How to prepare for the launching of a .BRAND Top-Level Domain?

Soon, brands applying for their Top-Level Domain will enter into the ICANN validation process. This will take eight months at least. This time should be used to get prepared for D-Day.

Many questions will be raised then.

Read the article in French here.

.DELOITTE Top-Level Domain (brand)

Announced years ago, here is the first official press release to announce the .DELOITTE new generic Top-Level Domain.

Press release can be found here.

Communication in new gTLDs remains to be invented

The past has shown that a communication budget does not "do it all" to launch a new domain name extension, unless you want to pay for a massive banner hanging on the wall of the European Commission in Brussels. This is what we did for .EU domain names at Eurid but it was one well funded registry that had to be launched, not hundreds with limited budgets.

To generate interest for the launching of niche registries, I strongly believe applicants will have to be inventive and rely on their community, group or industry to promote their domain name extension, not Registrars, and no matter whether these are Community or Standard applications. I also think deep and strong connections will have to be developed and maintained in each industry.

Are .jobs .travel and .museum domain names a good example of what is in front of us: have these industries/groups ever paid any interest in a domain name which officially qualifies them?
I would answer no: Boeing and Airbus still use their .COM, MOMA uses a .ORG as well as the American Museum of Natural History, etc...
Added to this, most retail Registrars won't have enough funds to accredit themselves to all new domain names, they will have to make choices. For sure, existing Registrars won't be able to offer all new domain names to their clients.

Basically, if I think there will be much more buzz about new generic Top-Level Domains, it won't be easier to sell domain names.

So, if these industries have not really paid interest in their domain names, why would they today?

THERE IS WORK IN FRONT OF US !

It was the role of Registrars to offer domains to their clients. I think it will also become the role of the Registries to promote their domain names with new methods. New jobs will have to be invented and entrepreneurs will have to be convinced to launch new niche Registrars. The communication model to develop these new domain names remains to be invented. Is launching a new registry going to be affordable with a limited communication budget? I hope so even if I don't think so. If the "how" remains to be invented, If I am sure the "when" started a long ago.

I think my method for .WINE is good by the way. Time will tell :-)

.CLASS Trademarks

Two live Trademarks found in TESS:

1. .CLASS
2. DOTCLASS

Links can be found here and here.

.IMMO Top-Level Domain

According to this press release, there is an applicant for .IMMO domain names. Back-end registry provider is the Austrian Registry for .AT country code Top-Level Domain.

.VOTING Top-Level Domain

According to this press release, there is an applicant for .VOTING domain names. Back-end registry provider is the Austrian Registry for .AT country code Top-Level Domain.

.TIROL Top-Level Domain

According to this press release, there is an applicant for .TIROL domain names. Back-end registry provider is the Austrian Registry for .AT country code Top-Level Domain.

.STOCKHOLM Top-Level Domain

According to this article after, the city of Stockholm is applying for its domain name extension.

Read the article here (in Swedish).