Elisa Steele

Exclusive: Like Marketing, Yahoo’s Customer Advocacy Org Gets Sliced and Diced This Week

Kara Swisher in News on October 26, 2011 at 12:01 am PT

Change is certainly afoot inside Yahoo.

Exclusive: Yahoo Overhauls Marketing Unit — The Internal Memo

Kara Swisher in News on October 21, 2011 at 8:48 am PT

Yahoo is drastically rejiggering its marketing division, according to an internal memo from its Chief Marketing Officer Elisa Steele, in a move that seems to leave her future role unclear.

Here Comes the Yahoo Spin Cycle–So Try BoomTown's Soap-Free Guide to What's Actually Happening

Kara Swisher in News on September 30, 2010 at 12:53 am PT

Here’s how Yahoo’s top brass and board–with the help of its newly re-engaged crisis-management PR firm, Abernathy MacGregor–are already trying to spin the latest executive turmoil to hit the company: Trashing those on the way out, to take focus off those remaining who have been just as responsible for driving the Internet icon, and claiming that this is all part of yet another well-planned reorganization at Yahoo. Don’t believe most of it for a second. Some of it is corporate politics as usual, some of it rejiggering of events, some just not true at all.

Yahoo Tries to Recover From "It's Y!ou" Ad Disaster by Attacking Google's One Box (This Is Going to End in Tears)

Kara Swisher in News on May 5, 2010 at 11:28 pm PT

Say it ain’t you, Yahoo. And yet, here’s one of the major new conceptual directions of the troubled Internet giant’s next pricey marketing campaign, aimed at recovering from its first advertising foray, which is widely considered a failure: A full frontal attack on search leader Google. In fact, it’s an odd attempt to mock the simple and elegant white box that allowed Google to steal Yahoo’s thunder many years back. “There’s nothing to look at but a box and a button,” says the voice-over to the Yahoo commercial about an unnamed, but obvious, Web site. “When you look at this homepage nothing looks back at you.”

Yahoo Gets Set to Unveil Rejiggered Ad Campaign, After First One Stumbled

Kara Swisher in News on April 19, 2010 at 8:38 am PT

Yahoo is close to rolling out a new version of its pricey advertising campaign, said several sources, after the one featuring the tagline, “It’s Y!ou,” seemed to flag. One of the rejiggered versions being considered is centered on the concept that the Web is “personal,” with specific references to all kinds of apps and services–via flying tiles–you can use on Yahoo, including third-party ones such as Facebook.

Got Yahoo? Internet Giant Hires Goodby as Top Creative Agency for Its Ongoing Brand Revitalization.

Kara Swisher in News on October 19, 2009 at 5:55 pm PT

In a shift that is sure to be much commented on by the advertising industry, Yahoo has tapped Goodby, Silverstein & Partners to take the lead for its creative, advertising, digital marketing and strategic planning efforts. The San Francisco-based Goodby, which is owned by the Omnicom Group, is known for innovative ideas and has done such memorable campaigns as the terrific “Got Milk?” campaign. Perhaps a “Got Yahoo?” campaign is in the future? Until now, the top job of goosing Yahoo’s tarnished brand, as part of a recently launched $100 million marketing push, has been helmed by Ogilvy & Mather.

Yahoo’s $100 Million TV Ad

Peter Kafka in Media on September 28, 2009 at 8:58 am PT

Don’t say they didn’t warn you: Last week, Yahoo formally rolled out its new $100 million-plus marketing campaign. Today, the TV ads begin. Here’s what you’ll be getting if you watch AMC, ESPN, USA, Comedy Central, Bravo or any of the broadcast networks in the U.S.

Live From New York: Yahoo Introduces “You”

Peter Kafka in Media on September 22, 2009 at 8:19 am PT

CEO Carol Bartz explains what Yahoo is getting for its $100 million ad campaign, its first global marketing effort, which was launched today in New York during Advertising Week. Here’s the rundown of Bartz’s press conference on the branding blowout.

Yahoo Adds Zimbra to the Garage Sale as It Tries to Shed What Isn't "You!"

Kara Swisher in News on September 21, 2009 at 4:16 am PT

According to numerous sources, Yahoo has been shopping around Zimbra, the open-source email company it bought in late 2007 for $350 million. Zimbra is only one of the many assets of Yahoo that are now on the block, including its personals business, its HotJobs online classified unit and more to come. The effort to unload Zimbra is yet another sign that the company is trying to slim down its diverse portfolio, even as it strives to redefine itself this week with a new, pricey marketing campaign that seeks to position Yahoo primarily as a consumer company.