New York, June 13, 2012– Burson-Marsteller, a leading public relations and communications firm, announced today that it has formed a consulting group dedicated to advising clients on the introduction of the new generic top level domain (gTLD) system. For years, the so-called top-level domains have been limited to a few well-established extensions such as .com, .biz, .edu, .gov and many country-specific extensions such as .UK, .DE and .CN. On June 13, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published the list of companies and organizations that applied for domain names in the exciting and controversial new generic top level domain (gTLD) system. This new system will see the introduction of new domain extensions that can be virtually any word in any language.
“We are now at the start of a radical shift on the Worldwide Web that has implications for brands, companies and nearly every organization with a presence on the Web,” said Nate Tibbits, U.S. Public Affairs Practice Chair, who is leading the new Burson-Marsteller group. “We have unique expertise in this area and are looking forward to assisting clients through this transition period.”
ICANN engaged Burson-Marsteller as its agency of record for the worldwide education campaign on the new generic Top Level Domain (gTLDs) offerings. Partnering with ICANN, Burson-Marsteller developed and executed a global campaign to raise awareness of new gTLDs in advance of the application window opening. As a result of this experience, Burson-Marsteller attained in-depth knowledge that makes the firm uniquely qualified to help organizations navigate these changes to the Internet naming system.
The firm has launched a microsite accessible at www.bm.com/newgtlds that provides initial counsel and key questions to consider for both organizations that applied for a gTLD and for organizations that have not but are curious about the implications for their brand.
About Burson-Marsteller
Burson-Marsteller, established in 1953, is a leading global public relations and communications firm. It provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution across a full range of public relations, public affairs, reputation and crisis management, advertising and digital strategies. The firm’s seamless worldwide network consists of 73 offices and 83 affiliate offices, together operating in 108 countries across six continents. Burson-Marsteller is a unit of WPP, the world’s leading communications services network. For more information, please visit bm.com.