The .ibm Dot Brand
International
Business Machines Corporation is the world's oldest technology company.
IBM communicates, processes and stores information offering a broad
range of services that include computer hardware and software. It has
over 400,000 employees around the world and operates in more than 190
countries.
The Applicant
intends to build its proposed .ibm TLD to provide intuitive online identities
for its business units, geographic divisions, products and services.
These new destinations will benefit its employees, divisions, partners,
vendors and customers.
The .ibm
string will increase access to IBM content, make navigation simpler
and provide clarity and consistency to the company brand. It will help
the company to differentiate its offerings and compete in the marketplace.
The company is keenly aware that both its customers and its competitors
are changing.
Some business
models are becoming obsolete, the industry is shifting and new partnerships
are reshaping the competitive landscape. These changes are "heightening
the importance of the brand and managing brands as assets." IBM
hopes its new brand TLD will be integral to this evolution.
Value
is created in the network of business relationships within and across
industries, and IBM hopes to use the .IBM TLD to bring together and
enhance that network of existing relationships for the benefit of
IBM's consumers and partners alike.
The IBM
brand is a key strategic asset. In 2011 it was valued by Interbrand
at over 69 billion dollars.
The role
of the brand is to establish a powerful and enduring "source
of value" that maintains relevance with customers, differentiates
us from competitors, and resonates across the entire enterprise.
IBM considers
it vital to keep its brand strong and relevant, and sees the .ibm string
as a potential means of enhancing this.
The intended
mission and purpose of the .IBM TLD is to provide clarity, authenticity
and logic to the IBM brand's many parts... and to create an intuitive
web identity for the company...
IBM holds
trademarks on the "IBM" mark in 170 countries for a wide range
of products, in particular in relation to information technology. It
is one of the world's most recognised trademarks. The company's current
domain name portfolio contains 259 names, of which more than 200 are
country code domains.
The .ibm
string will help the company differentiate and define its range of products,
markets and so on. IBM anticipates incorporating descriptive identifiers
such as Software.ibm and existing trademarks like SmartCloud.ibm. The
TLD may be used to distinguish between "traditional Internet marketing
sites and consumable applications or services".
IBM's naming
strategy includes a focus on clarity and consistency to maintain and
promote the power of the IBM brand. The company identity is carefully
positioned to align with customer expectations.
IBM has
more than 17,000 named products and services. The company has a sophisticated
and centralised system to create product descriptors that eliminate
confusion, ensure company-wide consistency and "build brand equity
into making IBM 'easy to do business with'."
The ultimate
goal is to create domain names that leverage the power of the IBM
name, enabling IBM Users to more conveniently and directly access
IBM's breadth of products and services, while protecting the IBM brand
and reputation.
The .ibm
extension will establish a new and trusted source of information for
visitors, and IBM's existing privacy policy will be enforced.
...use
of the TLD will enable the company to strengthen and preserve its
brand name and reputation, and provide IBM Users with a trusted space
that will ensure they are accessing IBM and are not falling victim
to piracy or other internet schemes...
...Further,
in an age of malware, phishing, cyberpiracy and counterfeit products,
the establishment of the .IBM TLD under IBM's exclusive control creates
a legitimate, secure platform...
The Applicant
does not provide details of its program to communicate awareness of
the new TLD other than to say it will inform users about the benefits
and authenticity of the .ibm string.
 Geographic
Dot Brands
IBM will
compile a comprehensive master list of geographic names to be reserved
from registration to comply with Specification 5 of the New gTLD Registry
Agreement.
This list
will include country and territory names from the ISO 3166-1 list (including
the EU). It will also include the relevant names from the UN Group of
Experts geographical names document and similarly a list from the UN
Working Group on Country Names.
IBM does
foresee that it may have an interest in utilizing country names within
.ibm brand domains in the future, and hence makes mention of a procedure
for release of reserved geographical terms.
We understand
that if we wish to release the reserved names at a later date, this
will require agreement from the relevant government(s) or review by
the GAC, and subsequent approval from ICANN.
Possible .ibm Brand
Domains
Computers.ibm
Software.ibm (specifically named in the application)
Systems.ibm
SystemDesign.ibm
Cloud.ibm
SmartCloud.ibm (specifically named)
SmarterPlanet.ibm (specifically named)
Servers.ibm
Consulting.ibm
Awards.ibm
Green.ibm
Support.ibm
Careers.ibm
Search.ibm
Notes
Brand
names mentioned on this site are registered trademarks or trademarks
of their respective corporations. This site claims no association
with or endorsement by any of these corporations and their marks are
mentioned only to illustrate opinion presented in the public interest.
All quotations
on this page are from the respective companies' official ICANN brand
TLD applications unless otherwise stated.
Many possible
theoretical dot brands are mentioned (in English). There are also countless
possibilities in other languages. This has significant potential value
for international navigation.
This site
is focused on reporting the strategic impact of the brand domains on
internet communication, competition and commerce, and some comment is
speculative.
It is not
a comprehensive overview of what some of the world's largest corporations
have chosen to reveal about their plans for the implementation of their
proprietary domain strings.
ICANN is
particularly concerned with the technical, financial, security and legal
issues associated with the new TLDs. These issues are beyond the scope
of this website.
For a comprehensive
overview of the brand domains and their impact on the web, refer to
ICANN's website and the individual applications (large parts of which
are publicly published).
If you
have a particular interest in an individual company, the public aspects
of their applications are available for download via these ICANN links:
You can also search a complete list of applicants there.
ICANN
new gTLD applications
ICANN
official website
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