50,001
slots.co $41,000
pokerstar.co $22,500
vehicles.co $18,500
shirts.co $17,000
flix.co $13,750
forsalebyowner.co $13,600
docs.co $13,000
iporn.co $11,500
shipping.co $11,000
caribbean.co $10,610
paydayloans.co $9,375

Based on the above dotCO auction results, I'm certain many of the .CO domains I registered would sell for thousands of dollars each, but the domain names in my .PRO portfolio - with even better keywords than many of my .CO regs - is currently an unknown. What is the difference? So far as I can tell – only marketing - and most of it only within the domain trade. Truth be told, dotPRO, with the power of brute force marketing behind it, could be is as good as it gets for a non dotCOM extension. Even before the Internet, thousands of businesses branded their company names using "PRO" as either prefix or suffix, and unlike the other extensions listed above, dotPRO actually represents the word PROFESSIONAL! What does that tell you about marketing (or the lack thereof)?

Even taking into account GoDaddy (Superbowl ads), no registrar has gone directly to the public with regular, continuous advertising programs to create and maintain interest and brand recognition. How long would Coke or Pepsi stay at the peak of popularity if either company marketed to only the restaurants and food markets, but not to the ultimate end user. I don’t believe the rules of advertising change because one product happens to be a soft drink and the other a domain name. When will the domain industry begin to apply Marketing 101 strategies to directly target end users just like thousands of other industries with comparable yearly sales volume?

Hey; it's not rocket science!