Bringing the internet to the masses: America Online Inc. (AOL)
This case describes the development of America Online (AOL), a dominant Internet player accounting for some 60% of all home-based Internet users in the United States in 1998. AOL targeted Internet novices with easy-to-use news, shopping, and chat rooms, and connected its customer “community” to a large network of Internet “content providers”. The case describes how AOL overcame a series of recent setbacks, and developed a series of three key rules–“communication, community and clarity”–to bring coherence to its strategic development process. In 1998, AOL was facing new challenges from Internet service providers and “portals”, yet as a major player in the mass-media industry it had attained a market capitalization in late 1998 of some $12 billion.
October 1998
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
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