Beyond the Application: What dotBrand Applicants Should Be Planning for 2027

2026 was an important year for every dotBrand applicant participating in ICANN’s new gTLD program. It was a year of decisions, application preparation and submission, and anticipation around contention, all of which demanded significant time, resources and energy. However, I would argue that 2027 will be even more consequential for dotBrand applicants, with a multitude of important activities still to come.

dotBrand applicants will have two equally important paths to navigate in 2027: managing their application journey through the ICANN ecosystem and preparing their organisations for the reality of operating a piece of internet infrastructure. Regardless of when a company can actually start using its dotBrand, progress on both fronts will help set applicants up for success when that day comes. Let's take a deeper dive into the finer points of each one.

The ICANN journey isn't over yet

The ICANN application process took up the majority of applicants' energy in 2026, and while the heavy lifting of application preparation may be complete, the journey will continue for dotBrand applicants into 2027. Now that the list of final applied-for strings has been published (as of the 17th of November 2026), the next phase of the process is objection filing and public comment submission, which will last until the 16th of March 2027.

It's likely objection filing for dotBrand applications will be rare, but applicants who applied for strings where there is a history of opposition from other rights holders absolutely should be prepared to respond to any objections that are filed. What's more likely than objections, in my view, would be the submission of public comments. These are available for anyone to submit and don't come with any kind of filing fee. Though public comments don't carry the same weight as official objections, it's important for applicants to take any submitted comments seriously and be prepared to respond to any legitimate comments.

While the objection filing and public comment period runs until mid-March, the other key activity all applicants will be paying attention to is the "prioritisation draw", which ICANN will conduct on a to-be-determined date in the first half of 2027. This will determine the order in which applications are processed, making it extremely important from a timing and planning perspective.

“Submitting a dotBrand application is just the beginning. The real opportunity lies in having a clear plan to turn that investment into something that delivers meaningful value to your organisation."

Preparing your organisation for dotBrand success

As important as the ICANN activity will be in 2027, it's possible the internal activities for dotBrand applicants will be even more important. One of my biggest hopes is that the 2026 dotBrand applicants will be more successful in actually putting their dotBrands to use than their 2012 predecessors. I firmly believe that the groundwork laid in 2027 will play a major role in determining whether that happens.

For dotBrand applicants, getting their organisations to buy into the possibilities that becoming a registry operator presents is where the real work begins. Yes, before submitting the application, there was probably general agreement that participating in the program was a worthwhile investment. However, I'd bet good money that very few organisations have actually developed detailed plans for how they intend to use their dotBrand.

This coming year presents an opportunity for every company that applied for a dotBrand to come together and build a robust rollout and utilisation plan, ready to implement once the ICANN delegation process is complete. 

Here are some concrete activities dotBrand applicants should undertake in 2027

• Assemble an internal implementation team if one does not already exist: Most domain management activities are cross-functional, and dotBrand planning expands even further into the organisation, requiring input from multiple groups across a company. Engaging with IT, security and trust, corporate communications, marketing and product management in the planning process will allow for a variety of voices at the table to contribute to the dotBrand ideation and planning process.
• Appoint a dedicated dotBrand project owner who can drive progress and hold stakeholders accountable: Bringing the right people together is an important first step, but someone needs to take overall responsibility for driving the project forward. Many dotBrand initiatives have struggled because of a lack of internal alignment, making it essential to have an individual who can bring different teams together, maintain momentum and ensure that the planning process translates into action.

• Create a detailed, reasonable and phased rollout plan for your dotBrand that fits into your company's overall digital strategy. 

Let's break down why each one of those is equally important.

Detailed: Know exactly what you intend to launch.

Detailed in the sense that you should have specific usage plans for unique domain names you can register in your dotBrand at the appropriate time. If your plan is simply, "Marketing to come up with a domain to use for a campaign...", then you haven't done enough prep work. You should plan out the first 10 or 20 domain names you're going to register and have a specific use case for each one.

Think of it like a football coach's game plan: the first dozen plays are scripted in advance. The same principle applies here. Everyone should know exactly what happens when the dotBrand is delegated and becomes available for use.

Reasonable: Be realistic about how much needs to change.

Reasonable means not proposing titanic changes to your well-established digital footprint. Getting internal buy-in on participating in the dotBrand program was not a slam dunk for most companies, so expecting a titanic shift away from your current domain presence when your dotBrand is delegated can't be expected, nor should it be desired. Each company is going to define reasonable differently, so it's not a one-size-fits-all approach, but building a plan that fits each company's unique culture is the key.

Phased: Build momentum through achievable early wins.

Phased is important because your registry contract with ICANN is for 10 years (with presumptive renewals), so you're going to have many, many years to utilise your TLD. For first-time dotBrand operators, this is uncharted territory, so it's important to demonstrate early successes in your rollout plan and then continue to expand and build upon those over months and years. Early wins will be critical in building the momentum that will underpin the long-term success of your dotBrand. It isn't necessary to fully map out the next 10 years of your dotBrand program, but I think a 24-36 month timeline is about right.

Build your dotBrand for the long term

For dotBrand applicants, 2026 was an eventful year filled with ICANN application work and all the stresses brought on by that entire process. Those ICANN activities will continue in the coming year, but now that the application has been submitted and is in the evaluation stage, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work on making your dotBrand a reality in a way that suits your company and delivers value to your organisation, employees and customers.

Like other dotBrand applicants, Abion is on this journey too, and we plan to approach it in much the same way as I've described here. We'll also be documenting more of our own journey as we move forward. If you'd like to discuss how to approach this process in practice, feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to share more of our thoughts and experiences.

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