Since her arrival as CEO of Yahoo! Carol Bartz has been made a number of changes, the biggest one to date has been the much anticipated search deal with Microsoft. Other changes have included a few acquisitions and killing off some much products that should have been put in the grave a long time ago.
Yesterday Yahoo announced the launch of a $100 million global brand campaign that launches September 28 in the Unites States and October 5 in the United Kingdom and India. The campaign will launch in other Yahoo markets such as Brazil, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, and Taiwan during 2010.
“Today the Web and your world are inseparable,” said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz. “Hundreds of millions of people use Yahoo! ® to get the information they need, connect with friends and family, and be entertained. We are about creating online experiences people find meaningful, relevant, and fun.”
Yahoo has been criticized by the media over the last year by media and analysts for having lost their way but it now looks that Carol Bartz has identified the key strength that Yahoo brings to the table and gives it a unique position within the online marketplace. During the IAB MIXX Conference and Expo in New York City this week Elisa Steele, Yahoo! Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer said “Our vision is to be at the center of people’s online lives—to be at the place where their world meets the larger world, our new branding will focus on people—the power and promise of ‘you.”
How Has Carol Bartz Changed Yahooo
- Revamped Yahoo homepage – giving users faster access to their favourite content and sites from a single screen and location
- Updated Yahoo Mail – now offering advanced photo sharing, editing
- Shut down Bix, a company offering online contest that was acquired by Yahoo
- Yahoo acquires Xoopit (for around $20 million)
- Shut down Geocities, we all shut a tear on this one as we’ve all had a Geocities account at one point (even if we never used it)
- and a few more things along the way, and its only September!
During the press conference Carol did mention Yahoo is still on the hunt for other acquisitions that will help them pull in more users to the online portal.
