RegistryPro

C/o Hayes & Curran, Solicitors

6 Fitz William Square

Dublin, Ireland

 

Re:  Impact of Large Firm Participation on Market Penetration of the .Pro TLD

 

 

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

As part of the determination of the target market penetration in connection with the strategic marketing plan prepared in conjunction with your New TLD Application to ICANN, we considered the significance of lawyers and accountants located in large firms.  For several reasons, we elected not to make any specific assumptions with respect to this portion of the target market.

 

First, as a percentage of the whole, this subset of the professional target market (which includes doctors) could not be expected to impact worldwide totals more than 1-3%.  Although highly visible, this subset of legal and accounting professionals represents, in the aggregate, less than 10% of all legal and accounting professionals who would be eligible for .Pro designation.

 

Second, the effect this subset is likely to have on the marketing plan for .Pro would almost certainly increase market penetration.  The rationale for this is that initial feedback indicates that large firms would register their individual practitioners “in bulk,” which would have the effect of increasing market penetration of that sector to 100% rather than the average assumption in the application of 26%.  Since large firms engage in “early trend-following” behaviors (as evidenced by recruitment and publication strategies), they are likely to buy bulk registrations.  In the event that any large firm determines not to “bulk” register its professionals, those individuals may still elect to obtain their .Pro domain name on their own.  The precise approach to incentivizing key decision makers in large firms needs further research, which we are prepared to conduct at your direction if you are awarded the bid.

 

Accordingly, in conjunction with our opinions and advice rendered in connection with the New TLD Application for .Pro, we adopted a conservative approach and did not assign specific weight to the bulk registration of lawyers and accountants who practice in large firms.

 

                       Very truly yours,

 

 

 

                       STC Associates