Corporate branding and domain names

From: Jen Visser <Jen.Visser_at_freedom.fiserv.com>
Date: Wed 02 Apr 2003 08:36:00 -0600

I'm going through a similar situation within my company- we
have 5 individual business units which have been stuck
together into a division with the goal of cross-selling
complementary products. In our strategic planning we have
decided that we need to create a 'divisional' website to
reate a new look and brand for the complete suite of products-
this web address and a new contact of email_at_newdivision.com
would become the standard for business cards, stationery, all
print ads, banner ads, sig files, newsletter sponsorships etc.,
which refer to a website, and email. We plan to keep the five
individual business unit sites active for approximately a year
while we transition and fully develop the new divisional site.
At that point we would phase out the individual sites by
setting them to redirect to the divisional site which would
have a specialized entry page dependent on the referring domain.
We have faced the argument that one of the five has a very
strong name in the market that we're afraid may lose market
share by the name change- to resolve that we have planned to
implement 'mini sites' for individual products that have broad
appeal that might seem to get lost by the divisional site for
certain market segments. These sites would be less than 5-10
pages total, and would end up referring the individual back to
the divisional site for their sales contact and further support
information but would allow for a 'personalized' intro based on
current ad campaigns, special offers, or trade shows specific
to that product that don't necessarily mesh with the divisional
site as a whole.

So we're approaching it in a similar manner, but I am actually
encouraging the purchase of additional domains in a manner that
soothes some of the fears that specific products would lose
market share based on the divisionalization. Hope this stirs
some new thoughts and gives you fodder for your arguments!

Jen Visser - Web Developer
Fiserv Administrative Solutions Division
jen.visser_at_freedom.fiserv.com
Phone: 319.398.0577
2110 Wiley Boulevard SW
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404




Received on Wed Apr 02 2003 - 08:36:00 CST