AOL Time Warner Inc chief executive officer Richard Parsons is considering a request from America Online executives to drop "AOL" from the corporate name, which may help the world's biggest media company shift attention away from its struggling Internet unit.
Jonathan Miller, chief executive of America Online, asked Parsons in the last few days to change the name, saying it is hurting the online unit's brand.
Miller, who was appointed last year to turn around America Online, said in an e-mail to employees the name change would likely bring new criticism about the online company's 2001 purchase of Time Warner Inc.
"There is no question this will provide the media yet another opportunity to write negatively about the merger of AOL and Time Warner," Miller said.
"But I want to emphasize that I initiated the dialogue with Dick Parsons about the name change -- no one has asked me to do this -- because it would be the right thing for our business," he said.
Executives who came to the company from Time Warner have also supported a name change, though for different reasons. They argue that it's the parent company that's being tarnished by the online unit's woes, which include subscriber losses and an accounting probe.
Since the purchase, the combined company's shares have declined 66 percent and Time Warner executives such as Parsons have wrested control of the company.
Board member and former chairman Stephen Case and former chief executive Gerald Levin didn't immediately return calls placed to their offices. Miller didn't return a call seeking further comment.
Parsons and the board may consider the name change when they meet next month, spokeswoman Mia Carbonell said.
Miller said in his e-mail that changing AOL Time Warner's name would insulate the online unit's brand from any bad publicity at the corporate parent.
"Since the merger in early 2001, the three letters AOL have ceased to stand for the Internet and the promise it entails, and instead have become the shorthand for the world's largest media company," Miller wrote in the e-mail.
"Any controversy or criticism involving the corporate entity has actually hit our consumer brand," Millar went on to say.
Some investors and executives have said the company should wait to change its name until the US Securities and Exchange Commission concludes its investigation, which would keep the new name free from taint. Others said a name change would follow management turnover and operational changes already underway.
Brand consultants said it makes sense for the company to make the change now rather than wait. The name change would help the company focus on Time Warner's traditional cable television, film and music operations, they said.
"Usually, the damage is done when the question's been raised," said John Allen, a senior partner at Lippincott & Margulies, a brand-consulting firm.
"The sooner they start rebuilding their brand and focus on what they really do well, the better," he said.
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