AOL Inc. calls itself the "brand company, committed to continuously innovating, growing, and investing in brands and experiences that inform, entertain, and connect the world." Now the brand company is without a branding head.

Jolie Hunt, AOL's chief marketing officer and communications head since July, is leaving the company less than five months after being hired away from head marketer at Thomson Reuters. According to the Wall Street Journal, the travel-loving Hunt's departure comes one week before AOL unveils a $10 million branding campaign and marks the fourth top AOL marketing and communications executive to leave this year. The company announced back in February its intention to launch a branding campaign to get consumers to care about AOL again.

Hunt — who was responsible for "AOL’s global communications strategy, including internal and external communications; social media; corporate social responsibility and cause related initiatives; corporate events (and) AOL’s global brand development, partnerships and consumer marketing initiatives" — had previously served as SVP and global head of brand for Thomson Reuters.

In June, Maureen Sullivan, the SVP of brand, marketing and communications, was reassigned to GM of women's content and lifestyle brands. Instead of of filling the CMO role, AOL is now looking for a new chief communications officer, as AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told Ad Age today. Hunt's departure and the restructuring have yet to be announced, meanwhile; the only exec announcement was a new business development head for three of its tech properties.Continue reading...

The Huffington Post Media Group and OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) have launched HuffPost OWN, a vertical focused on motivation, inspiration and fulfillment.

Selections will include this year’s crowd- and brand-pleaser, Oprah’s Favorite Things, a franchise that was a gift-tastic Super Bowl for Oprah's fans when she had her daytime talk show. The tradition returns with a holiday gift guide featured in the December issue of O magazine, along with Favorite Things trivia, a video montage of the best Favorite Things moments from “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and an inside look at Oprah’s celebrity gifts short list.Continue reading...

One more proof of Marshall McLuhan’s adage that "the medium is the message," The Huffington Post’s latest incarnation, HuffPost Live, launched yesterday. Proffering 12 hours of live weekday programming, the streaming web channel is a mash-up of hosted segments and user-generated content.

In combining the immediacy and reach of the Internet with the power of live television, the effort evokes buzz phrases like "engagement through second-screen vision." “We’re at this moment where people are much more interested in participating than they are in sitting back,” says Roy Sekoff, HuffPost’s founding editor and longtime Arianna wingman. “Engagement is more important than consumption. We decided to double down on that engagement, make it our North Star.” 

Huffington introduced the live stream with the hoopla of yore suited to a cable network launch, setting forth the mission and paying tribute to itself. “Seven years ago, HuffPost disrupted the way people engage with news. And now, with HuffPost Live, you’re invited to be part of a different kind of conversation, whoever you are, wherever you are.”Continue reading...

Two queens of American media are joining forces. The Huffington Post Media Group will launch an Oprah Winfrey section on Huffingtonpost.com in August. The announcement was made by Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, and Erik Logan and Sheri Salata, presidents of Winfrey's OWN TV network.

The Huffington Post's Oprah channel (which won't be called HuffPO) will offer “practical advice and resources encouraging people to discover their best selves and to lead happy, fulfilling lives by taking steps to attain their goals. Topics covered will include personal growth, spirituality and aspects of physical and mental health.”

While that vertical may sound like what readers can find now in Oprah's O magazine and Discovery-backed cable TV channel, the content will be created and curated by writers and producers from OWN and Oprah.com, enhanced with conversations from HuffoPo’s vast network of bloggers in “a mix of articles, blogs and interactive content that will connect with the audience on an emotional and spiritual level.” It could be the answer to Winfrey's prayers.Continue reading...

The 2012 Pulitzer Prize award winners signal a crossing of the divide to a new landscape as Huffington Post alum Jose Antonio Vargas tweeted: “There's no old media v new media--just simply media. And we've got a changing of the guard. #Pulitzer @HuffingtonPost @politico”

The Huffington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for veteran reporter David Wood’s 10-part series Beyond the Battlefield, a “riveting exploration of the physical and emotional challenges facing American soldiers severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan during a decade of war.” The series combined reporting with video, infographics, photography, and expansive social media in this first Pulitzer for both HuffPo and AOL from their senior military correspondent.

It's a big accolade for the HuffPo brand's journalistic credibility, as founder Arianna Huffington has been striving for since its launch seven years ago when she boldly called her eponymous brand an “Internet newspaper.” Continue reading...

Amazon dinged for dodging U.K. taxes.

AOL revamps and sees Arianna Huffington gain more control.

Bravo looks to first original scripted series.

Burger King sees Mary J. Blige weigh in on ad controversy as new investor talks tough about McDonald's.

Chrysler got legal shield on old models in Chapter 11 process, newspaper says.

Courtyard contrasts travel hassles with comforts in new campaign.

Ford plans to boost production in China as GM sees China sales climb.

Fox News hires Santita Jackson, daughter of Jesse Jackson, as contributor.Continue reading...

“Huffington.” is the latest mobile app from AOL, highlighting the best of the Huffington Post – and yes, the period is part of the name, just as AOL rebranded to "Aol." with a period. At the helm of the iPad magazine is Tim O’Brien, Huffpo’s executive editor, lured from the New York Times two years ago to manage the brand’s original journalism.

The news app will be free, at least for now, published weekly, largely based on HuffPo’s blend of original journalism and aggregated news, with some specifically commissioned stories — and, of course, leverage the personal brand of Arianna Huffington and the flagship Huffington Post website she sold to AOL last year.Continue reading...

The Huffington Post is expanding its brand on video. The HuffPost Streaming Network will launch this summer with 12 hours of original video five days a week. With the goal of being "CNN meets YouTube" and a “never-ending talkshow,” HuffPo cofounder Roy Sekof will oversee the new video network , to which AOL is committing at least 100 employees exclusively, with current editors and reporters expected to contribute as well.

AOL paid $315 million to acquire Huffington Post in a deal that AOL CEO Tim Armstrong calls "the Super Bowl bet we made on Arianna." Now it's ponying up at least $10 million to take the HuffPo brand into video. With a goal of producing up to 16 hours of video programming daily next year, it's a clear play for increased ad inventory and stickier content.Continue reading...