I wrote about this in the past, but I am curious to know whether people consider one word .com domain names to be considered “brandable.” In the past, I considered made up terms and words to be brandable domain names. The thinking was that someone could build a unique brand name on a made up term. On the other hand, one word .com domain names can become a brand and might be considered “brandable” domain names.
For today’s daily poll, I would be interested to know whether readers consider one word .com domain names as “brandable” domain names.
I believe you need to add one more option for Sometimes.
This would all depend on the word. A Brandable should be memorable, and generate some sort of feeling of relation to the name to the brand.
It becomes a Brandable IMO when it is an abstract idea and not a term describing exactly what the company does.
Lilac is Brandable. Clothes is not.
That is a reasonable thought certainly, but what if someone used Lilac.com to sell Lilac trees, Lilac oil, or dried Lilac flowers? Based on your line of thinking, that would change Lilac from being a “brandable” domain name. For the most part, domain investors talking about brandable or not are talking about undeveloped assets, so current usage wouldn’t be a consideration.
I think this is the standard thinking on the subject. I know brandables are the “in” thing right now but if you gave me a choice between lilac.com and clothes.com for the same price, I’m taking clothes.com every time even if it’s not a brandable.
As your line of thought is reasonable as well, certainly…
But as a domain investor – and say had you Purchased Lilac – would a Lilac related company be your prospected enduser or would you have purchased it with it’s brandable applications in mind?
(I used Lilac as an example as I had seen it on twitter in a reply to you)
I don’t think it comes down the (current) usage of the domain, but the intent (and instincts) of the domain investor and if the word is abstract enough and has the ability to invoke an emotion or connection to a brand.
Agree. If Dog is a brand of sunglasses that is brandable, it can be trademarked for that usage. If Dog is used as a brand of dogfood that is not very brandable, the USPTO would likely refuse the mark and there will be 1000 competitors using the term.
I haven’t voted because the answer imo is that some one-word .com’s are brandable while others aren’t. You can, of course, build a brand on any possible keyword but not all words make for great brands.
Yellow.com, Amazon.com, Intercom, Tagged.com and Stripe.com are all great brandable domain names.
Feces.com, Aftershave.com, Affirmation.com, Toenail.com – not so much 🙂
What?? Feces.com is a GREAT brandable domain name!
Affirmation.com I don’t mind as a brand, Aftershave.con not bad either, both have positive connotations.
My brand name is literally my city name, state name. One word generic names are the only types of domains I invest in. Its easily recognizable by the right target audience and can be beneficial as far as SEO. The trouble comes when you try to trademark the brand. Common words are almost impossible to trademark, but I have heard of someone trademarking a city name.There are exceptions to trademarking though.
Lemonade.com and Elephant.com brands can be and probably are trademarked because their company has nothing to do with elephants or lemonade, they are insurance companies. This is the direction most companies using one word domains go. Kind of suck though.
For a “brandable” …. I think the idea behind that made-up phrase is that the domain is “empty-vessel” enough fhat your use could make the domain a brand with some sort of meaning. One word domains sometimes can be used effectively in this way. I think Doron is spot-on. AmaZon. Apple. Etc.
A mere case of ambiguity here.
When industry insiders refer to a domain as being a “brandable” (noun), that will normally refer to something made up or completely unclear if it’s a real word.
Alternate meaning: a normally clear EMD word may be considered “brandable” (adjective), but not *only* brandable. While most often singular it seems, can occasionally apply to plural as well.
Jump.com was discussed in the blog recently. Great example of both/and instead of either/or. And as far as I’m concerned, the “brandability” feature alone is worth millions.
Elliot has one of the best examples I’ve seen around, which I’ve also commented about before. In fact, it seems clear even he doesn’t believe (or I would say realize, really 😉 ) that it’s as valuable as I would contend. So it is left to me to defend his domain – from himself: 😀
Stallion.com
Not only a super valuable EMD in its own right, but the brandability feature alone is worth at least seven figures if you could quantify it. A truly remarkable case of both EMD and “brandable” which can be “branded” for numerous highly valuable subject matter besides the literal.
.com is what makes any name brandable.
.com is the brand. Put a generic with it and it becomes a more valuable brand.
With enough money anything can be a brand. Simple as that.
.com is what makes any name brandable.
.com is the brand. Put a generic with it and it becomes a more valuable brand.
With enough money anything can be a brand. Simple as that.
I don’t know, Michael… Some .com’s sure are worth more than others when it comes to “brandability.” And some sure are crap. In fact, I’ll take a great .us or a great rare new gTLD over a crappy .com any day. But you’re in luck because you can get a service like Estibot to make sure if yours are valuable. 😉 You can find out more here: https://domaininvesting.com/report-crypto-com-was-sold/#comments.
I wrote about this a few years back, click the link to read the post.
Domains like Glide, Handle and Flipboard are actually generic (dictionary) words that are used as brandables.
I prefer dictionary words as brandables (as compared to made up words) because they pass the radio test a lot easier and not everyone can afford to spend millions to promote the alternative spelling.