weeks - 8:17 pm on Mar 15, 2009 (gmt 0)

No matter how we analyze it, we can agree that AOL is much better off with Tim.

Agreed. But, it Tim better off with AOL?

I talk a lot about branding and AOL is an interesting case study for me. (That's consultant talk that means, "I'm clueless here.") The AOL brand is certainly well-known, but well-known for what? It's rep with the general public is not good. My 80-year-old mother even makes jokes about AOL.

Yes, they have traffic I would kill to have. But, what's next? FYI: AOL is currently running ads on sites such as WSJ, but when I clicked on the ad, I just went to the site--there was no, "Here's what you should do here at the new AOL" that the ad suggested. This suggests that they are as clueless as me about their next step.

The big action from where I sit it going after niche audiences with major channel brands, i.e., "The New York Times Flower Gardening" web community. (They haven't done that, yet.)