YNOT EUROPE – London-based advertising agency M&C Saatchi has won the global account for dot-xxx, the proposed adult-specific Top-Level Domain to be administered by Florida-based ICM Registry. ICM expects the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to approve its application to manage the domain before the end of the year, and Saatchi-created campaigns directed at the adult entertainment industry will begin in January, ICM President Stuart Lawley told YNOT Europe on Thursday. Consumer-directed campaigns are expected to begin in April, he added.

Saatchi Managing Director Richard Alford will lead creative development for the account.

Still remembered in the UK for its 1979 “Labour isn’t working” political ad campaign that swept Tory leader Margaret Thatcher into the Prime Minister’s seat, Saatchi bested three other agencies based in London and the U.S., Lawley said. He declined to name the other agencies but said all are well-known global players.

“They all really wanted [the account], as they could see this was a once-every-20-years type of gig,” he told YNOT Europe. “Saatchi really ‘got’ it. They understand the mission: bring legitimate adult content out of the dark.

“This is a true global biggie and has got to be done right out of the box,” he continued. “The launch and introduction will set the tone for the next 20 years for the domain.”

According to Lawley, the account represents a $5 million spend during the first year.

Lawley also said ICM is fine-tuning its domain-name sales strategy prior to launch.

“We won’t be selling or auctioning off about 10 of the ‘category killer’ super-premium names, such as Sex.xxx and Porn.xxx,” he told YNOT Europe. “We will instead use them as traffic-generation portals for other dot-xxx sites that will get free listings and ads on those flagship sites.”

The move is designed as an incentive to encourage the development of active sites in the domain space.

Coupling ICM’s planned advertising blitz with type-in traffic, “[the dot-xxx portals] will be some of the most visited adult sites in the world, and for the cost of a domain, registrants will get free listings without favor or payment,” Lawley said. “The traffic they get should pay for the domain many times over. We won’t know until we do it, of course, but my guess is the traffic may be as much as double [what dot-com sites collect], if not more.

“The rule will probably be that to list [on the portals], it has to be a proper site, not a park page or redirect.”

Lawley, a U.S. resident who was born in England and became wealthy after founding and subsequently selling several mainstream technology companies, has said he spent about $10 million pursuing the approval of dot-xxx. About 90-percent of the expenditure came from his personal fortune, he told YNOT Europe.

ICANN’s board of directors is expected to vote on dot-xxx in October or December. The organization will accept public comments through Sept. 23 via direct submission. Alternatively, interested adult industry insiders may complete a short online survey, the results of which will be compiled and submitted en masse by American adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition.

Comments received so far may viewed on ICANN’s website.