PIR, BigRock join forces to unleash internet super-brand '.ORG' in India

Public Interest Registry (PIR) , the international registry and manager of .ORG domain names worldwide, and BigRock, a leading provider of web infrastructure solutions, have announced a strategic marketing alliance to boost adoption of .ORG as the preferred domain name for businesses in India. As a part of this joint initiative, BigRock and PIR have outlined an aggressive campaign that entails television commercials (TVCs), extensive digital outreach, and customized .ORG website packages. The fully-loaded website package will include a .ORG domain name, email hosting, and web hosting integrated with an easy-to-use interactive website builder priced at Rs. 299. .ORG is the Internet's third largest "generic" or non-country specific top-level domain with more than 9.8 million domain names registered worldwide.

A percentage of BigRock’s annual 10 crore integrated marketing budget will be apportioned towards this campaign. The campaign encourages companies and entrepreneurs who aspire to create not just successful businesses but great organizations about the value of associating with the .ORG brand. BigRock continues to drive home this message with another innovative TV campaign that introducing even more unusual businesses – this time a manufacturer of election inks and of aglets. The communication theme for this campaign revolves around the message “Today you’re not just a company, you’re an organization”.

“BigRock has embarked on an ambitious plan in conjunction with PIR to unleash .ORG as a brand of choice for businesses in India that define themselves as more than just a company. The values of .ORG are trust, reliability, and all the positive attributes that define an organization which cares about its stakeholders. We aim to more than double the adoption of .ORG domains and make it synonymous with building profitable, sustainable, and trustworthy businesses. The India of the future has a need for many more such organizations and BigRock is proud to be reaching out to millions of Indian businesses with this powerful message”, averred Bhavin Turakhia, Founder, BigRock.

Over the last year, India has seen exciting changes in the Internet landscape and has crossed 100 million Internet subscribers. With the launch of new Top Level Domains (TLDs) such as .CARS or .BANK expected in 2013, the Internet is likely to look very different in a few years’ time.

“Existing domain name registries are looking to expand aggressively into emerging markets such as India in light of these markets’ latent potential as well as increased competition in the coming years from additional registries”, added Bhavin.

According to Boston Consulting Group, India is expected to have upwards of 250 million Internet users by 2014. However, the total number of domains registered in India is only about 3.5 million versus the 220 million domains registered worldwide which represents a huge gap and consequently a huge opportunity.

Commenting on the India opportunity and marketing alliance with BigRock, Nancy Gofus, COO, Public Interest Registry (PIR) said, “When we surveyed businesses and individuals in India about what .ORG means to them, we found a perception which really needed to be refined. .ORG has always stood for trust and goodwill – the challenge was how to translate those attributes to businesses at large. The BigRock team in conjunction with PIR has crafted a wonderful message which accomplishes this for an Indian audience. As a result of this alliance, we are incredibly excited to be working with BigRock and helping bring .ORG websites to businesses across India. With its pan-India reach and highly effective marketing machinery, BigRock is a great partner to help us in creating greater awareness for .ORG. While currently India is the 4th largest market for .ORG within the APAC region, we expect a much stronger contribution from it in the coming years.”

What turns a good company into a great organization? Created by Ideas@work, ideators of BigRock’s award winning Savitri-bai commercial, the new series of TVCs will attempt to address this question and drive home the relevance of .ORG to Indian businesses. The advertisements and digital marketing campaign will go live on 16th April 2012 and will be aired across all the major news and entertainment channels. Simultaneously, BigRock will also launch a contest titled “Get filmy with .ORG” on their social media platforms to encourage people to create and generate short films with whacky business ideas.