The issue of new gTLD marketing (or more precisely, the lack thereof) has been a recurring theme lately. In our current T.R.A.F.F.I.C. West conference preview article, show Co-Founder Rick Schwartz pointedly observed, "The vision thing is missing completely...if a gTLD  is worthy of investment then they need to make their case...Many of these gTLDs are in danger of stalling, others are dying on the vine already and it is no wonder because we have seen a stunning lack of marketing from almost any of them."

In our article about the 2014 Domaining Spain conference that ended last Saturday in Valencia, Spain, show founder Dietmar Stefitz said, "Even though all new registry operators were given an open invitation to attend, very few took the opportunity to come and talk about their extensions...In general the audience was disappointed 

Marketing image from Bigstock

about how little money is being spent on publicity in general for the new GTLDs. One audience member remarked that they must  be spending everything on running auctions."

This morning Elliot Silver at DomainInvesting.com ran an interesting article titled "Who is Responsible for New gTLD Marketing?", in which several registry operators chimed in on who they thought should be taking the lead in getting the word out. Their consensus seemed to be that it is up to everyone in the (new gTLD) industry including registries, registrars and ICANN, but so far those actually doing so are closer to no one. 

This week .CLUB also made it clear they are willing spend even bigger (much bigger) to reach the consumer market (the one that really matters in the long run) by getting an endorsement from rap superstar 50 Cent who is setting up camp at a new domain - 50inda.club. Not only that, 50 will on hand to host a private .CLUB launch party in New York City next Thursday night (May 22). And, oh by the way, .CLUB is spending more money flying VIP guests into the event to make sure their message gets carried far beyond the bounds of Manhattan when the party is over. 

Rap superstar 50 Cent will host the .CLUB Launch Party in New York City May 22.

By doing so many things that no one else is doing, .CLUB has succeeded in making themselves a story that people have to pay attention to. In addition to the media, other registry operators are watching intently to see if .CLUB's big gamble pays off. If their take no prisoners marketing effort (that is reminiscent on what .CO successfully did) results in a home run, others are bound to follow suit (at least as far as their cash reserves will allow). If it fails to produce the expected results, the new revenue streams so many are counting on new gTLDs to provide could end up being a mirage that never materializes. There is a lot riding on what they are doing - and not just for .CLUB.