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However, auctions will not work for thousands of other cities at all, especially when city names are shared across the continent, or the same names have already been used in hundreds of brand names all over the world since the last century. Apart from who has
the first, original use, most city halls would not have the mega-bucks necessary to buy their ownership that should rightfully belong to them in the first place. There are tens of thousands of community-based programs and associations. These non-profit, often use a local or regional brand name, with almost no global trademark cover, and which often end up being named with a strange combination of initials. Groups that fall into this category will have no chance to play this high-caliber, cyber-branding games.

Outside the bidding on city names, there are dozens of other combinations within the business sector, where some huge and unique applications of this method would create powerful new global cyber-brand names overnight.

Currently, there are million plus business name identities of great potential interest in this race. These businesses are huge, but their names, with the exception of very few, still do not have the necessary global cover and protection to be considered automatic winners, and they may lose out in big time global contests. The new selection, when applied under IP rules, will have to rule in favor of all existing, globally recognized trademarked brands as the rightful owners of their own suffixes. For example, .IBM, .Sony or .PlayStation, but .apple and .orange may lose their ground during the process.

How many "Gulf" names are already registered? From Gulf Air to Gulf anything in the region and across the world, and so are the thousands of highly-diluted dictionary and geographic-based or family names.

Somehow, name brand identities are moving towards a serious crisis, and to begin, there small number of names with a Five Star Standard of Naming Status, and this sudden change will only point to a rude awakening. The real complexities of accidental and casual naming are appearing fast on all fronts, and very soon, each and every company will have to face the music on globally-indexed charting and being a top leader within any single region will not be sufficient to win this game. Names are for marketing, and marketing today is global, and therefore, names must be globally structured. Long gone are the days when poorly-crafted local names were pushed to their limits, with excessive advertising to appear global for a while.

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Naseem Javed, recognized as a world authority on corporate image and global name identities, is a harsh critic of casual and accidental naming. He is a dynamic speaker on corporate image and branding issues, and is also the author of Naming for Power. He founded ABC Namebank International, an image and branding consultancy over 25 years ago.
Website: www.abcnamebank.com
Article posted on August 18, 2008.