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AOL CEO Armstrong Talks About New Branding Effort and the Investor Road Show! (Plus Internal Aol. Logo Video)

Kara Swisher — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:02:05 +0000

After AOL CEO Tim Armstrong unveiled the newly punctuated AOL logo–big A, little o, little l, period–last night, he got on the horn with BoomTown to chitty-chat about the change in image and, more pertinently, how it’s going on the road show to sell investors on the soon-to-be independent company.

First off–while many suggested it–Armstrong said he never considered dumping the AOL moniker for another name, in an effort to rid the company of the 1990s feel of the brand.

“I wanted to keep AOL as the the brand, because bottom line there was a lot of good will around the name,” he said, noting the billions of dollars invested in it. “As a consumer brand, there was a high level of affection.”

Of course, I have a lot of nostalgic affection for Beanie Babies and the kids from “Saved by the Bell.” But, in no way does that mean I want them back, especially Screech.

But Armstrong prefers to use the revival of the Apple (AAPL) brand as a better comparison. “We think that kind of comeback is the way we’re looking at it,” he said.

In that case: Calling Steve Jobs, stat!

Of course, the AOL name has also forever been linked with Time Warner (TWX)–its current owner–in perhaps one of the worst mergers in history, another ding on the brand.

Armstrong agreed that corporate debacle left bad taste in the mouths of investors, which is one of the things he has to change in the road show he is now on to sell the new and improved AOL.

And, while he is only two days in, Armstrong said he is encouraged by the response.

“A lot of initial reaction is what we expected and we have had to do an update on AOL to change perceptions,” he noted. “People did not know we were doing so much…and, I think, they really like our strategy.”

That would be a leaner, meaner staff with a big focus on content.

Still, Armstrong said, investors are going to take some convincing. “Basically, they want to know where we are on the AOL turnaround and are asking us if we can get this company growing again,” he said. “AOL is still the ‘Show Me’ state.”

Actually, that’s Missouri. Perhaps a better goal would be Florida: The Sunshine State!

In any case, Armstrong said it will be critical that AOL show investors that its change is authentic, innovative and meaningful.

The idea of transformation is obviously and sadly clear with AOL’s recent announcement of massive layoffs and the deleveraging of assets.

In other words, it’s not your father’s bloated online company.

On the more positive side, Armstrong said communicating a new brand image and accompanying logo–whose motto is: “one logo/countless ways to reveal” and will include a marketing and advertising campaign–is also key.

“We want to use the new logo to highlight other things within the service,” he said. “And that would be all the things that you can pivot to that come after the dot.”

Here is a first look at a video of Armstrong talking to his employees about the new logo–and, no, I have no idea what the fawn, the goldfish or the weird-looking ghosts mean–as well as images of some older AOL ones (only the yellow running man is staying put):

[ See post to watch video ]

Exclusive: AOL Hires Bankers to Sell Off ICQ, as Internet Service Starts to Shed Non-Core Assets

Kara Swisher — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:18:39 +0000

AOL has hired a pair of New York investment bankers, Morgan Stanley and Allen & Co., to manage the sale of its ICQ instant-messaging unit.

Sources familiar with the situation said interest in buying the asset from two major non-U.S. companies prompted execs at the online service to put a process in place for a deal that will likely occur after AOL becomes an independent company in December.

AOL is set to spin itself off in less than a month from corporate owner Time Warner (TWX), and sources said selling off peripheral properties likes ICQ is part of becoming a smaller, more focused company.

Sources added that AOL now wants about $300 million for the property.

ICQ, which was once of the most explosive online communications tools, has lagged since AOL bought its popular software for $287 million in 1998, with another $125 million in earnouts for the team then. It was part of an Tel Aviv, Israel, start-up called Mirabilis.

While ICQ has about 40 million to 50 million unique monthly visitors and is the No. 1 messaging service in Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Israel and other small countries, its has less traction in the U.S. than bigger rival services from Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO) and Google (GOOG). In addition, Facebook and Twitter have also become major players in the status-update space.

AOL’s AIM service, in contrast, is quite strong, typically clocking as one of the top instant-messaging properties.

Said one source about the sale of ICQ, which is still based in Israel with about 100 employees and is moderately profitable: “AOL now has to be asking the hard questions.”

Those hard questions include massive layoffs, which BoomTown reported last week will take place soon. AOL then formally acknowledged the cuts, noting in a regulatory filing that Time Warner would take a $200 million charge for them.

Other AOL properties are also likely to be getting the once-over for sale, including its Bebo social networking site, which AOL bought for $850 million in 2008. But that is not imminent.

Two's Company: Obama Girl and Ralph Nader

Kara Swisher — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:51:11 +0000

Okay, this one is so egregiously odd, BoomTown had to post it.

From the folks at Barely Political, whose original Obama Girl video became a political pop phenom, here’s one with Independent Presidential candidate Ralph Nader.

It is done as a spoof on a cheesy sitcom, and it’s oddly sweet to see Nader cracking wise so very badly.

Here’s the video: