Dumb Domain: Xoom.com
Uncategorized October 11th, 2008
I was watching the Fox Sports channel with my brother, and I saw an ad for Xoom.com, a global money transfer service. While their demographic targeting was smart (we were watching a soccer match), the domain name doesn’t pass the tv or radio test. Apparently, “xoom” is pronounced, “zoom,” so the announcer sounds like he is saying “goto zoom.com” when in fact, he wants people to visit xoom.com.
This is a major reason why those brandable web 2.0 domain names del.icio.us, flickr.com, and now xoom.com don’t really make sense and could cause major confusion.
October 11th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
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Yeah,
I have found this out with Jennifr.com
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October 11th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Well Elliot,
I think you’re bringing up a very good point and something to consider for the future.
Stupid is really said nicely, I would all it more of being ignorant. They wil also be investing millions just to market the name, because the name has nothing in common with what they do. To much to explain in the name, this is another ad marketing money burner. The investors must be former banking or credit consultants.
Maybe I should offer them “ OnlineMoneyService.com”
At least they wouldn’t have to explain what there service is. All they would need to do is just blend the name in on there ad.
October 11th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
While you may have right about brandable web 2.0 domain names and how they sound in general, in the case of xoom.com the company was founded way before the web 2.0 names start to become trendy. And actually the domain itself has actually a very long history (12 years) and it once was a very popular free hosting provider like geocities,lycos or tripod.
October 11th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I agree. However, Del.icio.us also owns Delicious.com. It’s a must, in my opinion, if you are going this route.
October 11th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I like the domain. Short, brandable, pronounceable. However, I see your point. This is something that needs to be marketed online or in print, not vocally. Zoom.com has to love it. So while a good domain, it does have it’s drawbacks for sure.
October 12th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Speaking of questionable domain/brand names, I’ve always been puzzled by kijiji.com. It’s hard to remember, it’s hard to prounounce, and it’s hard to read. I wonder if they are giving craiglist any competition.
October 12th, 2008 at 6:56 am
It’s not the greatest domain in the world, but I actually like it. I agree with Andrew… Zoom.com but be enjoying the free marketing ;).
October 12th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
They should just pronounce it how it is spelled should sound like exume.
ps was just reading about some other examples at John Andrews site last night. This post is a great example of “how bad it gets” : http://www.johnon.com/608/breeding-domains.html
October 12th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Elliot….. Xoom is not spoken as Zoom in most of the countries they are targeting (meaning Latin, I’m not sure about some of the others). Phonetically speaking, it is pronounced “Shoom” by those folks, and that is how they read the word.
They are mainly targeting immigrants living here in the U.S. sending money home. They are less worried about us, apparently.
***UPDATED BY ELLIOT***
The voiceover pronounced it “Zoom.com”
October 12th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Well….. then I’m not sure
Maybe they are trying some strange hybrid branding to not leave out Americans. That is strange.
I’ve actually been in Latin countries and head the word spoken many times as “Shoom”, or sometimes as “Soom”
As a separate example using the funky “X”….in Brazil they have a famous child’s program called “XuXa”. How would you begin to pronounce that?
You would speak that as “Shoe Sha” down there.
I guess the point of the post is still very true….. maybe they should have chosen another name if it is said so many ways.