AOL launches news ads, logo
In an aggressive new marketing campaign, the company insists that it's the ISP of choice for home users.
America Online on Thursday launched an aggressive advertising campaign designed to make the case that it's the Internet service provider of choice for home users and unveiled a redesigned version of its corporate logo.
In the marketing endeavor, which will debut with a series of print ads in high-profile newspapers, AOL will tout its commitment to protecting consumers from an array of online nuisances, such as spam and phishing scams.
Other bullet points of the ad campaign will trumpet AOL's focus on protecting its members' privacy, safeguarding children and building Web communication tools such as its instant-messaging software.
While Dulles, Va.-based AOL, a division of media conglomerate Time Warner, remains the nation's largest ISP, the company has struggled to hold on to its customer base, losing more than 3 million dial-up customers over the last two years to broadband and to lower-price Internet providers.
The company recently began testing a redesigned version of its home page in a related effort to draw in consumers. With that new look, AOL is making an effort to re-establish itself as a portal site, competing with the likes of Yahoo, whereas previously, the company had primarily used the space to advertise its ISP services.
AOL said the advertising campaign will launch with double-page spreads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, with the series continuing over the course of several weeks. Next week, the company will begin a related television campaign, in which it will attempt to characterize its services as increasingly important in its customers' lives.
The revamped logo is not a wild departure from the company's time-honored crest. Rather, the new emblem displays AOL's name in a different font and a slightly rotated version of its triangular motif. The update marks the first time the company has altered the graphic since 1991. The new emblem is being adopted as part of AOL's celebration of its upcoming 20th birthday.
The company is working with a handful of advertising companies to produce the ad campaign. The Martin Agency is handling the printing efforts. Ad company BBDO New York will produce the company's television spots, and Desgrippes Gobe Group is responsible for the logo redesign.