Trinity Mirror rebrands ic24 portal

The Mirror’s Internet service provider is shedding its quirky name with a £5m awareness drive

Trinity Mirror New Media (TMNM) is rebranding its Internet service provider (ISP) and portal website ic24 as ic this week, with a &£5m marketing push.

Launched last May, ic24 has suffered because of its quirky name and image. TMNM was keen to keep its Web activities separate from its Mirror newspapers, since much of its traditional readership isn’t online yet.

But the brand which is meant to imply “I see, 24 hours a day” has not captured the imagination of the AB demographic audience that TMNM sought. Despite this, it claims to have captured about 300,000 registered users. A rival, The Sun’s Bun.com, declined to distinguish its online activity from its newspapers with the same emphasis. Although it claims 450,000 users, it was sold last month to continental ISP, World Online.

In March, Trinity Mirror – the company created by the merger of Mirror Newspapers and the Trinity Group – announced its intention to develop the UK’s leading “local portal” with a &£150m investment over the next three years for the central portal ic.

The rebranding campaign, which runs throughout April, involves a pair of male and female eyes, wearing ic-branded contact lenses. These images will appear on bus sides and posters, in press ads and on national TV.

Key to the campaign will be ic’s offer of free online time from nine to five every weekend”.

TMNM marketing director Jill Playle says the company’s aim is to be as strong online as it is in print. “To this end we are offering our consumers the best deal in terms of price, and by tapping into the wealth of content available through the group.”