It took the likes of a Rolling Stone article that called the (formerly) embattled financial giant Goldman Sachs, “a great vampire squid wrapped around humanity” and NY’s Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo’s denouncement of banking industry pay practices in general, for Goldman Sachs to wake up and find its way to a PR counselor’s door.

And, of course, in the 4^th quarter, just a bit ahead of their plan to pay out an obscene dollar amount of bonuses, which Associated Press reports as $16.7 billion, so far this year.

Apparently the company’s PR plan is to expand lobbying expenses and have their CEO give fuzzy and warm speeches explaining, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal, “it is important that we explain our business model to a wider audience, why what we do matters, and why and how we pay our people.”

Tell that to the Americans who have suffered massive unemployment, foreclosures and business failures, the likes of which have not been seen since the Great Depression. They will also not forget that barely a year ago, this company received a $10 billion capital infusion from the government.  Although Goldman invested wisely and repaid its government debt, it’s clear that without that infusion, there would have been failure, with few recourses.

Goldman is now sending their CEO on a charm offensive, a public relations campaign full of media interviews geared specifically, to minimize the public’s expected vociferous outcry against the bonus announcement soon to come – that same CEO who, himself, is in line to receive a mega sum at the end of this recessionary year.  The company could have shown more social responsibility by proposing several constructive and sustainable PR programs.

Here is a thought…

Their PR advisers could suggest that the company allocate a percentage of all payout bonuses toward seeding start up companies, basically turning their staff into investment angels and helping spur entrepreneurism and ingenuity.  This then, would make a story that would humanize the company and hold off those who would vilify Goldman Sachs for being successful.

Americans would buy it… It would be much more powerful in turning around negative perceptions than the planned self-serving explanatory speeches.  It really would be a win for Goldman and our economy…

Just when we got comfortable with Internet addresses that end in .com, .net, .org, or .edu, along comes an agreement between the US government and the Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN, the body in charge of assigning Internet addresses), that will allow for Internet addresses to end in .anythinggoes or .somethingorother.

The new agreement, which is to take effect next year, will surely unleash a mad dash to gather up names to better brand a company or product, as in Pepsi.cola, Taco.bell, Fat.burger, Ivory.soap and Apple.mac.
Ok, we can get used to that. It will just seep more memory from our already extended brains…

There really would be no end to the “fun” that could ensue, if it were not for the price tag — a major downer. With a fee of more than $100,000 for applications, you better believe it that it won’t be Mom.mommy or Joe.plumber that will be first in line to grab that one customized and ownable word that best defines a brand. Sadly small- to medium-sized businesses will also be hard pressed to come up with the six figures needed to pay for the opportunity to differentiate.

Still, there is much good to be said about this move which paves the way for a new and more open web. ICANN, operating under the aegis of the US Commerce Department, had always caused concerns for some, most notably the European Union that had lobbied for ICANN to be delinked from the U.S. government. The concern was that with ICANN as the only decider on what names can be added to the Internet’s top level domains (TLDs) such as .com as well as country designations, the Internet did not really belong to a wider global constituency.

According to a Reuters news article, “this agreement, which allows ICANN to become a “private sector led organization,” will now subject ICANN to periodic reviews by a panel that includes a U.S. representative and independent experts, essentially allowing the organization to no longer report solely to the United States.” ICANN will now be a nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States and has promised that it will address various issues, including consumer protection and trademark matters, before implementing new domain names.
Apparently, in a survey conducted by the Future Laboratory earlier this year, two-thirds of businesses were unaware they will be able to use their own name in place of today’s domain extensions.

Wait until they find out. Can’t wait for the creative juices to flow and the scramble for domain words to begin…