18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

Prototypical answer:

18.4. OUR PREMISE
- We intend to utilize .ntt effectively for the promotion and expansion of our internet marketing (especially for the purpose of our corporate branding), and for improving the vital use of the new gTLD as well as our existing NTT TLD brands.
- NTT will be the primary user of the proposed .ntt, and we will mainly control the use of the second level domain (SLD) by our registration policies and through a process of qualification, restricting the use within NTT Subsidiaries, and of evaluation, reviewing the purposes of the domain name (policies and process are explained in #23 Registry Services). Therefore, as an assumption, we expect no multiple domain name applications for the same name space.
* Example of the SLD:NTTSubsidiaryname.ntt, r&dprojectname.ntt
- As we have the liberty of selecting a Registrar for .ntt at our discretion, from the existing ICANN Accredited Registrars, we plan to identify and appoint a Registrar of our choice, and outsource our entire Registry operations for the proposed .ntt Registry services (explained in the answer for #23 Registry Services).
- NTT will offer initial domain name registration for a period of 1 to 10 years, complying with the Registry Agreement. We do not intend to charge for the .ntt registration. However, should we decide to charge for the registrations, we will notify the Registrar in advance complying with the Registry Agreement.
- Our measures to protect the privacy and confidential information of the .ntt users are explained in the answers for #30 Security (a) and (b).
- As per the cost benefits of .ntt, we anticipate the most impact on branding. NTT will take full and direct advantages of .ntt advancing brand value⁄image and gaining brand recognition, while NTT plans to offer the SLD space to the NTT Subsidiaries at no charge, and that we believe will contribute to the .ntt domain name users to potentially integrate some of the existing independent TLDs or use them more objectively.
- Introduction and expansion of .ntt will promote customer (both corporate and consumer) trust and choice, in terms of internet search (engines) and access. Branded gTLDs, by nature, will allow registrant to create a short domain name (i.e. .ntt) that consumer can easily remember, and also will provide internet users the exclusive and authenticated (trusted) easy access to desired information, by keyword domain names under our own brand. .nttʹs specific purposes and benefits are described in #18.7 (OUR PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES OF .ntt).
- As described in #18.9 (OUR EFFORTS ON .ntt EXPANSION), we believe our proposed public relations activities and communications outreach are efficient and effective measures to achieve our projected benefits.
- As mentioned in #18.3 (GENERAL BACKGROUND), NTT has approximately 860 NTT Group companies (756 NTT Subsidiaries and 102 affiliated companies), and based on that potential number, we estimate that the .ntt SLD registrations will increase up to a maximum of about 1000.
18.5. .ntt INITIATIVES
We have developed the ʺ.nttʺ concept, in applying ICANN for the New gTLD.
Our ʺ.ntt INITIATIVESʺ aims at achieving three goals:
(1) Acquire .ntt brand:
Apply for the New gTLD; acquire and protect the NTT brand.
(2) Provide .ntt TLD:
Provide an enhanced (safer and more secure) domain name environment.
(3) Leverage .ntt TLD:
Leverage .ntt to advance brand value⁄image and gain brand recognition.
The above three goals are in line with the current NTT Medium-Term Management Strategy, and each goal will be explained in this proposal (#18.7 (OUR PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES OF .ntt) ), in terms of .ntt users, objectives, intended purposes and advantages.
(1) Acquire .ntt brand:To Protect the NTT Brand
NTT is one of the leading business enterprises in Japan, and we believe that the new gTLD will be a significant opportunity for the NTT Group, but at the same time the opportunity may become a competitive threat to us, if we do not react upon it. Hence, we have decided to apply ICANN for ʺ.nttʺ as a precautious defense measure to protect the NTT brand as early as possible.
(2) Provide .ntt TLD:To provide a Safer and More Secure Domain Name Environment
We feel proud in the products and services that the NTT Group provides, because they are perceived as most safe and trusted in Japan. As we would like to maintain that image and the brand value of the NTT Group, we have contemplated the potential use of the new gTLD to take advantage of its features and characteristics, and set one of the goals for the ʺ.ntt INITIAIVESʺ to provide a safer and more secure domain environment (i.e. higher authentication to prevent phishing attacks). We believe that by deploying the authenticated domain name space, the NTT group will achieve an objective to protect our registered trademark and credibility in the competitive global environment.
(3) Leverage .ntt TLD:To Build Advanced Image and Gain Brand Recognition.
The NTT Group reserves many associated brands (corporate⁄business and products⁄services), and in addition to our worldʹs highest level broadband network infrastructure, we are expanding our fiber-optic video services and other various businesses and services, primarily in the domestic market. Furthermore, we have enhanced our global capabilities by adding Australia, South America, the Middle East and Africa to our existing operations in Asia, Europe and the United States, taking advantages of which enabled us to establish a framework to provide one-stop total ICT services on a global basis, and expanding our new services and business models that we could exercise the NTT Group synergy. We believe that leveraging .ntt in our marketing strategies will contribute in gaining more brand recognition and building a new corporate image of NTT.
Our ʺ.ntt INITIAIVESʺ are deliberated from the following key questions, and each answer is explained in detail in the subsequent chapters, #18.6 (OUR CHALLENGES) and #18.7 (OUR PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES OF .ntt) :
* Why do we need it?
* What responsibilities will we have?
* Who will benefit from it?
* How will it work (What are the objectives) ?
* What will it offer (What value will it provide) ?
18.6. OUR CHALLENGES
* NTT is one of the foremost enormous organizations in Japan, with a long, proud history. In a corporate branding survey conducted by a media company, we found that the general perceived image of NTT by most Japanese consumers is represented by a few selected words such as ʺtrust,ʺ ʺstabilityʺ and ʺtradition.ʺ The result tells us that for the people of Japan and the internet market, the solid ʺNTTʺ brand has been prevailing in the Japanese society as a part of its culture for a very long time.
* We are urged and determined to protect this prevailing corporate brand of ours, with a long history and many achievements, as a responsibility for the consumers and the society.
* As mentioned in the examples above the representative corporate image of NTT is derived from our reputable past achievements of ʺsafe and secureʺ products and services, and it is important that we sustain and continue to preserve that image, in terms of our social mission. Especially, in the rather emerging and developing internet environment, a representative company like us that provides the state-of-the-art network technologies and services is required to demonstrate safety and stability in business practices.
* For NTT, as the holding company and from the stand point of the overall businesses, it is critical to protect and expand the representative icon (brand) such as ʺ.nttʺ for the NTT Group as a whole. Moreover, we expect that sharing the knowledge and know-how accumulated in applying and implementing the new gTLD, ahead of the Group companies, will be requested by the potential applicants within the Group.
* As the entire NTT Group companies are a part of the business structure to provide ʺglobal one-stop ICTʺ services, the domain names (string) and URLs tend to be long, and the domain operations and rules become complex and cumbersome. We expect for the future that there will be a need for the domain environment that binds many brands and the proprietary information owned by the NTT Group.
* As a core mission of the NTT Group Medium-Term Management Strategy, we are currently shifting our business structure and financial strength from the still-remaining legacy-related services to the network solution oriented services and profit structure. Due to our historical background, the NTT Groupʹs perceived corporate image is portrayed with positive key words like ʺJapanʹs iconic and representative corporationʺ and ʺsecure and safe,ʺ meanwhile, traditional key words like ʺdomesticʺ and ʺtelegraph and telephoneʺ remain as the other persistent image. Hence, we would want to exploit the existing positive image (i.e. secure and reassuring, safe and trustworthy), and to establish the new corporate brand (image) that symbolized by the state-of-the-art technologies and services, namely our up-to-date broadband and ubiquitous services.
* Please see our Web site for more information about the NTT Medium-Term Management Strategy:http:⁄⁄www.ntt.co.jp⁄ir⁄mgt_e⁄managementstrategy.html
* NTT, by comparison with other corporations, is publically counted on to implement and attain new challenges, and indeed that is our strength and what differentiates NTT from the others. We expect that thereʹs a potential need for unprecedented marketing strategies and the basis for their activities, responding to the expectations of new efforts, promotions and marketing events. For instance, we will need to implement more timely campaigns and forehanded delivery of services from the customerʹs perspective.
* In terms of business acquisitions overseas, brand integration and having a communications basis for our M&A activities are quite significant. We recognize that thereʹs a need to increase our internet presence in the overseas market by advancing the existing environment to utilize domain names, and by establishing an accessible communications platform which enable us to promptly respond and react.
18.7. OUR PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES OF .ntt
We have defined below our purposes and objectives for each of our ʺ.ntt INITIATIVESʺ mentioned in the previous section (#18.5 (.ntt INITIATIVES) ) :
(1) Acquire .ntt brand:To Protect the NTT Brand
DOMAIN NAME USERS:NTT (holding company)
MISSION & PURPOSES:
As NTT is one of the leading business enterprises and iconic brands in Japan, our initiative to introduce new gTLD will be a significant opportunity for the NTT Group, which aggressively expanding global businesses, but failing to acquire ʺ.nttʺ may pose a hazard to our persistent branding. Therefore, we are urged to apply ICANN for ʺ.nttʺ and to acquire the registry.
OBJECTIVES & ADVANTAGES:
Our objectives in this initiative are to apply ICANN and to acquire ʺ.nttʺ (accredited to operate .ntt), as a precautious defense measure, to prevent others from taking advantage of ʺ.ntt,ʺ and to protect the NTT brand (trademarks and reputation).
(2) Provide .ntt TLD:To provide a Safer and More Secure Domain Name Environment
DOMAIN NAME USERS:NTT (NTT Subsidiaries:domestic and overseas)
MISSION & PURPOSES:
We are proud that the products and services that the NTT Group provides are one of the most secure and trusted brands domestically. It is our mission to sustain and to continue preserving that image and brand value.
OBJECTIVES & ADVANTAGES:
By taking advantage of its features and characteristics of the new gTLD, we aim to expand more secure and safe authenticated domain name space (i.e. to prevent phishing attacks), under our management control, enabling us to demonstrate a safer and more secure NTT and .ntt in practice. This means that we will be able to establish the requirements and policies for the second level domain, and be able to choose to restrict the use of ʺ.nttʺ to the NTT Group.
(3) Leverage .ntt TLD:To Build Advanced Image and Gain Brand Recognition.
DOMAIN NAME USERS:NTT (NTT Subsidiaries:domestic and overseas)
MISSION & PURPOSES:
The generally perceived corporate image of NTT Group is portrayed with positive key words like ʺJapanʹs iconic and representative corporation,ʺ meanwhile, traditional key words like ʺdomesticʺ and ʺtelegraph and telephone (i.e. legacy) ʺ remain as the other persistent image. Thus, we would like to establish a new corporate brand (image) that will be symbolized by the key words such as ʺglobalʺ and ʺbroadband⁄ubiquitous.ʺ
Besides, the NTTʹs global business is expanding through acquisitions of business corporations that have many overseas business domains⁄offices, the NTT branding (marketing activities) to gain recognition is a critical need.
Moreover, as per our marketing efforts, we need to expand our new marketing strategy in promoting new services and business models that we could exercise the NTT Group synergy:Thereʹs a need to gain recognition, by implementing more timely campaigns and forehanded delivery of services in response to the market needs, taking advantage of the domain names that are easy to access and to remember.
OBJECTIVES & ADVANTAGES:
One of the objectives in this initiative is to build a new corporate brand and image by making ʺ.nttʺ as a symbol or an icon for the ʺnew NTT,ʺ and associate the key words such as ʺubiquitous broadband servicesʺ with ʺ.nttʺ to gain leverage in our internet marketing activities.
Similarly, in the global business expansion, we shall take advantage of the features and the characteristics of the gTLD, targeting an objective to penetrate NTT brand into the broader market. We shall integrate and upgrade the Web site URLs and e-mail addresses expeditiously to promote ʺ.nttʺ in order to lift our recognition and awareness in the global market.
Examples of the upgrade:http:⁄⁄www.ntt.com⁄index-e.html will be www.global.ntt
In leveraging .ntt for newer marketing strategies, one of our objectives is to be able to deploy new brand (URL) more easily, contributing to the branding efficiency and management at the same time. This can be achieved through associating and merging many of the NTT Group owned brands.
Additionally, our objectives include using the second level domain effectively, so that the domain users will benefit more from the internet marketing, such as SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
This is because the brand gTLDs provide exclusive access to keyword domain names under a specific brand, and therefore we will have the ability to create short, memorable domain names (URLs) which are easy and faster to access and remember. We will take this advantage to create customer values⁄benefits, and expect that the search results (or page rankings) will rank higher, and that the customer access and user-friendliness will also improve dramatically.
An example of URL:www.ntt.co.jp⁄nttnews⁄index.html will become www.news.ntt
18.8. OUR REGISTRY SERVICES
Following are the primary registry services (including critical functions) that NTT plans to provide for .ntt. Please see the answer for #23 (Registry Services) for details.
(1) Domain Name Registration and Renewal
(2) Transfer of Registration between Registrars
(3) Name Server and Zone File Administration
(4) Operation of Whois Database
(5) Registrar Support Services
(6) Data Escrow
(7) DNSSEC
(8) Internationalized Domain Names
In our initial stage of this plan, NTT will implement the above eight main services, on the premise of providing registrations for .ntt SLDs. Other advanced features such as authentication process⁄functions for the second level domain users, will be required for third level domain name registrations and second level domain operations, and that will be deliberated and supported individually and accordingly.
18.9. OUR EFFORTS ON .ntt EXPANSION
NTT plans to implement the following efforts and outreach activities in promoting .ntt:
(1) Acquire .ntt brand:To Protect the NTT Brand
* Apply ICANN for the new gTLD to acquire ʺ.nttʺ
* Register the domain name, ʺ.nttʺ
(2) Provide .ntt TLD:To provide a Safer and More Secure Domain Name Environment
* Develop a process and administration rules to evaluate and qualify second level domain (SLD) objectives and users
* Use the above process to administer the SLD registration applications
* Authenticate and administer the .ntt SLD users (identify, activate, deactivate)
* Develop domain name operational rules (guidelines) for the designated users
* Provide⁄share SLDs for the NTT Subsidiaries (domestic and overseas)
* Provide support for the .ntt users (how to use and to administer)
* Promote and educate about .ntt (as information distribution channel) to the NTT Group
* Utilize .ntt as the ʺsafer and more secureʺ PR tool (i.e. IR and corporate⁄proprietary information distribution)
(3) Leverage .ntt TLD:To Build Advanced Image and Gain Brand Recognition.
* Develop a process and administration rules to evaluate and qualify second level domain (SLD) objectives and users
* Use the above process to administer the SLD registration applications
* Authenticate and administer the .ntt SLD users (identify, activate, deactivate)
* Develop domain name operational rules (guidelines) for the designated users
* Provide⁄share SLDs for the NTT Subsidiaries (domestic and overseas)
* Provide proprietary information about NTT R&D and its activities, including ubiquitous broadband related information through .ntt
* Provide support for the .ntt users (how to take advantage of .ntt)
* Promote and educate about .ntt (as information distribution channel) to the internet community in which the NTT Group is involved
* Utilize .ntt as the ʺnew branding⁄marketing toolʺ to provide services oriented information
Other Outreach Activities:
* Develop a .ntt dedicated Web site
* Coordinate advertisement and promotions with .ntt over the internet

Similar gTLD applications: (0)