Salesforce.com, known for its CRM application, changes brand to Force.com with domain purchase.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) is now branding itself as simply “Force.com” with the acquisition of the domain name. According to a search of Whois history at DomainTools, the domain was transferred to Salesforce.com between July 24 and July 26 of this year. The seller was Gordon Force of San Jose, California.
The branding change was necessary because the company has expanded beyond simply sales management. Salesforce.com wanted to change the name sooner, but had difficulty buying the domain name. According to an article in eWeek:
It turns out that much of the company’s consternation over the years with name changes—really a branding effort to focus customers on Salesforce.com’s emerging platform capabilities—was the result of legal wrangling over the use of the Force.com domain name.
Apparently Salesforce was in negotiations for the Force.com domain with a California man who had used the dot-com designation for his company, which was named for his surname, according to media reports. It’s not clear how much Salesforce paid for the right to Force.com, but the ownership of Force.com has enabled Salesforce, finally, to settle on a brand with continuity.
Great buy. Wonder how much they paid for force.com?
And who registered wwwforce.com way back in 2002? Answer: Sir Frank Schilling