New York — As it sets itself up to disunite from Time Warner, AOL today said that it has assigned Publciis Groupe’s “Leo Burnett” to help the company communicate its upcoming reinvention to people around the world. The company moved quickly, giving five large and small agencies two weeks to prepare a presentation, AOL COO Kim Partoll told the trade mag.
Earlier this year, Time Warner Inc. announced that its Board of Directors had permitted its management to move ahead with plans for the complete legal and structural separation of AOL from Time Warner. Following the proposed transaction, AOL would be an independent, publicly traded company.
Leo Burnett will offer strategic brand communications consulting services to AOL as the brand sets up to ameliorate its purpose and personality. Burnett bested undisclosed agencies in what AOL described as “a closed request for proposal process.”
“Leo Burnett has a stellar reputation for creating and reinventing legendary brands based on powerful human insights and that is the primary reason we have decided to work with them,” said AOL COO Kim Partoll, in a statement.
By selecting such a traditional ad agency, AOL is appearing to signal that it is not interested in a complete reinvention or in promoting anything cutting edge.
Rather, it just wants some fine-tuning, such as a new logo, as the old one is still associated with the dial-up service, which though still valuable, is steadily declining.
In particular, AOL intends to refocus its AOL Advertising brand — the former Platform-A — as well as its other units, including AOL Media, which houses the content side, such as the Mediaglow brand.
Burnett was among numerous agencies that took part in a closed request for proposal process and was ultimately selected as the best strategic and creative fit for its track record in building world class brands, according to Partoll.
“AOL played a critical role in opening up infinite possibilities of the Internet to millions of people and under the expert guidance of Tim Armstrong, AOL is poised once again to blaze a new trail,” said Rich Stoddart, president of Leo Burnett USA. “We are honored and excited to be asked to help them write the next chapter in their remarkable history.”
The scope of the work and budget were not disclosed. AOL has not had a unified branding push or much significant advertising of late. It had recently worked mainly with IPG’s Hill, Holliday on such efforts. One of Hill’s last major pushes for AOL came more than two years ago, and included a high-profile spot starring Married With Children actor Ed O’Neill touting AOL’s online video offering. “Make a difference. Just click play,” the actor said, walking across a giant laptop computer.