The Drum declares today '.com Day' as it changes its domain from .co.uk
Today is ‘.com Day’ as far as The Drum website is concerned. At around 2pm this afternoon our domain will be formally switched from www.thedrum.co.uk to www.thedrum.com.
Readers are unlikely to notice many fireworks, glitter bombs, balloons or streamers being shot from the rafters. In fact it will make very little difference to the overall user experience when the switchover takes place.
However, according to Gordon Young, editor and co-founder of The Drum, the positioning statement itself is what makes the move significant.
“This is a key staging post in The Drum’s journey to having a very tight geographic focus, to becoming much more geographically neutral.
“Our website is really about recording great modern marketing and media stories – and that appeals to readers all over the world.”
The Drum already has a strong global reach – around 20% of its audience now comes from the US for example. This is a trend The Drum sees accelerating and the move to .com and the decision to appoint a US correspondent – Noel Young – is part of this equation.
The development is a far cry from The Drum’s original mission statement when it launched around 25 years ago.
Said Young; “We started life very much as a traditional media operation – we published a magazine, and then sold advertising to those who wanted to reach its readers.
“But its scale was restricted by how many we could afford to print. That is why we initially focussed on Scotland, and eventually the UK market outside the M25. In these days the logistics of print and distribution dictated what markets we could afford to serve.
“But with online everything has changed. Today it is about content – and on the basis The Drum can really compete. According to Google Adplanner for example, we overtook Brand Republic and Marketing Week for the first time in terms of unique users this year.
“Our editorial aim of recording the modern marketing in all its forms has struck a chord. The Drum reflects the rapidly converging nature of this industry, and is not trapped in old fashioned silos such as digital, advertising and design.
“We cover the lot, because that is what our readers are now interested in – everything from tech to typography.”
But as well as investing in the website, The Drum continues to invest in its offline side too; “The magazine is positioned very much as a premium product, and serves a very different and distinct role to the website. We are absolutely convinced it will always be part and parcel of what we do. This is not a business which is obsessing over the future of print. What we are interested in is providing people with great content via whatever platform they want; whether it is in the form of digital, print or live events,” Young concluded.