AOL Rebranded & Liberated
Since I caught wind of the Aol press release announcing their rebrand and liberation from Time-Warner, there’s been quite a bit of conversation both online as well as here in the office. The thesis that I keep coming back to is this: Wolff Olins is redefining the world of corporate branding.
They’re unconventional, unorthodox, they break all the “rules,” and they have generated a stir not only among designers, but the general public as well. This is where I think it gets exciting. There is something to be said when the Huffington Post and other news outlets are breaking a story on a corporation rebranding before any industry blogs do. Wolff Olins has achieved a level of cultural relevance that cannot be ignored.
Much like we discussed in the article Nickelodeon’s Rebrand Goes…, Wolff Olins has proven that branding is more than a static logo. How does it interact within it’s applications, it’s surroundings, the world? This is what is beautiful (and exciting) in the execution and concept with the new Aol. The new wordmark can live anywhere (the moon) and on anything (a squid), effectively communicating that the new Aol can be anything and everywhere all at once.
Wolff Olins has allowed each of us to provide our own definition of who and what Aol is. Allowing the audience to do so adds a level of interaction and freedom that is uncommon in the corporate world. In a world where perception is paramount, Aol is a bold experiment in how people will relate to a company that has a constantly evolving mark. It will be interesting to see if Aol will live up to Wolff Olins’ vision of who the free-thinking independent Aol is or will they fall flat and be discarded like the millions of free minutes they once pedaled.
Resources:
The New Aol.
Aol. Rebrand at Wolff Olins.
Aol. Reveal Films at Universal Everything.
