Domain name registrar Network Solutions Inc is trying to increase brand awareness in Europe, following the ending of its monopoly on generic domain name registration. The firm has launched a .com advertising campaign, in an attempt to make more Europeans think of the .com suffix as a piece of premium real estate. And, naturally, NSI would like companies to view its own brand as synonymous with registering such addresses.
Due to the differing regulatory systems in place across the continent, NSI thinks it could be onto a winner. Countries such as Sweden, France and the Republic of Ireland have relatively strict guidelines, which allow companies to register their trading names as .se, .fr and .ie, but brand names and trademarks may not normally be registered, says NSI. Phil Callan, sales and marketing director for the European region, said In France, Renault, for example, could have renault.fr, but would not be able to register the name of one of its models. So, in France .com names outsell .fr addresses 3 to 1.
For 12 months NSI has been building reseller agreements with ISPs through its European Partner Program, which now has 48 ISP members. The company intends to concentrate on developing its reseller channels in Europe, and says it has no plans to acquire any registrars on the continent. It owns idNames, which registers country-code domains representing more than 150 countries around the world, including .uk, .fr and .de.
