ConnectedBrands Creative Slides

1
Who Missed the Domain?
Eric Rice DomainsForMedia.com 443-421-0000
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Agency and marketing experience

• VP Business Development, JDA Advertising
  Fastest growing direct response agency 1996 by
  Advertising Age
• COO, ConnectedBrands Full service agency, 9
  offices
• General Manager Bulkregister, domain registrar
  sold to Enom/Demand Media

3
For our Madison Avenue friends

• Ovt w/ extension Number of times someone
  searches in Overture and
• includes the extension.
• Example Instead of searching for cars they
  search for cars.com
• Lesson 1 The higher the ovt with extension the
  more direct type-in traffic the domain gets
  because if some are putting it in the search box
  with extension then some are surely typing it
  directly into the browser

4
Overture w/ extension
5
Overture w/ extension
6
Why is domain traffic so hard to understand?

• The concept that domains themselves have traffic
  is very hard for many to understand.
• Lack of this understanding may be the single
  biggest reason that others outside the industry
  seldom value domains as we do
• Who I meet that doesnt understand natural domain
  traffic Agencies, Media Planners, CEOs,
  Corporate Executives, SEO firms and many others.

7
Commonly heard

• I say type in they say oh yea in the search
  boxSome otherwise smart people never seem to
  get direct navigation even when I explain it 3-4
  times.
• We already have domains. We keep them at
  GoDaddy.
• Let me give you the persons name who manages our
  domains. This is always some admin type who is
  simply the person who renews the domains and has
  no buying power

8
Characteristics of those who understand domain
traffic?

• While I dont know exactly what they are I
  suspect that domainers have some innate and
  common personal characteristics that has allowed
  them to better understand domains and traffic and
  be the first movers

9
Why most agencies and corporations dont get
domains

• Lack of press about domain traffic, therefore
  lack of understanding that domains themselves
  produce billions of targeted impressions
• Yet we are overwhelmed with press about paid
  search and other paid placements
• Long history of media planning and buying aka
  our Ad Spend
• No mindset about buying the channel itselfCant
  buy the TV station, or the radio station or the
  building the outdoor ad is on.
• Nobody in charge of domain acquisition at agency
  or even corporate level and no budgeting for it

10
Why most agencies and corporations dont get
domains

• Unlike domainers no culture of seeing a domain
  as part of the overall success equation. Its
  simply not the starting point

11
A story to help Madison Avenue and corporations
understand domain traffic value

• Video Poker Industry
• Video Poker becoming widely popular in the casinos

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A story to help Madison Avenue and corporations
understand domain traffic value

• VideoPoker.com
• Purchased for approximately 50,000
• Not heavily marketed until early 2006
• Traffic was rarely tracked, revenue model was
  nonexistent
• Owner may have resold for 100,000, 200,000, or
  500,000 over the years?

13
VideoPoker.com Current Stats

• After 18 months of strategy, execution and lead
  capture combined with great direct type- in
  traffic
• Overture w/ extension 2000-2500 per month
• Thousands of daily direct type ins
• 1 in Google search for term video poker
• 3,000,000 monthly page views
• 61,000 loyal and active members, 150 new sign ups
  per day
• Very targeted, quality traffic and user base
• Not a gambling site, play and practice the real
  games in the casinos (owner also has patents
  on 90 of the actual casino video poker games)

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What is this traffic worth to us?

• We are currently selling out the advertising
  space on the website
• Our ad target Casinos who want to drive Video
  Poker players and overall casino traffic
• 15-25 per thousand impressions 45,000 -
  75,000 per month
• 50 per year membership upgrade _at_ 15,000
  750,000 annual
• Revenue will only increase as membership does

15
What is this traffic worth to a casino if they
owned the domain?

• 50 of the 50,000 members visit Vegas 1x per year
• 25,000 x 5,000 average spent at hotel and casino
  125,000,000 on its way to Vegas in 2007 from
  these members
• If one casino could capture just 5 of that
  through incentives, discounts, direct marketing
  6,250,000 per year and will grow each year
• Recurring value over the next 5, 10, 20 years?
  Hundreds of millions and eventually billions of
  dollars

16
Where were the brand managers, media planners and
marketing execs pushing casino clients to buy
this domain?

• It makes practical and common sense yet
• no such company has ever even made an offer or
  inquired about the domain
• Of course the only offers over the years have
  come from domainers themselves

17
Wouldnt it be better for the casino/corporation
to own the channel itself?

• By owning the domain you own the entire channel
  and all the avenues to profit from that channel
• You dont share traffic or customers with your
  competition
• You own the customer and can dialogue with them
  in your community
• You own it forever at todays domain costs
• You rely less on paid search, banners and other
  online media buys
• Domain type in traffic converts at higher rates
  than other types of traffic
• You drive your advertising costs down
• If you are in the associated business you can
  take the traffic to its highest and best use
  getting much quicker payback

18

• Most corporations simply have no understanding of
  domain traffic, no strategy to acquire the most
  relevant domains or person/team dedicated to
  those goals
• Domainers have not been good about explaining the
  value of domain traffic

19
What it will cost a casino to buy VideoPoker.com
today

• Its not for sale but if it were5-10 million?
• That price might be a bargain based on the
  current stats
• Just like real estate in 1996, todays top
  prices will seem like deals in the future

20
Hotel.com discussion for the rest of the panel

• Hotel.com At last years show a brand expert said
  that Hyatt didnt want to brand itself as a cheap
  hotel therefore they are not interested in that
  domain
• Sounds foolish to me. If you are Hyatt, owning
  hotel.com does nothing to hurt your brand, what
  it does is automatically drive millions or
  billions to your bottom line and even insure
  success during down cycles.
• Also if they dont want hotels.com why dont they
  own exclusivehotels.com and other domains more on
  target with the brand?
• Comments from the rest of the panel? How do we
  move domain education along?

21
Questions I have?

• Is it really in the best interest of a media
  planner and agency to teach clients about the
  value of domain traffic and get them to buy the
  domain? Agencies make money on media buys.
  Its the lifeblood of the organization
• Is Madison Avenue really the target? Or is it the
  corporations themselves?

22

• Thanks for your time.