Matt's Marketing Digest

One man’s rubbish (domain) can be another man’s gold

Having been really sceptical of domain auction houses as yet another online scam I wanted to share my recent experience and endorse services from those players like Snapnames.com which offer some valuable help to recover or get hold of valued domains…

 

The background: My company’s .com domain was taken when we started our tech PR company in 2002 which was a frustrating but normal consequence of missing the domain gold rush all those years ago. We registered the .co.uk equivalent but wanted the .com which was registered by a cyber squatter who did nothing with it. Adding to the annoyance.

I then received a random email out of the blue from a Arthur Simmons telling me that this .com domain was about to come up for auction. Having put this down to spam and ignoring the links in the email, I soon after started to get similar emails from other service providers and began to look into it. I then did a search and found this blog recounting a similar experience – this proved useful to me so may be of use to you.

 

http://www.asiteaboutnothing.net/c_catching-domains.html

 

I then registered with Snapnames and entered my bid for the .com domain which has a closing date of some days later. In a familiar way to eBay you can see the other bidders and put a maximum bid. Still being sceptical, I wasn’t sure what would happen. As it turned out, I then received an email from Snapnames telling me that it has secured mediasafari.com – I then received a further email from answerable.com where I could go in and manage my new domain. All this cost me $63.

 

So if you’re looking to recover a domain or get hold of a valued domain make sure you check out Snapnames.com – if you rely on domain registration sites, your preferred domain may never appear as available as it exchanges hands from registrant to registrant in the background.

 

Feeling like USB 2.0 could do with a boost? USB 3.0 to the rescue

It’s been a busy start to 2010 with the launch of USB 3.0 and a number of related devices from IT peripherals company Nanopoint. The new ICY BOX range of HDD enclosures and PCI-E card means that UK consumers can now access transfer speeds that are ten times faster than USB 2.0.

 

USB has become unquestionably the preferred method of connecting external computer peripherals and devices to a personal computer. However, as new technologies prove popular that require more bandwidth such as high definition video, demand for greater transfer speeds has increased. As most computers are still only readied for USB 2.0, Nanopoint has released a PCI-E card to enable users to access USB 3.0 capability now with a small upgrade to your existing PC.

 

This is bound to become a standard before very long so keep an eye out for the ICY BOX range of USB 3.0 enclosures (Nanopoint ICY BOX USB3.0 2.5 HDD pictured below).

 

What is Web 3.0?

I have been asked several times recently what Web 3.0 is all about. So here’s an attempt to shed some light on this perplexing topic.

 

The next generation of the World Wide Web, commonly referred to as Web 3.0 or the semantic web, represents a new phase in the web’s development towards more personalised intelligent search and response. Essentially it’s a web in which data is linked to allow more meaningful, actionable insight to be extracted resulting in a Web that understands.

 

In a practical sense this means that when users search, it will understand your location, habits and behaviour and provide tailored search results based on what it knows about you. The more a user searches using Web 3.0, the more it knows. It can track data which then enables it to analyse the user’s previous searches and responses, collate them, and provide more precise answers for the user each time.

 

Although still in its infancy, 2010 will see more emerging technologies which will significantly improve personal search response making your use of the Web more meaningful and personal. This of course has enormous implications for how marketers are able to reach their audience and how companies distribute their information.

 

How does this explanation grab you?

This new Dixons ad speaks volumes…

I like this. A recent ad campaign (M&C Saatchi) that is airing in London is a daring approach by Dixons to pique the British conscious. It’s clever because it hones in our own recognisable customer behaviour, which we might all feel a little guilty about. It goes something like this:

 

Discover you need or want to buy a product; Google it to find out more; visit department store to get more information and help to refine your selection; go home and buy online for less.

 

Sound familiar? And that’s why this is clever, and daring at the same time. It recognises that Dixons is not necessarily the destination store of choice and is not shy in letting us know that it sees that. You may also identify that the fonts have changed to mirror other familiar brand identities (Harrods, Selfridges, John Lewis etc.)

 

The issues that this highlights though are serious. They are 1/ our fast changing behaviour as a result of rapidly changing market dynamics exacerbated by new technologies; and 2/ in being so honest, it is also admitting to competing on price alone rather than other associated brand values such as customer support etc.

 

John Lewis we all know competes on price ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ but it does it in a way that supports other essential brand values. By admitting to competing on price alone may have an impact on longer term brand value and force the stores into a redundant position.

 

How much do you value your personal details?

Ever wondered what happens with your personal details when you make a purchase online?

 

You’ll already be aware that many corporations and institutions hold loads of information about you. Your name, address, gender, interests, financial details are all part of the online buying process. But have you ever wondered how well those companies protect that data from falling into the wrong hands?

 

A quick bit of research will show how many times the media has reported on lost and stolen data. Tales of laptops left in taxis or on trains, flash USB sticks dropped or stolen, or hard discs lost in the mail litter the media landscape.

 

This is a major issue for corporations and marketers alike. Companies need to do more to ensure that data is protected at all times and marketers need to do more to assure customers that data held on record will be treated with the up-most care.

 

Media Safari has recently started working on a new range of portable hard dives that incorporate not only PIN code access but also hardware encryption. This combines the benefits of ATM style access where the user requires a 5 digit PIN to retrieve the information held on the drive, with a military level of encryption where the data is encrypted and decrypted in real time as it is written to and read from the drive.

 

No matter how you look at it, it is about time companies did more to make incidences of loss or theft a thing of the past. It is only a matter of time before such drives become standard for business and personal use, especially when the costs for these additional benefits are marginally more than a standard external hard drive.

 

How much would you pay to guarantee the confidentiality of your personal details?

 

www.istorage-uk.com