Trust me, Jeff, Madison Avenue fully understands the power and value of premium domain names. And that is EXACTLY why ad agency execs routinely DISCOURAGE clients from investing in high-end names. Of course, at face value, this statement rings of lunacy. So, allow me to explain.

We’ve been pitching ultra-premium client domain names to grizzled Madison Avenue execs for five years, Jeff, as a necessary and treacherous peril of the high-corporate domain selling process. With rare exception, when senior corporate decision-makers turn to their agencies for related counsel (and executive CYA), agency execs do their utmost to obstruct domain acquisitions.

It’s not that they don’t get it. They do. The cold, harsh reality is that high-end client domain name acquisitions are natural predators of the agencies’ own best interests. Why? Because agencies know that corporate clients won’t line-item the domain investment from assets or general operations. In most instances, they’ll tag it as a marketing expenditure and yank the equivalent cost of acquisition from the agencies’ ad budgets, thereby depleting the agencies’ commissionable war chest. On paper, a million-dollar domain name will effectively cost the agency $176,500 in lost commissions. And if the domain turns eventually drives a more cost-effective ROI/ROA than commissionable media placements, corporate budget planners may further trim the agency’s annual meal ticket. So, with callous disregard for the best interests of the client, Madison Avenue straps on its armor, unsheathes its sword and beheads the threat to its bottom-line.

Along the way, we’ve been beheaded a few times when corporate sales seemed otherwise imminent. In more than one instance, we’ve seen respected global ad agencies feed contrived data to their clients, in an effort to short-circuit high-end domain acquisitions. It used to piss us off. Now, when necessary, we know how to play Madison Avenue hardball too, in order to preempt interference or overcome agency greed and antagonism. In fact, I’m semi-pleased to admit, I’ve tallied a few trophy heads on my own mantle.

Madison Avenue too often remains inherently conflicted and fiercely protective of its own interests, rather than true to their obligation to provide reliable, unbiased counsel to clients. Until such time as agency’s begin to bow to the 21st century marketplace, rather than obstruct it, “our club” and the selfish best interests of Madison Avenue will continue to collide.

Anyone who thinks there is not a lot of bang for a buyers buck in this marketplace, needs to move to the back of the class. People will look back at this photo frame of the domain name market, as possibly the greatest asset opportunity, of a lifetime. But incredibly some people, right now, can not see this. This is what makes markets folks.