AOL launches Indian portal aol.in, promotion campaign to kick off by mid-May

AOL launches Indian portal aol.in, promotion campaign to kick off by mid-May

BANGALORE: ‘Get on the bridge’ is the AOL tagline, a bridge that connects people. AOL, a division of Time Warner, the world’s leading media company, today announced the launch of www.AOL.in, a website that offers e-mail, AOL Messenger, mobile services, videos, news, sports, entertainment among other features.

AOL.in is the first service worldwide to offer AOL’s next-generation e-mail service. AOL’s e-mail includes unlimited storage, leading safety and spam protections, and mobile access.

 

A promotional campaign with creatives by Saatchi & Saatchi will kick off by 10th or 15th of May according AOL sources. Print and outdoor media, along with selected portals such as Rediff, ndtv will be used initially, though Bangalore already has a few AOL billboards promoting AOL. Going regional with regional language content is on the anvil according to AOL LLC President & COO Ron Grant. The media buying is by Madison. Television commercials are not on AOL’s Indian avatar immediate horizon.

AOL.in has received a good response from the advertisement fraternity according to AOL LLC vp and chief spokesman Andrew Weinstein. ICICI Credit Cards, futurebazaar.com are some of the few Indian brand names that are already visible on the portal, along with a few from the US.

Among the features of the new www.AOL.in Web site:

AOL’s e-mail service will have unlimited storage, spam blocking, and security protections against viruses.

The AOL Messenger product has features like offline messages, picture sharing, personalization, grouped messaging and simultaneous multiple IDs, an integrated Google search that offers users the power of the Internet’s leading search engine without leaving the site.

The other features include:

Video content in many channels with a superior video experience.

News and entertainment channels include Bollywood, CityGuide, Cricket, Education, Gurus, Hollywood, International Music, News and Sports.

 

AOL is also launching a full mobile communications and infotainment suite that includes:

WAP Mail that allows users to access their AOL Mail on their mobile device.

A service extending AOL Messenger onto users’ mobile devices via SMS.

Downloads like wallpaper, ringtones, games, animations, and videos.

GPRS services are available on wap.aol.in. SMS services will run on the short-code 51515.