Ever wondered what usage does the “.com” have? Well now, it has the potential to become one of the greatest marketing advantages that a company can hold.
Despite the huge internal maintenance cost every year, having its own “online brand” is very tempting. Any company that is able to afford a ending after the dot will practically mean that its products has dominated their specific market. For example, if Apple had acquired the “.laptop”, then it is basically assumed that when you think of laptop, you would think of Apple. With the additional benefits of security and prevent cybersquatters, the ability to “put your signature” on a gTLD would cause another round of evolution.
(picture from article)
Consumers are the direct experimental variable of the gTLD auction. We might potentially have to distinguish between “.com” and other gTLDs, it will not only be what comes after “www.” anymore.
In terms of generic strategy wise, this will definitely fall under the category of industry wide differentiation strategy. Though the downturn is that many companies could not compete with large companies because of the cost, and others who wish to enter the market will have to face a higher entry barrier.