NEW YORK — A lot has changed at AOL as it tries to shed the vestiges of its ’90s image: the iconic “You’ve got mail” greeting and the promotional CDs stuffed into mailboxes across the country.
The company has engaged in an artsy rebranding, rolled out hundreds of local news sites and bought the online news hub The Huffington Post for $315 million.
At the helm is chief executive Tim Armstrong, whom AOL hired from Google to stage a turnaround in April 2009.
The Associated Press recently sat down with Armstrong, 40, and he talked about why he wanted to lead AOL and how it’s going so far.
Q: Why did you think it would be a good idea to leave Google for AOL?
A: AOL, I think, represented an opportunity for a few things. One is I’m a big believer in the AOL brand, and I think AOL as a brand has touched hundreds of millions of people around the world. Reigniting that brand is a very exciting challenge and a big opportunity. Two is I think the Internet is still in the early innings. Especially when we look at content or some things we’re investing in, those models are still being figured out, so there’s a big opportunity there. And then No. 3 is, having spent a lot of time on search ads and other things, brand advertising (broad marketing campaigns by larger companies) is going to come online, so I think there’s a really incredible business opportunity behind brand advertising.
Q: Was part of the decision motivated by the desire to run a company? This is the first time you’ve been in that position.
A: I’m a person who likes to tackle challenges. Google was a challenge when I got there. I think AOL’s a challenge. The way we run the company is a very team-focused environment. I like to think that this company is all 5,000 people working together. Part of my job is setting the vision and setting where we’re going. One of the things that’s best about AOL is we get to work in a team- focused environment.
Q: How has AOL’s content business changed since the acquisition of The Huffington Post?
A: The Huffington Post has been a big front door to the Internet and is growing quickly as well, so it also gives us the ability to increase our distribution as a company across the board. And for advertisers, we have two of the most affluent audiences online. So I think bringing in The Huffington Post has allowed us to actually fuel where the future of the company is going in terms of content creation, content distribution and content monetization. And it has allowed us also, frankly, to continue to change the culture here. Probably the biggest thing I’ve been focused on the last two years is changing the culture here to a culture that’s really of the future of the Internet. The Huffington Post is just helping accelerate that.
Q: A lot of people have long thought of AOL as the “You’ve Got Mail” company or as “that company that used to send me those CD-ROMs in the mail back in the ’90s.” How do you think people on the outside, consumers, think of AOL now?
A: That’s actually been one of the most interesting things, just personally. When I first got to the company, I heard a few pieces of feedback. One was a lot about the merger with Time Warner and people focused on that. The second thing was that they weren’t really sure what AOL did anymore. They kind of knew AOL from the disc days.
Q: What’s one gadget you can’t live without?
A: My BlackBerry. I’ve had it for years, but I think it’s one of the things I’ve appreciated most because . . . it gives me more time with my family and allows more communication to go around the company. Also, I just had hip surgery, and the other gadget I would suggest for people who have injuries from sports in their knees or hips is an aquatic running suit and aquatic running shoes. I run now in the morning as therapy for my hip.
Q: You use this suit to run in a pool?
A: Yeah. It’s not the most attractive running outfit, but it’s pretty amazing for the results. I was a huge runner after college, did some marathons and stuff, but haven’t been able to run because of my hip. Getting back into it is exciting. For a lot of the people I know who have joint problems, I’ve said, “Go out and get the aquatic running suit.”
Tim Armstrong file
What he does: Chairman and chief executive of AOL
Age: 40
Education: Connecticut College, double major in economics and sociology
Previously: Senior vice president at Google, head of the company’s North and South American advertising operations
Now you know: A lifelong sports fan who skis, plays tennis and coaches his kids’ lacrosse and soccer teams; owns the Boston Blazers of the National Lacrosse League and is an investor in the United Football League
The Associated Press
