Namecheap real winner in GoDaddy ad debacle?

GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons reports that "Go Daddy's 2009 Super Bowl campaign results shattered prior records for both new customer sign-ups and total orders, with 10 percent more new customers joining than last year's Super Bowl Sunday." 

Despite the salacious nature of the ads, Go Daddy knows its customer base and, in the domain name registrar bowl, it appears they are the clear winner. 

Or maybe not...

I think there is a sleeper that, thanks to their pro-active response to the issue via Twitter along with some creatively conceived and well-timed marketing campaigns, gained a measurable degree of marketshare as well. Certainly, they garnered plenty of buzz. If nothing else, they saw a 32% increase in traffic, according to Michelle Greer, social media marketing consultant for whom Namecheap is s client.

Who is this sleeper? Namecheap.

Look at this Blogpulse trend graph comparing Network Solutions, Namecheap and Dotster:

 

You'll note how Namecheap and Dotster were in a dead heat for second place well behind Network Solutions. However, thanks to their seizing an opportunity when it appeared, Namecheap was able to break out and place themselves in contention more closely to NetSol.

 

For example, the day of the Superbowl they created a "Make the Superbowl 43 Switch" campaign which asked, "Not happy with your current registrar or their advertising models?" The company offered a switch to their service for $6.99 per domain. 

If that's not enough, a few days prior to the game they came up with their own answer to GoDaddy's expensive Superbowl ads by creating the Namecheap Big Game Video Contest. 

"We are asking you, the NameCheap customer, to come up with a funny NameCheap commercial around the same time," says their pitch. "We can't air it during half time, but the ones we like will be published for others to see in our blog and of course, to our YouTube channel. Feel free to browse through them while drinking beer, eating chips and queso, and arguing offsides calls with your friends."

They went after user-generated content to build buzz and, while it's a spoof, the campaign is creative and fun. The contest winner gets the Creative Vado HD pocket video camcorder, a prize valued at $225. Not too bad for less than one minute's worth of video.

 

Finally, on game night and the day following they maintaned a strong presence on Twitter promoting the switch campaign and coupon code.

It will be worthwhile to track whether Namecheap can hold the ground they've gained. They spiked before in recent months, according to Blogpulse, but receded to previous levels of notoriety in terms of buzz created in consumer-generated media.

What do you think of my surmise? Is Namecheap a "sleeper" winner in the registrar bowl? 

Comments

[Bobette Kyle]

Paul, when I switched over to NameCheap I had no idea the extent they had planned the campaign. Kudos to Michelle Greer and to you for getting to the "story behind the story"!

http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/strategy/strategy/the-o-in-swot-super-bowl-style/

[Paul Chaney]

Thanks Bobette. It will be interesting to see how Namecheap and other domain registrars fared in this and whether they experience advantages long-term.

[Joy]

I love NameCheap. GoDaddy can drink in all the profits that come with its testosterone-driven superbowl ads, but I think my fellow NameCheap customers love the fact that our registrar is simple, service-oriented and caring. Maybe GoDaddy gets a lot of new signups, but you know what they say: it costs more to get new customers than to retain them, and NameCheap has chosen the better part :)

[namecheap coupon]

Thanks for article.
I like namecheap.com more than godaddy.com
Godaddy.com It's too slow when I was updated information.