AOL considers new name to unify brand

AOL has said that it is considering a rebrand and name change to bring unity to all of its owned companies.

The company’s chief marketing officer Allie Kline told Business Insider that the company would be “investing in the brand” this year, to enable consumers to associate AOL with its acquisitions.

However, it was not yet certain whether the company would keep the current brand or “bring a new brand to market”, she said.

She added that the AOL brand has “a lot of legacy and meaning” and that the company “shouldn’t move away from it”, but then said it was also possible the brand needed a new name, saying it was a “very hard needle to thread”.

AOL, which started out in 1985 as an internet and mail provider – and became ubiquitous for its “You have mail” slogan and dial-up internet tone – now owns several other businesses, including The Huffington Post, technology blog TechCrunch and social network app Bebo.

Wolff Olins previously rebranded the company in 2009, which saw a refreshed logo, with a new typeface sat on top of changing imagery.

The website was also redesigned last year, with a greater focus on video content.

AOL was also bought by telecoms company Verizon for $4.4 billion (£2.8 billion) in 2015.