.promo Pre-Register Domain - .promo Domain Information

The mission of .promo will be to serve as the trusted brand of cross-channel campaign management for interactive brand ecosystems. It will be a standard, not a community-based, registry, whose purpose will be:
• To serve as a one centralized cross-channel campaign management system for brands to interact with their consumer target group.
• To provide a secure and scalable platform for brands to manage and automate campaigns using web, social media, email, smart phones, SMS and other digital channels.
• To serve as the trusted brand for consumers about the guaranteed safety of the campaign they are participating to in terms of it's security and privacy standards.
• To provide simple and centralized access point for consumers to manage their subscription profile related to any brands using .promo domains
• To provide a short, memorable internet address that works across many different language sets

The success of the .promo registry will be determined by the stature and reputation of the brands that enter into a contract with Phenomena Group, operator and owner of the .promo registry, or its affiliates, in order to undertake campaigns in the global marketplace.

We envisage .promo domains and their associated services becoming the global hub of cross-channel campaign management for interactive brand ecosystems, providing brands with sophisticated tools for interacting with their target group via various digitalchannels, such as social media, email and mobile as well as with the automated tools and mechanisms to acquire more subscribers, retain them and activate them to transactions of various types. The system is based on a highly centralized Software-as-a-Service-driven cloud-based technology platform that complies with the local legal and operational requirements.

We intend .promo to be a pioneer in cross-channel campaign management enabling interaction with brand followers via innovative campaign mechanisms that enable marketers to undertake sophisticated campaigns reliably and securely. This will be achieved through using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize the overall process for design, implementation and analysis of the interactions between the brand and it's target group.

.promo domains will provide a platform for an array of innovative backend campaign mechanisms so that marketers can reach and activate their target markets quickly and without having to invest time and resources in complex customized software development. .promo domains will give marketers peace of mind in relation to complex new tools, legal or privacy issues and backend security as all these will be subject to exceptionally high security standards.

In order to analyse the subscriber base and the success of campaigns, .promo system will grant marketers access to monitoring and real-time analytics, based on sophisticated consumer profiling and segmentation data.

We will also work to ensure that campaigns that are carried under a .promo domain will rank highly in the search engines. We want sites under .promo domains to be found if the keywords ‘Promo', ‘Promotions' or other campaign-related keywords are searched for.
If successful, .promo domains will provide customers with exciting campaigns from trusted promoters without compromising their privacy or security. We are confident .promo will become a universally recognised brand identified by marketers everywhere and by consumers across the globe.

How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, internet users and others?
The registry will be stringently controlled. Only brand owners who have entered into a contract with Phenomena Group Ltd or its affiliates (e.g. channel partners) for the provision of promotional campaigns - such as lotteries, satisfaction guarantees or games - will be offered the chance to have a campaign under a .promo domain. These brand owners will benefit from shorter, more memorable domains that are more secure for consumers and which link back seamlessly to state-of-the-art, secure campaigns.

What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of speciality, service levels reputation?
We are amongst the leading providers of promotional campaigns globally. We do not know of any other organisation that is contemplating using a new gTLD as the platform for the provision of promotional campaigns. Our goal is therefore to develop an effective, tailored service that will be attractive to, and trusted by, consumers. Utlilising the power of the domain name system, consumers can participate in competitions immediately through their mobile devices or online accounts and can trust that their privacy and personal information is always respected.

What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space in terms of competition, differentiation or innovation?
.promo is a short domain name that will be universally applicable globally. We believe it is distinctive, memorable and perfectly suited to supporting a range of campaign mechanisms, some of which will encourage consumers to communicate with brand owners using the domain name system.
We look forward to utilising our new registry to support interactive campaigns that will be presented by leading brands such as branded-cola.promo, branded-confectionery.promo, branded-retailer-name.promo. We consider this highly targeted marketing use of a new gTLD to be innovative in making a range of promotional campaigns easily accessible to consumers.

What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
We hope consumers will learn that credible, big brand promotional campaigns marketed through a .promo domain are trusted and authentic. We want consumers, for example, to be confident that any campaign under a .promo domain offers them fair treatment that is covered by the terms stated in the campaign's official rules and that their sensitive personal details and privacy will be protected.

Provide a complete description of the applicant's intended registration policies in support of the goals above
Phenomena Group Ltd is the operator of the .promo registry. The Phenomena Domain Name Management team is responsible for the development, maintenance and enforcement of the .promo Domain Management Policy. This policy defines the intended rules associated with eligibility and domain name allocation and describes the acceptable use and dispute resolution policies for the .promo gTLD. This policy is intended to be updated and revised regularly to reflect .promo's commercial and strategic interests and, where appropriate, ICANN consensus policies.
Registration of a .promo domain name will be restricted to organisations that have entered into a commercial agreement with Phenomena Group Ltd or its affiliates (e.g. channel partners) for the provision of services associated with campaigns.
Each applied for character string must conform to the .promo rules of eligibility. Each .promo name must:
• Be at least 3 characters and no more than 63 characters long
• Not contain a hyphen on the 3rd and 4th position (tagged domains)
• Contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens or a combination of these
• Start and end with an alphanumeric character, not a hyphen
• Not match any character strings reserved by ICANN
• Not match any protected country names or geographical terms
• Not match the character strings or intellectual property of any other company with which .promo operates
Internationalized domain names (IDN) may be supported in the .promo registry at the second level.
Registrants of .promo names must utilise their domains solely in association with campaigns that are co-ordinated by Phenomena Group Ltd. or its affiliates .promo domains may not be used in a way which knowingly infringes any third party's intellectual property rights or gives rise to moral or public order questions.
Registrants of .promo names may not delegate or assign any rights in .promo domains to third party organizations, institutions, or individuals.
All .promo domains will carry accurate and up-to-date registration records.
Phenomena may revoke a .promo domain name at any time if the registrant is in breach of the .promo Domain Management Policy. For example, if the owner of a .promo domain ceases to be a customer of Phenomena and is no longer running campaigns, the domain may be cancelled.
The .promo registry will be ICANN compliant: the registry will interface with the Trademark Clearinghouse, operate a Sunrise and IP Claims and all registrants must comply with the UDRP and the URS.

Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy of confidential information of registrants or users?
The .promo registry will be operated from Finland by Phenomena Group Ltd, which is incorporated in Finland. Therefore all data will be processed in accordance with European Union data protection requirements. We will also comply with the Personal Data obligations set forth in Section 2.10 of the Registry Agreement.

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits?
Phenomena Group will promote the concept of .promo and how it can support campaigns to its direct client base of leading global consumer brand owners (e.g. FMCG, retail, services and electronics) as well as through its channel partners such as advertising agencies or media owners. These marketers will be provided with .promo domains as part of sophisticated online and mobile based campaigns offered through the .promo cross-channel campaign management system that is operated either by Phenomena or by its channel partners.
Once a campaign has been launched, consumers will typically be exposed to communications across a range of media including TV, print, outdoor, radio, online and other media. Any communications about campaigns taking advantage of the .promo domain by reputed brand owners will increase consumer and brand owner awareness about .promo domains and the value proposition: exciting and innovative campaigns with high security and privacy protection standards.

What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g. time or financial resource costs as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)? What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences/costs imposed upon consumers?
Social costs and negative consequences will be minimised and, we believe, possibly even eliminated because .promo domains will be awarded to a relatively small number of prestigious brand owners which have contracted with Phenomena Group Ltd or with its affiliates. We will put in place a rigorous and effective procedure for registering .promo domains. Phenomena will have complete control over who is able to register a .promo domain and what they can do with it.

How will multiple applications for a particular domain be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first come first served basis?
There is no possibility that an individual or an organisation that is not a client or associate of Phenomena can register under .promo. However, should a conflict arise because, for example, two clients of Phenomena based in different jurisdictions want the same character string, the decision to issue the domain will be Phenomena's and, generally, the domain will be awarded on a first come first served basis.

Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g. advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
.promo domain names will be used to enhance the delivery of campaigns that customers of Phenomena Group or its affiliates have commissioned. The .promo registry will hold only a very small number of domains at any one time. We have no plans to implement cost benefits even to our channel partners.

The Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than 10 years. Additionally the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation?
The lifespan of each .promo domain name will be set by Phenomena Group or its affiliates to match the life of the campaigns, or as separately agreed with the client. Once this period concludes, the domain will be cancelled or clients will be offered the opportunity to renew it if they want to use the domain and Phenomena Cloud service on a more permanent basis than for just one campaign. Generally, we expect registration contracts to be made for an average of three years. After this period, the price may increase but clients will have been informed of this as a possibility when they entered into the promotional campaign in the first instance. Phenomena expects to comply fully with the provisions of Section 2.10 of the Registry Agreement.

Phenomena is committed to running .PROMO in full compliance with all applicable laws, consensus policies, best practice guidelines, RFCs and the Specifications of the Registry Agreement. Phenomena therefore commits that it will follow GAC advice and Specification 5 and block from initial registration those country and territory names contained in the following lists:
1. The short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166- 1 list, as updated from time to time, including the European Union; and
2. The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World; and
3. The list of United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names.
The process for reserving these names, and hence blocking them from registration, will be agreed with our technical service provider, Afilias, whose launch of .info included the blocking mechanisms cited as an example in the notes to this question.
Because .PROMO domains are only offered to clients of Phenomena, for use in campaign activities led or facilitated by Phenomena, the reserved names cannot be offered to Governments or other official bodies for their own use as this would conflict with the Mission and Purpose of the TLD. However, for the same reason, they will not be offered for sale to unknown third parties.
The .PROMO registry only provides for the registration of names at the second level. No third level domains will be delegated at the registry level. It is therefore consistent with GAC advice that Registrants may choose to create subdomains using country names or abbreviations at the third level. For example, Phenomena may register intranet.PROMO, and its internal users may create subdomains such as fi.intranet.PROMO or uk.intranet.PROMO .
Phenomena may also use a folder structure to represent country names in its URLs, while the block exists at the second level. For example, intranet.PROMO /FINLAND or intranet.PROMO /UK.

We envisage that over time, there will be demand from new TLDs leading to the development of a standardised process for requesting GAC review and ICANN approval for the release of country and territory names for registration by the Registry Operator. When such a process is in place, Phenomena expects to apply for the release of country and territory names within .PROMO.