Blacknight on the Radio - Win a set of AirPods!

Have you heard our ad on RTÉ Radio 1? We've heard from lots of you who have.



And you can hear more from us next week on 2FM's Breakfast Republic! We've sponsored a competition to give away five sets of AirPods to lucky listeners, one each day from Monday 9 July!

It's all part of our campaign to spread the word about .IE domain names: .IE is Ireland's national country-code domain, and a brand of trust for Irish consumers.

A dot-IE domain name tells people that you’re Irish - and gives you credibility as a proper serious grown-up business!

Why? Because research shows that customers place more trust in businesses that have a domain name of their own, rather than those who simply have a Gmail or Hotmail address, or a Facebook page. 

Since March, it’s now easier than ever to register a .IE name. (All you need is to show you have a connection to Ireland). 

With more dot-IE names under management than any other domain registrar, Blacknight are the dot-IE experts! 

Just call us in Carlow, for expert advice on domain names, website hosting, email and cloud services. 

And if you buy a year's web hosting – we'll give you the dot-IE name free for a year!

meep

So I've heard the ad a few times and I must say, the script jars a little. Here it is;

If you're a business, here's an important question;
Have you dotted your i.e?
Customers place more trust in a business that has a domain and at Blacknight, it's now easier than ever to reguister a dote i.e. domain.
Blacknight is an Irish business and provides a one stop shop for all your online needs.
Blacknight, the dot i.e. experts for busineesses large and small.

The ad copy itself seems to be trying to get across the message you outline above; 'A dot-IE domain name tells people that you’re Irish - and gives you credibility as a proper serious grown-up business!'

However, it does not say that.

The jarring phrase is 'Customers place more trust in a business that has a domain'. This is the key insight around which the ad is hinged. Yet it does not underpin the core concept. One would expect to hear 'Customers place more trust in a business that has an Irish domain'.

Whywas the Irish element omitted from the core message? Is it the case that research exists to back up the stated claim but not that an irish domain matters?

I'm genuinely intersted in why this was omitted as, for me, that gaping hole is what resonates rather than the intened message.

Hi meep - thanks for the feedback!

You're right about the research existing to back up the stated claim. In fact the research was conducted by the IE Domain Registry in 2017. (https://blacknight.blog/building-trust-web-and-email-addresses.html )

It didn't ask people for their opinion on IE domains specifically, but I think it's fair to say that what is true of domain names generally, is also true of IE domains specifically.

Blacknight supports hundreds of top-level domains, and we think that holding any kind of domain registration enhances a business' reputation.

Further, there are additional advantages to consider choosing a .IE name, especially if you are serving Irish customers. We don't go into those in the 20 seconds of airtime we had, but they include:

• Irish people's recognition of the .IE domain
• Greater availability. There are just over 252,000 .IE domain names registered, compared to over 133 million .COM names, so there is a better chance that the name you want is available in .IE.
• A .IE name can be beneficial for SEO if you are targetting the Irish market.
  

[*]

Unfortunately, we couldn't go into all of that in a 20-second radio ad. And while I understand that you perceive the research as the 'key insight' and the 'core message' of the ad, that is not how it was intended. There are several points made by the ad:

• Customers place more trust in a business that has a domain.
• IE domains are now easier to register.
• The particular advantages of IE domains are not enumerated in this ad. We know that IE domains are popular with our Irish customers, and we wanted to make some other points, namely:
• Blacknight is an Irish business and provides a range of online services besides domains (including web hosting and online backup)
• We are the dot-IE experts. (We have more .IE domains under management than any other registrar and have played a pioneering role in many IE-related initiatives).
• Our clients range from large companies to sole traders. (We can help you).
  

[*]

The research on the value of a domain name is valid, but it's not the core message on which the whole ad hinges. It's just one of several points.

Could we have said it better? Probably! Could we have said it better in 20 seconds? Maybe not? :)

Would you like to have a go? 3 words per second is roughly 60 words. :)  Maybe we tried to say too much? What would you suggest?

Thanks again - the feedback is appreciated!