Domains Case Competition

Team Five StarAna Cervantes

Neama DadkhahnikooSeiichiro Uchiyama

Rui Xu

String Choice

Google should develop the .SOY gTLD.

Soy (Spanish for "I am") will allow businesses to authentically appeal to the Hispanic community.

I choose .S Y

soy latino

soy único

soy the next generation

Fastest Growing Segment in the US

Sources: US Census Bureau / Nielsen. The Hispanic Market Imperative / spanishlanguagedomains.com / aha.com / Ad Age Insights

● 52M Hispanics live in the US.

● $1.2 Trillion in buying power, projected to grow 50% by 2015.

● $77,000/year average household income.

● 29% of Hispanics are Millennials.

● Hispanics are highly digitally oriented and connected.

Hispanics buy brands that empower their cultural relevancy

Why a separate gTLD?

To target the Hispanic market online, brands cannot simply translate their websites, they need to create an authentic experience with culturally relevant content.

Companies are already investing to reach the Hispanic market:

- "Univision bumps NBC into fifth place in TV ratings" Feb. 2013- Time Warner Cable holds 2 separate sports channels.- Volkswagen and Taco Bell use bilingual ad campaigns ("vámonos," "live más") to promote their products.- General Mills creates quericavida.com to connect with Hispanic consumers.

Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/05/14/dont-sell-to-me-hispanics-buy-brands-that-empower-their-cultural-relevancy/ http://beehive.me/2012/03/the-hispanic-consumer-a-high-demand-segment-for-cpg-%C2%BB-hispanic-market-info/

Source: US Census Bureau

Market Segmentation and TargetingThe market is any brand that wants to appeal to Hispanics.

Google will only target Tier 1 at launch, so that it can build the value of .SOY as an authentic and useful domain for the Hispanic audience.

Positioning Statement

For the brand that seeks to enhance its interaction with the Hispanic consumer, ".SOY" is the gTLD that provides a culturally relevant communication channel when compared to the generic .com domain.

Tactics● Previous attempts at

establishing gTLDs have failed because gTLDs did not offer a clear value proposition to businesses or consumers.

● Google must demonstrate the use case for the domain by establishing Google.soy and by initially limiting these open domain to well-established brand names.

● These websites must offer an authentic user experience to the Hispanic community.

source: Zooknic, August 2012; Verisign, August 2012

gTLDs share

Tactics: Pre-launch (6 months)● Develop Google.soy website, which offers the full Google

experience (search, products, and cross-promotions such as Youtube.Soy) tailored to the Hispanic community.

● Get buy-in from 100 of the top brands (Coca-Cola, Ford, Walmart, etc.) to build .SOY websites.

● In conjunction with .SOY, Google will offer in-depth Google Analytics that will allow brands to fully leverage their demographic outreach.

● Market the new gTLD through sneak-preview ads and concerts featuring Hispanic artists. Marketing can include the 100 top brands as they sign up to use .SOY.

.S Y

Tactics: Launch● Synchronized launch of the first batch of .SOY websites

○ Launch phase will be for 6 months and allow the .SOY use case to be established for Hispanic consumers

○ During the launch phase, the .SOY gTLD will be closed to other applicants

○ Exclusivity of launch period will build hype

○ Launch phase will amplify cross-sell opportunities for Google products through Google.soy and enhance Google's brand equity in the Hispanic community

Tactics: Post-Launch● One year after start of Pre-Launch, Google will open up

the gTLD to the entire market.

○ Three-tiered pricing will allow customers to self-select by size and sophistication.

○ Google may reserve the right to vet any applications.

○ Adoption by top brands will drive organic growth globally and interest among SMBs.

○ Google will cross-promote .SOY with other Google services (adwords, analytics, etc.) targeted at SMBs.

○ Geolocation technology will allow brands to unify their Spanish-speaking websites under .SOY.

Assumptions (conservative scenario):- Prices determined using 2012 domain average and Google Analytics Premium Service as a reference.- Costs derived from Google's 2012 10K report.- Slow adoption of the domain in Tiers 2 and 3.- Revenues shown are limited to the US market, and do not include ancillary income from other territories or expanded cross-selling opportunities.

Key Financial TakeawaysThree-Tier Pricing:

Number of Domains Sold:

Revenue Projections:

Please refer to Appendix for detailed financial analysis and assumptions

Appendix

Financial Projection

Please refer to next slide for details

Financial ProjectionPricing Assumptions:Domain Sales Price - Price for tier 1 customers is determined by the average sales price of domains in 2012, which was $1,885 plus premium. Each brand has to pay an annual fee to keep the .SOY domain. Prices for Tiers 2 and 3 derive from the fact that 46% of all sales for 2012 were valued at $500 or less.Source: http://www.thedomains.com/2013/02/07/sedo-2012-domain-market-study-36k-transactions-ave-sale-1885/

Analytics - Suggest to charge a third of Google Analytics Premium Service ($150,000) for Tier 1 customers, and a discount price for Tier 2 and 3.

Market Expansion Plan:First 6 months - Pre Launch, no revenues expected.Months 6-12 - Launch of the 100 top brands.Year 2 - expand the domain to other Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 customers.

Cost Assumptions:Assuming the cost structure of this project follows that of the entire company, Service, Sales & Marketing, and General & Administration Costs replicate those found in Google's 10K report for 2012.

Additional Revenues and Benefits:Financial projections do not include any additional revenues generated from expanded cross-selling available through Google.soy (for Hispanic web users) and .SOY (for businesses), nor does it include any potential gains in brand equity for Google in the Hispanic community.Financial projections are only limited to the US Hispanic market and ignore any future .SOY expansions into other Spanish speaking markets.