Staggering! According to the annual Interbrand Top 100 Brands report for 2009 the top 10 global brands are worth $422,901 ($m). Good leadership, innovation, protection, reach and solid products have created lasting consumer relationships and new entanglements that drive that amazing number. In this post from my original series back in March 2010, we’ll discuss the high level value a dot brand could create.

The web, new media and digital technologies have specifically in the last ten years contributed considerably to brand growth. Successful brands have differentiated themselves using new technologies available to them, creating stronger and wider entanglements. Brand leadership has developed a consumer following that gives meaning to peoples lives and guarantees recurring revenue.

Brand owners, specifically those that choose to be leaders and innovators in reaching their consumers have embraced digital media and the web. Brand of all sizes who want to be successful understand that there is a merging of technologies, increased cross -media and cross-channel opportunities and that it is OK to be decentralized in your approaches.

In many areas we have also seen brands and those charged with both promoting and protecting them often collide when existing policies collide with new technologies. The ability to be flexible and embrace new technologies is vital for the future growth of brands. We can see in social media the power of good branding on customer recognition.

A study carried out by Razorfish has shown that 40% of Facebook users follow brands and 25% follow brands on Twitter. In the consumer navigation world we’ve seen that consumers do navigate directly(type in traffic)with figures suggesting up to 60% of internet users use the address bar. Other figures suggest that customers who reach their desired destination through direct navigation are three times more likely to purchase the product. Consumer linking to brands through social networks, search or direct navigation is part of good brand recognition.

Brand recognition is the extent to which a brand and its products are recognized by consumers. Logo’s, tag-lines and even domain names can be associated with brand recognition which nicely brings us to the Dot Brand. Dot Brand has the opportunity to become an invaluable tool within brand leaders, to drive recognition and brand value.

Firstly we have to understand how brand owners currently utilize domain names and URLs to capture traffic.

• www.coke.com/cherry
• pentium.intel.com
• www.toyotoprius.com
• www.microsoft.com

These are basic examples, there is a world of additional domain names and URLs utilized by brand owners from relevant term domain names, keywords, misspellings and global registrations. All designed to capture customers. Now lets look at what a Dot Brand could do.

• www.cherry.coke
• www.pentium.intel
• www.prius.toyota
• www.windows.microsoft

A broader view of brand recognition is the extent to which a brand is recognized within a product class for certain attributes. Dot Brand for example could also be used in the following to capture consumer recognition.

• www.therealthing.coke
• www.speed.intel
• www.safety.toyota
• www.search.microsoft

The possibilities are endless and only limited to the creativity and leadership of the corporation. But let’s get realistic. You can’t just create your own internet country and expect all your tribe members to live in it happily straight away. It will be a long road and you have to consider some important factors.

1. Be realistic – If you are not one of the top 100 brands globally, top 10 regionally or if you are deeply B2B step away from the Dot Brand idea. Your probably doing great things with existing technologies and there is plenty to keep you occupied. However if you are visionary and small it might just be worth it.

2. Brand recognition starts at home – It is fundamental to the success of your Dot Brand that your organization (not just legal & marketing) are behind you in this. You need your army to believe and the first way to do that is to educate them by exposing the organization to your strategy.

3. Collaborate internally & externally – I cannot stress how important it is that all those involved in existing marketing, technology and protection avenues are involved in this however segmented your organization is. Bring in experts that can facilitate both education across the business but can also lead without being in charge.

4. Keep your integrity – You’ve built strong brand recognition and trust within consumers and the market using existing technologies. That is why you are on the Interbrand list. Don’t throw it away with careless brand management in the dot brand.

5. Be in it for the long haul – This is not a fad. This is a considerable advancement in the internet. The adoption curve will be long and there will be pitfalls along the away. Your existing tribe members and potential new ones will not initially understand the change but, in the long run it will create fulfilling engagements between you and consumers.

You are top brand owners with revenue sometimes in excess of some GDPs, and they have their own extensions. Your dedicated tribe members want a home of their own which your can provide and secure that coveted spot on the top 100.

In the next post we’ll discuss how some brand owners can join forces for the good of the tribe and why some just should.