Ever wondered why the mascot of .CO is a piggy with wings?
It all started in 2009, when the Colombian government issued a bid for the country code domain extension .CO. Juan Diego Calle, co founder, and former CEO of .CO Internet SAS, realized how hard it became to get a good short dot com domain name. Remember, it was 2009, and all the new TLDs were not even a blip on the internet radar. He had a ‘light bulb moment’ realizing that Colombia’s ccTLD could also mean “company”.
This was the base of their successful entry strategy, positioning .CO as a strong domain brand for young, challenging (internet) companies, entrepreneurs, and start-ups. Being a “hip” alternative for a .COM domain name.
As many start-ups, the fledgling registry met a lot of skepticism. It should be around that time that the people of CO Internet SAS were often told: “dot CO as an alternative for .COM? … Yeah when pigs can fly”. The people of .CO took the challenge, worked hard, and proved all naysayers wrong. Currently, over 1.8 million .CO domain names are registered, ranking the extension at number 21 of all TLDs.
And the flying pig? It became their charming mascot, a popular giveaway at all trade shows where .CO is represented. Now in 2015 .CO celebrates its fifth anniversary, congratulations on a job well done, and keep flying high!
