Marketing

Vox Populi Registry, the company bringing dotSucks names to the Internet, having spent its first year giving voice to consumers, now has added its own to the domain name industry. Vox Populi is the newest member of the Domain Name Association (www.thedna.org). As the number of Internet domain names has expanded over the last couple of years, making what was a utility at .com a wider choice from .accountant to .zero, the need arose not just to market the new real estate but make sense of it. That’s where the Domain Name Association (DNA) came in. Created to represent all who provide, sell or support Internet domain names, the DNA focused first and foremost on helping all understand the benefits and advantage of these new names. At Vox Populi Registry we have watched the evolution of the DNA as it has grown from a good idea to an effective organization. And as the DNA has grown, so has Vox Populi Registry. Our first year, as theirs, was devoted to making sure we were, as the song says, “doing the best things so conservatively.” It was essential to us and our success that our policies, processes and promotion matched market expectations. A review of our first year of operation began at the start of 2016. It led us to make some changes to better align with the market and our partners. Introducing regular updates to our premium and reserved lists to reflect cultural and commercial changes is but one example. Another is that we are now members of the DNA. It is clear we share the goals of building trust, exchanging ideas, consumer education and raising awareness on behalf of the industry. As a registry that promotes free speech and speaking freely, we wanted to put our money were our mouth was. In one very specific way, it is a homecoming of sorts. Rob Hall, now CEO of Barbados-based Momentous, is a lead investor in Vox Populi. He was also a part of the group of domain name industry leaders who helped form the DNA in 2014. We hope to be able to play some small role in helping the DNA grow in size and influence at an even faster pace this year than last. The dominant role of domain names in the Internet economy demands that someone speak up for the industry. We’re voting for the DNA.

We are in the midst of celebrating the first anniversary of Vox Populi Registry and its dotSucks Internet domain names. Launched to both acclaim and opprobrium, the results have exceeded even our modest expectations. There are, of course, many ways registries measure success; some to which we subscribe (like innovation) others we don’t (like gross revenue). There are even some yardsticks created for other purposes that yield an even better measure of just how we’re doing. One of those that makes particular sense for the dotSucks platform, which aims to give companies a chance to curate criticism in ways that can deepen customer loyalty, is Fortune Magazine’s list of the top 100 companies. As Fortune notes on its website, these “companies are ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years. Included in the survey are companies that are incorporated in the U.S. and operate in the U.S. and file financial statements with a government agency.” Essentially, these companies are doing something right. The top ten are well-known to most people. Beginning this year with Walmart and running to CVS Health, it is a diverse group, reflecting the broad reach of business. Each has a history of making the right decision most of the time. We’d like to think registering a dotSucks domain name is another one of those. Of those first ten brands, six have been registered. Among the top 100, 55 have been taken to this point. It is a good thing there is still room for us to grow. Compared to the companies on the list, we are just a toddler. Here is the list of registered dotSucks domain names taken from Fortune 100 list: Walmart Exxon Mobil Chevron Apple General Motors Ford Motor AT&T Valero Energy UnitedHealth Group Verizon Fannie Mae JP Morgan Chase Bank of America Corp. IBM Cardinal Health Citigroup Amazon.com Wells Fargo Microsoft Home Depot Walgreens Target MetLife Alphabet Freddie Mac Comcast AIG UPS Dow Chemical Lowes ConocoPhillips Prudential Financial Pfizer Cisco Systems Ingram Micro FedEx Johnson Controls American Airlines Group Merck Best Buy Delta Air Lines Liberty Mutual Insurance Group United Continental Holdings New York Life Insurance Oracle Morgan Stanley Tyson Foods Nationwide DuPont American Express Allstate Cigna TIAA-CREF DirecTV Twenty-First Century Fox