Re-Branding a Popular Online Business is a Big Challenge - Why Digital Candy Did It and Morphed Into Domain Manage 

When Ryan Ewen's company developed a sweet tooth for DigitalCandy.uk a couple of years ago he never dreamed he would need to change the name of his fast growing domain and website marketplace just as it was starting to scale new heights. Unexpected changes are seldom welcome but in this case Ewen proved to be an adroit CEO in orchestrating a re-branding to DomainManage.com under less than ideal circumstances. In the end, the move not only solved a problem - it also opened up a host of new opportunities for the business.

A change had to be made when Ewen became aware of a trademark held by a different company -  Digital Candy Inc. It only became a matter of contention when Ewen purchased DNForum.com in February 2023 (a site he wound up selling to Helmuts Meskonis in April). With the acquisition Digital Candy UK would have a problem promoting the business in America where Digital Candy Inc. held a trademark. So, Ewen flew to Washington, DC to discuss it with one of the domain industry's top attorneys, Stevan Lieberman of Greenberg & Lieberman, who also owns EscrowDomains and, as fate would have it,  Digital Candy Inc., the company Ewen now had an issue with!  

Ewen told us, "In Digital Candy Inc., Stevan runs an established business and is closely connected to the brand. Stevan and I are both members of the Internet Commerce Association (ICA), the non-profit organization that advocates for the right of domain name owners and service providers. We agree with the ICA's code of conduct so it was an easy exploratory conversation."

The solution wound up being another acquisition that Ewen made in September 2023 when he purchased Domain Manage, a business that has been established in 2014. “It was a tough decision to let go of the Digital Candy brand but without being able to develop the site and promote it freely we realized it was a necessary step," Ewen said. "Acquiring Domain Manage enabled us to execute our development plans and pivot quickly. The Domain Manage name also aligned with our desire to offer domain name specific services rather than services for the broader ‘digital space’."

Ryan Ewen
Domain Manage CEO

Steven Lieberman

The move to DomainManage.com has been just one element of what has been a very busy year for Ewen's company. “We've seen exceptional growth in 2023 with the acquisition of 25,000 .com domains and multiple R&D projects coming to fruition, coupled with the launch of The Dot UK Group including www.brandable.uk and www.flip.uk.  Brandable has pre-registrations totaling 200,000 UK domains and is our flagship offering in terms of technical capabilities and brand creation. It is an example of what is to come in 2024 under the Domain Manage brand."  

Ewen added, “Parent company EW3N has seen gross sales reach $5 million. We have completed several domain name loans and will launch our Affiliate Domain Parking platform in early 2024 along with our fractional ownership product later in the year.”

“Over the years Falbros Group grew a huge digital asset base so it was strategic to create a marketplace to sell some of the unwanted or underused assets. The Digital Candy dot UK acquisition had come about prior to an entrance into the digital asset space with a vision of creating a trusted brand that lay people could identify with and feel safe buying and selling digital assets. The reason behind choosing Digital Candy was to encompass the whole digital space and include websites, domain names, social media, apps and was broad enough to grow into anything digital that was to come. Digital Candy UK launched with an offering that could point to headline sales including mayfair.com and newz.com as evidence of its success."

In conclusion Ryan noted, “While not a core offering of Falbros Group a real business opportunity had been identified and in December 2021 Falbros Group restructured to allow a real focus on Digital Candy dot UK. 2022 saw $950,000 in gross sales which for a first year of business was exceptional, particularly from a standing start with little experience in a new market."

With 2023 now coming to a close, Ewen will have another strong year to look back on and with a new brand to expand on, he is expecting 2024 to be even better.

(Posted December 28, 2023)   

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