Check the expiration date...

From today's MediaPost's Out to Launch,
Now this is what happens when you don't pay attention to expiring domain names. The United Kingdom domain name for Ogilvy and Mather expired and was bought by viral agency A S A B A I L E Y. The site shows an expiration of some sort - the feet from a cadaver complete with a toe tag that states: "If you understood the modern brand... ... you'd understand how to protect it." Ouch. Visitors to the site can click on the toe tag to send the link to a friend. The e-mail subject line comes up as "Ogilvy London Hijacked."
This is a great move by A S A B A I L E Y, not only getting some press out of their snagging the registration, but also to push people to their agency as a viral advertising agency.

And, as for Ogilvy & Mather UK, for shame. It's easy to automate domain registration, and this should have never happened.

Comments
1 comment
  1. Oh, Jeremy. That's a painful lesson for Ogilvy and Mather. Also, there are new ICANN rules that may cause the same kind of problems for other companies. Now, the alert time for domain transfers is only 4 days. And some domain registrars don't offer domain 'locking'. Slashdot: New Rules Make Domain Hijacking Easier. Others, like mine (Dotster), offer it - but for a fee. ;) I think Ogilvy & Mather would gladly trade the $3.00 fee for having avoided this 'hijack'. Ouch!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment