America Online has rolled out a national advertising
campaign dubbed “I AM” for its updated AIM service.
The campaign, created by New York-based ad agency ATTIK, highlights AOL’s
next-generation AIM service called “AIM Triton” and is geared to create a
buzz among the collegiate set.
The company is pushing the upgrade of the ubiquitous instant messaging
Service, which is 43 million users strong, as a “feature-rich communications service” that goes beyond instant
messaging and offers a slew of communications forms, including e-mail and SMS
text messaging, as well as a variety of live voice and streaming video
services.
The idea is to market the brand to college-age users who have great
influence on both younger users and older ones as they enter the workforce,
said Chamath Palihapitiya, vice president and general manager for AIM and ICQ.
The campaign includes several interactive, traditional, search-based and
buzz marketing elements, including print, indoor and outdoor placements on
college and university campuses, according to Palihapitiya.
The campaign also features a new logo and is intended to underscore users’
connection with the AIM brand, he added.
“‘I Am’ is a way for us to have an umbrella statement that conveys what AIM
means to people on a functional level,” Palihapitiya said.
The campaign will run through mid-November, and will include full-page, four-color print ads in 43 student newspapers nationwide.
Palihapitiya said the company does not disclose how much it spends on
particular marketing campaigns.
Ads are also popping up on sites such as MTV.com, ESPN.com,
TicketMaster.com, MySpace, Facebook and Bebo, as well as
ValueClick and 24/7 Real Media networks.
“We worked with ATTIK to create a multi-faceted campaign that presents these
features to our core youth audiences in a way that impacts them in their
daily lives, and we are confident that our new visual identity and creative
showcases the flexibility and comprehensiveness of the new AIM Triton
service,” Kevin Conroy, executive vice president of AOL Media Networks, said
in statement.
