Something old, something fresh, something borrowed, something blue
Kassey Lee examines the domain names these startups selected.
No, they are not the things that I found on the day I married my wife, but the domains used by leading Chinese startups featured in a TechCrunch story regarding the fresh trend of faux meat.
These startups are a fresh generation of end users in China. So, what domains do they like to acquire? Is their preference different from the previous generations? Look at what I have found.
| Startup | Domain | .cn | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Monday | GreenMonday.org | For sale | GreenMonday .com for sale |
| Starfield | StarfieldCN.com | Not resolve | Starfield .com developed (3rd party) |
| Hey Maet | HeyMaet.com | Not resolve | |
| Vesta | VestaFoodlab.com | Developed (3rd party) | Vesta .com developed (3rd party) |
| Haofood | Haofood.co | Not resolve | Haofood .com not resolve |
| ZhenMeat | ZhenMeat.com | Not resolve |
Something Fresh
Fresh is (1) the trend of eating meatless burgers and (2) startups founded only recently. They can tell you what domains the fresh generation of end users in China want.
Something Old
Old is the extension loved by the fresh generation of end users in China. Four of the six startups still prefer .com, which is more than 35 years old. Also, they still like English-based domains.
Something Borrowed
Borrowed is the American idea that .com means big, global, prestigious, and trustworthy. Therefore, Chinese end users prefer .com over .cn when building their corporate websites.
Something Blue
Blue is sad that (1) many end users still do not observe the brand-matching rule (e.g., Starfield not using Starfield.com) and (2) they don’t secure their .cn domains for brand protection.
While this wedding tradition may not catch on in China, the love for .com by Chinese firms will likely continue for a long time unless changed by fresh regulations. Also, an opportunity lies in selling domains as upgrades to Chinese firms.
