Michael Kelly was named president of global marketing solutions on Friday, with the mandate of finding the elusive online-offline advertising synergies that girded the rationale for Time Warner's merger with AOL two years ago. Kelly will report to Don Logan, who was named head of AOL Time Warner's media properties in July.
"Having spent most of my career here, I know firsthand that our company has an unmatched mix of the world's strongest media properties, the industry's deepest and broadest consumer relationships, and the unique power of interactivity," Kelly said in a statement.
Perhaps notably, Kelly mentioned the advantage of AOL Time Warner's Internet unit last. As another of the Time Warner old guard, the 17-year Time Inc. veteran's appointment is another sign of AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons' commitment to shift the balance of the company back to its Time Warner roots, as the AOL unit that was heralded as the company's growth engine continues to stall.
Despite his heavy experience in traditional media, Kelly has dipped his toes in the Internet waters. He returns to AOL Time Warner from a two-year stint at American Town Network, a Fairfield, Conn.-based company that allows local groups to create Web pages, which he founded and served as CEO.
Kelly will need to combine his offline and online expertise to take advantage of AOL Time Warner's stable of respected media properties and the online strength of AOL. The Internet unit of the company continues to struggle under a prolonged Internet ad slump, questions about its accounting practices, and management uncertainty.
On Thursday, freshly appointed AOL chief Jon Miller cleaned house, shuffling executives in an attempt to streamline AOL's notoriously top-heavy management structure.
