There is no doubt about the professionalism and ability of the group behind dot co. If I were building a team I would certainly add Lori Ann Wardii and Juan Calle. Undoubtedly there was going to be a response from dot co about Overstock and they responded by actually calling Overstock and getting them to answer a few questions. Here they are below.
Why did Overstock.com first begin using O.co?
When Overstock.com started twelve years ago we only sold surplus inventory. However, as our business model has evolved, Overstock.com is no longer just an online liquidator. Because “overstock” implies surplus or liquidation inventory, it no longer accurately reflected who we are today as a company.
Our offerings now span from cars to insurance, and include first-run brand name apparel, electronics and home décor. We wanted an identity that more accurately reflects how the company has evolved; hence we embraced O.co to reflect the direction in which we are heading.
Why are you shifting your brand emphasis back to Overstock.com? When does this shift become effective on the website and social media channels?
We have been listening to our customers and have learned that they we’ve moved too quickly in the transition. They are telling us that we’ve done it too fast. So we are going to down shift one gear by re-emphasizing Overstock.com and noting that O.co continues to be a shortcut to our site. Internationally, we will keep using O.co exclusively. O.co will still be promoted through our mobile website and our iPad application. The shift in emphasis began showing up on the website and our social media channels in early November.
What had the initial reaction been like from your customers?
Re-branding takes time and we certainly didn’t expect the new name to be adopted overnight. We were pleased with the early customer acceptance of O.co as a shortcut for Overstock.com and thus moved the rebranding efforts to the next gear. Many customers reacted positively, and others expressed that the transition was happening too quickly. What we learned was that we haven’t yet adequately transferred the decade of brand equity we have in Overstock.com. So, we’re down-shifting the re-branding effort in order to leverage and transfer that brand equity.
The .CO domain is fairly new and Overstock was taking a big risk as the only company to use the domain as part of its brand. Thoughts?
It is true that Overstock.com was the first online company to use the .CO as part of its brand. This put Overstock.com at the forefront of digital marketing. The decision to use a .CO domain in such a big way underscored our willingness to lead the market and to disrupt the status quo.
So when will you become O.co? Is that still on the cards?
We expect that O.co will continue to emerge as our brand over time. It will be a gradual transition, and may take a few years. We didn’t want to risk throwing out the brand equity we’ve built with Overstock.com. Ideally, in time you’ll just see Overstock.com fade away and O.co take its place.
What about O.CO Coliseum, will that be re-named as well? Wasn’t it Overstock.com Coliseum to begin with?
We won’t be changing the name. The name will remain “O.co Coliseum”.
Read more at the dot co blog.
I think this was a monemental waste of time and money on overstocks part and showed stupidity by their marketing dept.
calling the stadium o.co was crazy imo
thankfully I haven’t wasted 1 pence on .co and will not at any point
I hope less domainers will get burnt by investing any cash in .co domains by avoiding them
the .co registry are savvy though and are desperate to put a positive spin on this
FAIL.CO
I appreciate your comments just wish you had the balls to criticize using your own name.
I consider this to be very encouraging news. Thanks.
Be reasonable. How much of profit (in % per year) on an investment would You consider as “acceptable”? So far .co’s could easly have given You 200% (based on sales of a few of mine)
The worst thing to do is to panic! I did panic once having a considerable share of a good company (3 years ago when the LB thing happened) and as a result of that I sold all my shares for peanuts. If I’d not I’be a millionaire today. I learned my lesson and won’t make the same mistake with .co’s
Some big fish domainers would probably like me to panic and not to renew my gems
The Internet is big enough for both .com’s and .co’s as well
Best of luck to all
J.
ps. just imagine how nice it’d be if the owner of sex.co didn’t renew it and You could have it for the reg. price
Jacek@
“Some big fish domainers would probably like me to panic and not to renew my gems”
That’s exactly my point.
I turn down offerS of $3000 for my .co domains wich i purchased for $30.
It’s not time to sell yet.
It’s all about personal interest,unfortunately
@Jacek
I have seen your domains and I tell you honestly you do not have any gems.
Of course anyone can take a look at your domains. I remember you well as you were a big star with your domains at elliotsblog.com
http://www.elliotsblog.com/sell-your-co-domain-names-42864
You know…I think Overstock must be a really successful company to spend this much time and effort trying to change its name from Overstock to O. What will they answer when someone ask what does O stands for?
I understand the need to change ones name, but why O? I suspect a lot of people are losing a lot of sleep over at overstock over its company name. Good luck to them. Maybe it’s last ditch effort to mess things up so Amazon won’t want to buy it.
Sorry for spreading rumors…I am bored.
I was curious so I went over to Overstock, and I found this on its home page footer. This company really have a sense of humor. I am going to buy more overstock bedding stuff from them. Don’t matter if they wish to be refer to ask Overstock or O.xxx. HaHa
Overstock.com vs Goldman Sachs
A True David & Goliath Story
For six years Overstock.com has waged a war to expose Wall Street mischief. We did not go looking for a fight, but we learned that we were under attack, and when we investigated, the trail led to illegal manipulative activities being practiced by the dirtiest elements on Wall Street against American companies and their shareholders. So we took them on, and crunched our way up the food chain, exposing Wall Street miscreants in the process (and making over $10 million in settlements as we did so), until all that is left is the title fight. In March 2012, Overstock will square off with Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch (a Bank of America subsidiary) in a San Francisco courtroom, in a trial that we believe will make history.
Overstock is really wacky…I love it!!
i remember this conversation 6 years ago with .mobi