Yahoo looks to overhaul public image

Seeking to boost its public image and raise awareness for its new services, Yahoo announced a new marketing campaign on Thursday.

Dubbed the "Y!ou" campaign, the $100mil campaign is the latest effort by Yahoo to drum up attention for its search and web portal services. The company said that the campaign would target individual users and present the benefits of Yahoo services for day-to-day tasks.

"This is much more than an advertising campaign," said Yahoo executive vice president and chief marketing office Elisa Steele.

"It is about how Yahoo delivers its promise to the market in everything we do. Our brand strategy shows our commitment to delivering personally relevant online experiences."

The company said that in addition to the US and UK markets, the new campaign will also take aim at Hong Kong, France and Korea as well as emerging markets in Brazil and Indonesia.

The new advertising campaign is the latest move by Yahoo to remake itself in the aftermath of several rough years. The effort began early in 2009 when Carol Bartz was named as the successor to co-founder and chief executive Jerry Yang.

Since taking over, Bartz has drawn headlines both for business moves such as the high-profile search deal with Microsoft as well as her brash comments both within the company and with the media.

While speaking to reporters following the announcement of the new campaign on Tuesday, Bartz again raised eyebrows when she accused the press of unfairly covering her company while giving rival Google a free pass.

"I just want to transplant all you guys out of this sort of cynicism you're in," Bartz was quoted as saying to reporters.

"Why are you cynical about us? Be cynical about frickin Google. Leave us alone."