The AOL brand has been around for nearly 20 years, which, in internet time, is like, forever. The name stands for a lot of things to a lot of different people, but for many of us, it represents ridiculous amounts of junk mail. Or training wheels for newbie internet users.
So when the company rolled out a joint-venture celebrity news site, TMZ.com, it wasn't surprising that the AOL name was almost entirely left off the site.
Marty Moe, Senior Vice President of AOL Money and Finance, says we should expect the company to develop many more new brands that don't include the AOL name.
"We are actively considering developing brands that may or may not include the AOL name," Moe says. "We're blowing up the idea of the portal. We want to be where the users are instead of forcing them to use all our products after going through our front door."
The idea sounds divine to us, but branding expert Robert Frankel warns that the company could be giving up a valuable asset.
"AOL is a high fast ball," Frankel says. "They have everything you need to make it a
great brand besides a strategy. They've done everything they can not to build a brand. Even if they develop new brands, it won't matter since they don't know what to do with it. It's like dumping an old wife for a new trophy wife -- a quick fix."
Photo: Flickr/Earthman
