.CO

Not to beat a dead horse about this, but it appears that Overstock will completely overhaul its company branding, and will be known throughout the world simply as O.CO.  It doesn’t look like the company will be called Overstock anymore, at least according to its O.CO FAQ page, which states:

The O.co web domain currently redirects traffic to Overstock.com. We are working toward migrating the site directly to the O.co. online domain for users. Right now, the O.co web address is used as a shortcut so customers can quickly access Overstock.com, especially when they’re short on time or using a mobile device to access the Internet.

This is a very risky maneuver for an established company. In the US, consumers know the brand as Overstock, so a change to O.CO might confuse loyal customers. They are presumably doing this because the company sells much more than just “overstock” goods, and the word “overstock” doesn’t translate well over multiple languages.

The re-branding effort is clearly forward-thinking though. Overstock is betting that in the next few years, consumers will recognize and embrace .CO, which will eliminate any confusion. Where the Overstock brand name doesn’t make sense internationally, a company known as O.CO does make sense across almost all languages.

I think it’s smart for Overstock to slowly introduce the new O.CO brand across its lines of business before changing it permanently. Customers will gradually become accustomed to visiting O.CO and hearing the name in marketing collateral, easing the transition.