I have often written about innovative marketing campaigns Base has developed to successfully promote their various new gTLDS (Radix administers .tech, .online, .store, .site, .website, .host, .space, .fun and .press). For each of their end-user targeted campaigns, they created a new approach that caught people’s attention.
One of Radix’s biggest successes was a Break the Code campaign in 2020, tailored to the tech community, which attracted more than 100,000 developers who competed for thousands of dollars in prizes by solving puzzles, numbers and quizzes. The campaign was so popular there needed to be an encore, and there was the now-completed Break the Code 2 contest which racked up even more jaw-dropping numbers. More than 110,000 competitors signed up, generating more than 1.3 million visits to BreakTheCode.tech in just three weeks. Overall, the campaign generated over eight million digital impressions.
When it comes to attracting attention to new TLDs, Radix is clearly doing something right, so we wanted to get more information on how their process works, thinking there must be some guidance there- in it that would help all of us trying to market our domains and websites. So we reached out to Suman Das, Senior Director of Brand Operations at Radix, for this information. Suman walked us through the tactics and thought process behind Radix’s marketing of its top-level domains in general and Break The Code 2 in particular.
“At Radix, each TLD is always treated as an individual brand with its respective managers,” Das noted. “We operate this way because each TLD caters to a very specific target group. So, while .Tech Domains is focused on engaging with the tech community through innovative campaigns such as Break The Code; .Store Domains focuses more on campaigns like #IdeaToStore to get aspiring store owners the first step. Recently, we concluded #FempowerOnline, a campaign for .Online domains aimed at providing female-centric online business ideas by budding female entrepreneurs. These are just a few of the many examples of how we at Radix are able to create high-impact campaigns for end customers through our focus on each TLD.
Regarding the internal process of creating a campaign like Break the Code and BTC 2, Das said, “Every campaign at Radix is born from the same principle: customer focus. Therefore, we start with intensive research on the customer, changing market trends, engagement patterns, customer channel affinity, their preferences, etc. The more we understand our customers, the greater the impact we can create.
“Speaking specifically about Break The Code 2, the biggest idea we were working with was that the tech community has a high ad filter and doesn’t like intrusive advertising,” Das noted. “It inspired us to create a campaign in the form of a high-engagement game. We put in months of additional research and planning to make it more watertight. Once we had the structure and theme in place Basically, we spoke to industry heavyweights like GitHub, Namecheap, Digital Ocean, MLH, Dev.to, and Hackernoon, and they instantly loved the concept and joined us as partners. from there, we worked on the actual creation of the game while planning a full marketing campaign to promote the game.”
Das added, “The theme of the game was inspired by Windows-98, with moral conflict embedded within. We had planned a bunch of easter eggs and cheat codes to be sprinkled throughout the game. As a final joke and to end the game on a high note, we asked Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc, to file a video where he turned out to be at the origin of the conflict. It took the community by surprise and left them in awe!” Suman said with justified pride.
Still, some might wonder why the Win 98 theme? Das explained, “The nostalgia associated with Windows 98 and the PC gaming experience of the 90s immediately struck a chord with our target audience. The challenging nature of the puzzles won over even the hardest-to-please technicians. What started as a “digital touchpoint” for .Tech domains quickly grew into an experience that brought the tech community together and naturally transcended to Reddit, Discord, and Twitter.
Das said, “Also, the tech community liked the game so much that we had fan-made browser extensions and NFTs on the game.”
We asked Suman what elements Radix decision makers look for and believe are necessary for a campaign like Break The Code to succeed. He said: “For us, the key ingredients for the success of any campaign are the generation of end-customer value, virality, engagement and earned media potential. We also look at ROI for which we rely on internal financial models and metrics. »
Regarding the metrics Radix looks for to increase the chances of success for marketing campaigns such as these, Das said, “Our success metrics primarily include signups and website visits. Social proof and post-campaign feedback are also closely tracked.
Last but not least, after the success of the second edition of Break the Code, we had to ask ourselves, what’s next for .Tech? Suman replied, “Our goal has always been to help anyone looking to create a positive impact using technology, and our marketing efforts aim to reflect that. Going forward, we will continue to drive engagement, create a sense of community, and be a vehicle for those who want to improve the world through technology. With that in mind, our team is currently working on some exciting initiatives, and we’ll be launching them soon. »