.brands Industry Report Everything you need to know about .brands SEPTEMBER 2020 What is a .brand? brand.com anything.brand A .brand is a top-level domain (TLD) like .com or .co, but with your brand name to the right of the dot. It’s your own custom-branded digital ecosystem, where you have total control over the entire namespace. Over 500 of the world’s largest brands now have their own piece of internet real estate. It’s time to end the search, and start connecting. www.makeway.world .brands Industry Report Contents 06 By The Numbers 10 How Sky Group is managing their global digital IP 16 Showcase: Highlights 18 Using your .brand in crisis - A COVID-19 analysis 22 A brand new home for GoDaddy Registry September 2020 Foreword .brands Industry Report 05 Welcome to the .brands Industry The ‘By the Numbers’ section that Report for mid-2020, the first of our starts on Page 06 contains some of the publications as GoDaddy Registry. After most impressive statistics we’ve seen two proud decades as Neustar Registry, in our history of preparing this report, our team is excited to be joining the showing a continued momentum in GoDaddy family of companies. Rest .brands but a noticeable upswing in assured, as GoDaddy Registry we usage over the last 12 months. In this will continue to support the .brands publication, we’ll also explore industry industry and provide you with all the verticals to see how this impacts .brand latest news and insights as we have in usage around the world. the past. We will also continue to “walk the talk,” as our business will live on the Finally, COVID-19 is such an impactful shiny, new .godaddy brand TLD. topic for our world right now and our analysis on what this means for You can find our new website at .brands can be found on Page 18. It’s www.registry.godaddy, which we great to see a number of household discuss on Page 22 of this report. The brands using their .brand for this type launch of .godaddy is exciting for all of controlled and specific messaging of us, and just as we did with .neustar, and these organizations have really we will document every step of the way embraced some of the core benefits of and share the journey with you. owning your own TLD. In this report, we highlight one of On that note, we hope that you the largest media organizations in and your families are staying safe the world, The Sky Group. Sky fully as we collectively navigate the so understand the complexities of running called “new normal”. We’re all in a geographically dispersed and multi- this together, so please feel free dimensional business as much as to contact us should you need any anyone. On page 10 Tony Kirsch speaks assistance or even if you just want exclusively with Dawn Shackleton – to have a friendly chat. Head of Online Brand Protection at Sky on about what it means to manage To you and yours: stay safe and digital IP in the modern world, and healthy, and please enjoy this .brand how their use of .sky is helping them Industry Report. overcome a range of challenges. This is a must read for IP managers and TLD operators and helps to identify Jason Loyer strategies that help stimulate usage of Director, Client Services, your .brand TLD. GoDaddy Registry September 2020 By the numbers Total resolving Domains used for Total domains domains the first time 19,920 3,535 26 up 16% up 21% new record Average number of Number of TLDs with domains per TLD more than 50 domains 35 48 up 10% up20% Stats correct as at June 30, 2020. Growth rates indicate change over twelve months from Jul 1, 2019 to Jun 30, 2020 Registered .brand domains .dvag .audi .mma 1 3771 2 2030 3 1871 .allfinanz .seat .mini 4 1010 5 747 6 676 *Data - 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 .brands Industry Report 07 Fastest growing .brand domains .cbs 600% .sbi 300% .BRANDS .vig 140% .sew 100% .itv 100% .dhl 81% 0% % OF GROWTH OVER 12 MONTHS 600% Most resolving .brand domains 1300 1000 1186 NUMBER OF DOMAINS 700 500 512 300 100 107 88 83 0 .audi .seat .schwarz .weber .bmw .BRANDS *Data - 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 September 2020 Fastest growing .brand registrations by industry 6000 5000 NUMBER OF DOMAINS 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 DEC 2017 DEC 2018 DEC 2019 JUNE 2020 YEAR Information Insurance Automotive Technology Industrial Banking and Financial Top 5 resolving domains by industry Banking & 1 Automotive 2 Financial 3 Retail Information 4 Industrial 5 Technology *Data - 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 .brands Industry Report 09 Countries leading the way with .brand domain names 8813 NUMBER OF DOMAINS 3591 2562 865 636 567 563 430 409 324 282 Germany USA France Spain Japan Australia UK China Brazil Switzerland Italy COUNTRY Countries with the fastest growth in .brand domain registrations (%) Kuwait 165% 34% Russian Federation Austria 80% 30% Australia India 37% 23% Israel *Data - 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 September 2020 FEATURE ARTICLE How Sky Group is managing their global digital IP Tony Kirsch Dawn Shackleton Head of Professional Services, Head of Online Brand Protection, GoDaddy Registry Sky Group Technology .brands Industry Report 11 Sky Group is one of the world’s and facilitate the provision and and educating customers and staff of most diversified Direct-To- promotion of online compliance the latest phishing scams infringing Consumer media organizations policies and guidance. I am also on Sky’s brands is a never-ending and operates across numerous proud to be an active member task that my team work with cyber countries and business areas. and sit on the board of the Brand security to tackle the issues we Since their acquisition of the .sky Registry Group (BRG). face. We also work closely with TLD, Sky Group have consistently the IP lawyers to close sites, apps experimented with .sky and are Tony Kirsch: What does the Sky and social media accounts that are one of the foremost advocates of Group digital IP portfolio look like? infringing .brand utilization. on Sky’s “MY TEAM IS THE Dawn Shackleton: Sky has multiple trademarks CENTRAL DOMAIN In this exclusive interview, domain portfolios across the via a domain MANAGEMENT GoDaddy Registry’s Tony Kirsch different territories that it operates name. Another HUB FOR ALL SKY talks with Dawn Shackleton – Head out of. My team is the central big challenge TERRITORIES...” of Online Brand Management to domain management hub for all Sky is finding discuss all things digital IP, .brand territories, and we set the domain dotCOM and how .sky is slowly becoming name strategy and policies for the domains for new products and part of this giant organization’s whole of Sky Group. In the UK sky. services, as most skygenericword. future online footprint. com is used for customer facing com domains have been registered services. Whereas the ccTLD is used by domain prospectors if not already Tony Kirsch: Thanks for taking the for Rep of Ireland, Germany, Italy, owned by Sky. To purchase generic time to speak with us Dawn. To start, Austria, Spain and Switzerland. two-word domains is expensive and could you tell us a little about your The active domains and defensive challenging. Lastly having a generic background and your current role in domains reflect the trademarks, word for a brand makes defending terms of managing Sky’s digital IP? products and services available to it a rather large brand protection customers within each country. exercise on a global level and across Dawn Shackleton: Hello Tony, it’s multiple languages and cultures. absolutely my pleasure. I have Tony Kirsch: What are the 5 most worked for Sky in the UK for over 22 concerning challenges you’re facing Tony Kirsch: What strategies years in many guises. Currently today in terms of managing the (including .sky, but not specifically I am Head of Online Brand Protection domain portfolio for Sky? related to .sky) have you found and my team useful to implement to overcome works out of Sky’s “I HAVE WORKED Dawn Shackleton: TV and film these challenges? Group Technology FOR SKY IN THE content acquisition and license Office. My team’s UK FOR OVER 22 agreements with major studios Dawn Shackleton: Brand protection responsibilities YEARS IN MANY and sports organisations in the internet name space makes include managing GUISES.” around the world and it necessary to build collaborative Group Sky internet producing home grown content and strong working relationships name space (domains and dotSKY is incredibly expensive. Preventing with legal and security teams. At registry), provide DNS support for and shutting down content piracy Sky, Nisha Parkash in my team and technology and business teams, sites on the public and deep web is I are the domain specialists and manage the external PKI providers the top challenge for Sky. Preventing we treat domains as digital assets, September 2020 Dawn Shackleton: At most large companies’ people move on or change their roles and Sky is no different. This means that getting long term traction and awareness of dotSKY is a time consuming and often arduous task. It was especially hard during the build up to the Application process and until delegation. It’s not easy which they are. Technologists Tony Kirsch: Are these challenges trying to explain what a TLD is and love a strategy and over the last consistent with what you hear from why it’s different to a 2LD domain four years we have agreed with other brand owners? Or are there name.