AOL to launch broadband ad blitz

The online branding exercise, which will run through July, is a forerunner of a much more vigorous campaign involving print and broadcast media, the company said.

AOL, which has the highest number of dial-up subscribers, has lagged in luring broadband subscribers. It recently axed a plan to sell broadband directly, instead trying to win customers with a "bring your own access" strategy that touts the premium content as an add-on to customers who already have broadband service. In a double whammy for the world's biggest interactive services company, there has been a substantial drop in growth of its dial-up subscriber base of late.

The new ad campaign, created by digital marketing firm Atmosphere BBDO, pushes the idea that speed is just one part of the broadband story and that content is equally as important.

The series of "Speed Meet..." ads will run on Web sites operated by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, MTV and ABC News.

In an effort to push its broadband services, AOL last month entered a co-marketing deal with its corporate cousin Road Runner and its cable modem service, with whom it had a rocky relationship for years.

Early this month, for the first time, the number of U.S. broadband users overtook the number of subscribers to AOL or one of its affiliates.