25 years of AOL... and a new direction

25 years of AOL

Web pioneer AOL celebrated its 25th birthday on Monday, but, rather than looking back on its once flourishing past, chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong focused attention towards the company's goals for the future.

AOL is best known for its revolutionary early days, during which it launched its paid email service and notorious "You've got mail!" greeting and at the peak of AOL's success it had over 26 million users. However, increased competition and some poor decisions saw user numbers dwindle to a mere 6 million by the end of last year. AOL's split from TimeWarner last year (dissolving a deal that some analysts have called the worst corporate marriage in history) has led to a new vision and set of strategies for the company.

"One thing I spent the first year doing was unlocking the company's ability to make decisions and compete" said Mr Armstrong, explaining that although AOL was one of the largest content creators on the web, it wasn't always the dominant player anywhere.

"All about access"

The first phase of the Internet was all about "access" Mr Armstrong told CNBC, and the second "about the platforms - the Googles and the Facebooks." Mr Armstrong went on to explain that he sees "content" as the forthcoming third wave. "We have sort of pivoted the company to really focus on what we think is going to be the next decade of growth on the Internet which is really about high-scale quality content and great advertising online", said Mr Armstrong. "We see the Internet as a big open pipe that could be filled with a lot better and more high-quality content and that's really our plan, to put technology and journalism together."

AOL's new slogan is "Beat the Internet" and Mr Armstrong believes it is vital for this concept to be be understood and adhered to by employees across every single section of the company. "Beat the Internet" isn't just a marketing phrase", he asserted and is in fact holding all of the company's divisions accountable for its performance, from the legal department to ad sales. Mr Armstrong has also said repeatedly that he wants AOL to become the "king of content". The company has also recently lured Bill Gate's former technology adviser, Alexander Gounares, away from Microsoft to become AOL's chief technology officer.

By shifting focus to advertising, a blog network and quick-hit news, AOL is hoping to become the leading producer of high-quality content on the web. Their ethos has shifted and soon even their once familiar logos may be unrecognisable. The new AOL could prove to be a serious contender in the online world, but the company clearly has a steep road to climb.

Relevant articles:

BP: From natural disaster to PR nightmare | The world's leading companies |  Formal investigation into Goldman

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: