Do You Know Your URLs?

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It’s nothing new for a company to create a campaign-specific Web site, with a special URL just for that purpose. (See “Microsites to Serve Microsegments.”) But not every campaign requires a completely new URL—some companies opt for the subdomain approach, such as www.mcdonalds.com/dollar, www.nokiausa.com/E71x, or www.RitzCarlton.com/orlando.

The Obama Administration seems particularly enamored of the single-use URL, launching such sites as www.recovery.gov and www.serve.gov. But the White House also knows how to hedge its bets, creating both www.whitehouse.gov/StrongMiddleClass/ and www.AStrongMiddleClass.gov (which now forwards to the whitehouse.gov address).

The single-use URL has its opponents, but no one can deny that the best of them possess some appeal. (MasterCard can feel very proud of its www.priceless.com URL—a perfect marriage of ad campaign and domain name.) According to one industry blogger, “call-to-action domains to extend advertising campaigns online and facilitate response are the fastest growing and most lucrative opportunity in domain names today.”

We’ve collected a few recent examples below—see if you can match the brand to the URL. You can find the answers by visiting us online at www.destinationCRM.com: The Answers.

    1.    www.WelcomeBigwigs.com                          a.    State Farm
    2.    www.summer64mustdolist.com                   b.    Miller Genuine Draft Light
    3.    www.BrownBailout.com                                c.    JetBlue 
    4.    www.WillYouJoinUs.com                               d.    USA Network
    5.    www.NowWhat.com                                      e.    FedEx
    6.    www.ShowUsYourCharacter.com                  f.    Chevron

Though you might not know it’s for a Broadway musical, you can probably discern the brand behind www.Shrekcation.com. Not all campaigns are as easily sussed out. Below, we give you a URL—and you decide which brand it belongs to.

    7.    BreakfastServedAllDay.com
        (a)    International House of Pancakes
        (b)    Jack in the Box
        (c)    McDonald’s
        (d)    Denny’s

    8.    PassTheBall.com
        (a)    Nike
        (b)    NBA
        (c)    WebEx
        (d)    Spalding

    9.    SmoothAndDreamy.com
        (a)    Yoplait
        (b)    Dove
        (c)    Skippy
        (d)    Breyer’s

    10.    ExpressionOfJoy.com
        (a)    Coca-Cola
        (b)    Downy
        (c)    Nestlé Toll House Morsels
        (d)    BMW

    11. VeryBestBaking.com
        (a)    Nestlé
        (b)    Duncan Hines
        (c)    Sara Lee
        (d)    Pillsbury

    12.    WeCanDoThis.com
        (a)    GE
        (b)    BP
        (c)    AT&T
        (d)    PG&E

    13.    ShaveEverywhere.com
        (a)    Philips Norelco
        (b)    Gillette
        (c)    Venus
        (d)    Remington

    14.    ActivelySafe.com
        (a)    Volvo
        (b)    Lycra
        (c)    Lexus
        (d)    Trojan

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