CIRA Bootstrap Marketing Discussion
Clyde Beattie" <clyde.beattie@aloak.ca> 09/09/01 02:26PM
Bruce et al:
My thoughts on marketing proposals.
CB: CIRA should:
· have a unique design (logo) for “.CA”
· apply for a trade mark on “ .CA” logo design
· enforce control over all uses of the .CA brand through trade mark. As we have done with CIRA marks.
· promote the brand widely in Canada, directly and through programs developed for Registrars.
· Make the .CA logo the “Good housekeeping seal of approval” for Canadians and Canadian businesses.
· Drive demand for the .CA product to be delivered by it’s distributor network, Registrars..
· Create a top level resource centre (top level links to major public Canadian resource sites)
CIRA should not be in the business of setting prices for the domain license product but must work with it’s distribution channel, the Certified Registrars, to promote special pricing for target groups eg. Students, charities.
CB:
· Convince the federal government to issue a stamp with our .CA logo on it
· Request that every Chamber of Commerce, Business Organizations & Associations, Municipal and government to display the .CA logo (as a link to CIRA where appropriate)
· Get on Canadian Business TV programs eg. ROB TV to promote .CA brand. Possibly engage a well known public personality to be spokesman and/or personification of the .CA brand.
· Promote the notion that every Canadian .COM and .NET should protect it’s domain identity by having the .CA too
· Promote the notion that generic product and service descriptions can be registered and linked to corporate websites in addition to the company name or brand identity.
· Response to Ron K suggestions;
o I like the certificate idea put forward by Ron K
o I agree competitive pricing to Registrars will go a long way toward making .CA the product with equal or more margin for the reseller and has to have a positive impact on the Registrars positioning of the .CA product as it would with any other product in a free market.
o I don’t think speeding up populating the Zone files will mean anything to the vast majority of Registrants. It does mean something to Registrars though.
o CIRA should only develop price promotions and selected group pricing through the Registrars. CIRA does not and should not have a commercial relationship with anyone except Registrars. They are currently the exclusive distribution channel and have made a significant investment to be Registrars, authorized resellers of the .CA domain license.
o Suggesting that anyone would give up the an existing .COM for a .CA isn’t realistic but promoting the use of .CA address as the primary where both .CA and .COM are owned by a Registrant makes sense.
CB: The Student Exemption
I think these Student and PWS are great promote ideas except that they are described here in a context where CIRA becomes the Retailer and goes around the established distribution network that CIRA has gone to a lot of expense to research and establish and which has made a significant investment in meeting CIRA’s significant requirements. Registrars made this investment on the understanding that Registrars would be the exclusive distribution channel. These promotional ideas can be accomplished though and with the full cooperation and support of the Registrar network I am adamantly opposed to anything that undermines the Registrars exclusive right to market .CA domain registrations.
CB: The dot ca Newsletter
A primary tool for promotion of the .CA domain.
CB: Develop a CIRA Charitable Organization Policy
I helped bring the Hotline project to CIRA for exactly these reasons. The Hotline is a potentially important portal to direct callers to resource sites which assist and educate primarily young people who use the net.
CB: Develop a few Compelling Reasons why People and Businesses Should Choose a dot ca
Right after developing an appealing ,CA logo brand ID, we need a slogan that immediately communicates a clear and compelling reason consider .CA , five or six words. If we can’t get a set of ideas on participating web sites, we may be able to get the .CA logo and a single slogan line.
Logo: “.CA “ on a Canadian flag …. Insert “.CA” inside maple leaf. slogan, “PROUDLY FLY CANADIAN”
CB: Develop a dot ca Gift Certificate Program
Promotion through cooperative programs to ISP through CAIP but again CIRA Registrars must retain the right to sell Registrations.
Clyde Beattie, CEO Aloak Corp. AOK : X clyde.beattie@aloak.ca tel: 519-421-0676 cel: 519-421-8466
"Paul Mitchel" <pmitchel@chat.carleton.ca> 09/11/01 05:44PM
With regards to your marketing initiative for CIRA, I was thinking why not offer corporations the chance to purchase something larger than a lawn sign i.e. a banner that can be hung off the side of buildings on Canada Day, which would of course display the same info as the lawn sign, just on a larger scale. Just a thought.
Ron K <kawchuk@idirect.com> 09/06/01 09:59AM
Bruce:
Perused your site. Some additional thoughts.
I like the idea of mixing with the real world, such as the sign idea. e.g. - One very big CC registry sends each new registrant an official certificate, suitable for framing !
What about getting the .CA brand out via speaking engagements at conferences, interviews with trade and business press and 'expert' commentary when DNS/Internet issues are in the media? E.G. - .biz, .info and .name will be here shortly. Can .CA leverage off those in some way ?
What about promoting and/or running a .CA only search engine ?
Comments on speed.<< In addition, the Registry itself should have certain advantages including: a) speed (Real Time from CIRA DB to Zone File for very fast upload to go live-to-the-web
instantly); >>
Q: Is spending $ on speeding up populating the Zone files a very useful or a differentiator ?
Registrars seem to be saying that CIRA's sign up process is the main slowdown bottleneck relative to NSI.
i.e. It takes longer and/or more effort to get signed up in the 1st place.
I also think we can do things with CIRA's wholesale pricing to make .CA more attractive. In no particular order:
e.g. Special pricing for non-profits e.g. free.
e.g. Charge less to renew than the initial fee or vice versa.
e.g., As Bruce noted, special prices for High School students.
e.g. Incentives for signing up for more than a year at time.
e.g. Have a .com round-up. Give an incentive to convert from a .com to a .ca
-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Firestone [SMTP:bmfirestone@hickling.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 5:48 PM
To: clyde.beattie@aloak.ca; denis@DIGS.CA; paul@egate.net; ccampbell@hostopia.com; kawchuk@idirect.com
Subject: Bootstrap marketing of the dot ca TLD
Clyde/Ron/Denis/Paul/Colin- I put together a synopsis of the stuff I received from you together with some of my ideas and ones I have had access to. It is very much a draft and it is confidential. It is a starting point for discussion- it is supposed to fun, cheap and effective. I put it on the web on my Carleton University web site in a password protected space. Please go to: www.dramatispersonae.org which is my personal web site. Click on the Log On for "42.491 Entrepreneurialist Culture". It will ask you for your user id (entrepreneur) and your password (initiatives). Once you are there, I have added a link right at the top of the page: Guerrilla Marketing for the dot ca TLD- an Example. Comments? Hope all is well. Bruce
25 Steps to Entrepreneurial Success