Meet the new AOL
By Margie Wylie and Rose Aguilar
Staff Writers, CNET NEWS.COM

Ted Leonsis must have a busy hatmaker.

Not only is this former technology writer and former president of Redgate Communications now the president of America Online, but he's also the president of 2Market, a CD-ROM-based home shopping service. In his copious spare time, he has also served as mayor of Orchid, Florida. With AOL's 19-hour outage, slumping stock, and slumping membership, Ted's political skills are being put to good use. The seldom-seen AOL exec--CEO Steve Case usually does the talking--is on a cross-country tour. In this election year, the fast-talking Leonsis is out stumping for the incumbent. New and improved, as any candidate should be, today's AOL will feel your pain. We caught up with Leonsis in San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza, where he talked about AOL's marketing push, its chances against ISPs, and the role that pricing will play in the company reaching the 10-million member mark at the close of the century.

NEWS.COM: What is the "new" AOL?
Leonsis: The new AOL is new capabilities: better browser; faster access; more original content; some real exclusives, like our Buddy List technology that lets you communicate in an instant fashion to people all over the world through your computer; our hyperlinking technology; and much better packaging of how we integrate the Web to America Online. So what we're seeing is the relaunch of the service. This is the first part of a major marketing program and it will include network broadcast television, new Web site design, new packaging, and a lot of different kinds of venue-oriented marketing like concert sponsorships and sporting venue sponsorships. I flew up from L.A. on United Airlines and they gave me peanuts, a Coke, and an AOL disk! So I know we've become mainstream.

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