Reliance Industries owned by Mukesh Ambani has decided to move away from the ‘.com’ to ‘.JIO’ generic top level domain. The same will be used across the Reliance empire as the businessman gears to launch Reliance Jio. It is touted as the largest fourth generation mobile telephony launch in the world with an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore.
A step down subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), Affinity Names Inc has applied for several gTLDs (generic top-level domain), claim a report policy change by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names) that lets legal brand owners to apply as well obtain the private gTLDs that are suitable to their brand. ICANN is a non-profit organization that handles the internet domain naming system.
Regarding the same, an anonymous source from RIL stated that Reliance has applied for several gTLDs that are based on different brands that it is known for and owns as well. The usage and the release for the public will depend on the brand strategy and business requirements.
The company is planning to use around 200 second level domains for the different businesses and departments that it operates including www.retail.JIO, www.petroleum.JIO and www.polymers.JIO in a year. This way, it will boast the number of second level domains up to 400 in the next year and up to 600 in the third consecutive year.
As of now, RIL group operates over 1,000 domain names that protect its brand name on the internet sphere. There is a capable legal team with the main objective of tracking the IP infringements. They ensure to take the necessary action to prevent the same.
RIL has a direct control on the second-level domain names and the company will use the ones that are most suitable for the websites and businesses that they represent. The capability to select a preferred second-level domain has an impact on the company’s marketing strategy and the overall customer experience. The strategy of marketing depends directly on the brand recall and it drives the customers to the preferred destination that is a particular website.
With its potential in the country that is massive for the new technological age, RIL group is planning to compete with the developed markets with .JIO so that it can associate its brand with the current age and digitization.
