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Rebranding Reviews: AOL

January 20th, 2010

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

Note: Point.Click Media was not involved with this project. This is merely a review for study purposes.

Good ol’ AOL. Yes, unfortunately they are still around. America Online: the same company that’s been dedicated to making the technologically unsavvy kill themselves since 1997. You may also recognize them as the company that’s been jamming your mailbox full of useless CDs every month that you’ve been using as frisbees for your dog.

In any case, AOL has decided it’s time to torture a new generation. As of December 2009, Time Warner and AOL have now officially split up, ending a celebrity marriage that brought us such classics as The Final Destination and The Ellen Degeneres Show. Now AOL is standing on its own (again) and looking to reinvent itself as a tween driven, online based content network. Alas, the talking heads have come to a decision:

aol

I can’t say that the new image doesn’t suit their demographic. They may as well have just gone a step further and changed the brand from AOL to LOL. The new look AOL is definitely streamlined from the days of their jargon-filled portal to techno-hell sweepstakes days. It’s a simple wordmark that when combined with bold imagery certainly appeals to today’s desensitized youth. The wordmark itself is not a huge change. Clean, corporate, but doesn’t give you the impression of “Clear the Hawaii vacation off the calendar, honey! I’m on the line with AOL to get the modem fixed.” No matter how ridiculous it may look, it works for their demographic.

aolsamples

It’s certainly a move in the right direction, in relation to where AOL is headed. Now, maybe if they can replace those promotional CDs with something that can keep the tweens pants up, we won’t have to stare at every teenagers’ butt crack while waiting in line at Wal-Mart for a price check on your Blueberry Tea.

Let us know what you think.

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Posted in Branding Reviews on January 20th, 2010

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