Though once a prestigious brand name, the AOL moniker has now become more of a universal target for scorn, a scarlet letter, if you will. But unless you're looking carefully, you'll likely miss the fact that the new Asylum website for young men is a creation of the company. Same for WalletPop on personal finance, Spinner on indie music and StyleList on fashion. These days, the AOL brand is taking a back seat as the company quietly launches dozens of sites targeted at specialized audiences.
AOL figures that to grow its audiences - and draw additional advertising the company crucially needs to offset plunging revenue from its shrinking base of Internet access subscribers - it must break from a one-size-fits-all model and let its specialty sites set their own designs and editorial tone, shedding the AOL brand when necessary. "AOL currently implies legacy. It implies old. It implies out of date," said Rob Enderle, an industry analyst with the Enderle Group. "If you want to attract a new, young audience to a site, attaching 'AOL' is probably a kiss of death. They are wise to use the new individual property brands."
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