Ge

General Electric Group 1 Victoria Kennedy Antonia Harper Iris Hsiao Bryan Lai Ju-Young Bang

1878 1954 Edison Electric Light Company “ This room is equipped with Edison Electric Light. Do not attempt to light with match. Simply turn key on wall by door.” Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

1878 1954 -1892 Merged with Thomas-Houston Company ---> General Electric Company Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

1878 1954 -1900s “ Everyone wants Electric Light, its Luxury--Comfort--Cleanliness--Convenience. Everybody can now afford it” “ Electric Light is Now Cheaper. Ask your Electric Light Company about this new lamp tomorrow morning. Find out why it is so economical. Learn how you can have Electricity Light at one half of the old Cost” Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

1878 1954 -1900s -1910s GE Transportation GE Appliances GE Plastic GE Financial Service GE Medical Supplies Radio Corporation of America Few consumers recognize the GE brand. Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

1878 1954 -1922
GE hired ad agency, BDO
General Electric Company
“ The Initials of a Friend…GE”
Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

1878 1954 -1930s “ More Goods For More People At Less Cost” -->Depression years Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

1878 1954 -1940s “ You Can Put Your Confidence In General Electric” -->Postwar sentiment Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

1854 1980 -1950s
“ Progress Is Our Most Important Product”
General Electric Theater & Ronald Reagan

1854 1980 -1972
“ Progress For People”
Innovation
Product benefits

1981 2001
American manufacturer
--> Global service giant
Market value
$12 billion (1981)
--> 280 billion (2001)
Business that were being commoditized
--> high-value technology products, services

1981 2001 -1979
“ We Bring Good Things To Life”
The benefits that GE’s products brought to people
Focused primarily on light bulbs and appliances
Helped deflect several PR disasters

1981 2001
Welch’s media and marketing strategy
Build a strong corporate brand
Use marketing techniques from consumer products to market B2B products
Focused and simple
Targeted a small group of business and political influentials

1981 2001
Primary focus:
Be No.1 or 2 in each of its business divisions
Existing business, acquisitions
Didn’t invest much in technology,
innovation, or new business

1981 2001 -1991 “ The number one company in America” --By Forbes Magazine Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

1981 2001 -1997
No.1 Businesses (global market share)
Industrial motors
Medical systems
Plastics
Transport
Power generation
Aircraft engines

In 2001, Jeff Immelt succeeds Welch as ninth chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Electric
Darmouth College and Harvard Business School alum
Began career at General Electric in 1981
Held senior positions in GE Appliances, GE Plastics, and President and CEO of GE Medical Systems
Immelt focuses more on technology and innovation
Immelt reissues some positions eliminated by Welch
He reduces the number of acquisitions made during Welch's tenure

A NEW CAMPAIGN
Advertising needed to distinguish leaders- high tech and innovation
Change in slogan from "We Bring Good Things to Life" to "Imagination at Work"
New campaign had three audiences: GE employees, Wall Street and consumers

Television for most innovative departments:
GE Transportation
GE Plastics
GE Medical Systems
Reason Behind New Positioning:
Create awareness to consumers and investors that GE not only specialized in lighting and appliances

Change in the Ads
Immelt changed the traditional black& white logo to a quick flash of GE products
The founder, Thomas Edison, head popping out of a box with different visions
Logo

Internal Reactions to new campaign
Mixed reactions toward the new campaign
Companies previously used similar slogans "_____________ At Work"
Brand Equity would be lost
Not being able to vitalize new theme
Ideas Innovation Ingenuity Post-2001 The Jeff Immelt Years 1981-2001 The Jack Welch Years 1954-1980 The Growing Years 1878-1954 The Early Years

External Reactions
Research showed that consumers liked the new campaign
Consumers displayed a strong interest in major concerns and current global and economic trends
Ecomagination
New campaign that focused on the developing of cleaner products and technologies like solar energy, water purification technologies for the environment
Ecomagination Ad

More Reorganization
Immelt downsize departments from eleven to six
GE Infrastructure
GE Commercial Financial Services
GE Consumer Financial Services
GE Industrial
GE Healthcare
NBC Universal
Would help to save costs
Assist industries to mature
Achieve loftier expansion goals
Revenue in developing markets

Healthcare Re-Imagined
Launched during 2006 Winter Olympics and ran for ten weeks
Focused on products that detected, cured, and prevented diseases
Took more serious tone that previous "Imagination at Work" campaigns
GE launched a similar campaign overseas

A $157 billion dollar company with over 310,000 employees
Most widely held stock in the world
Fourth as most valuable brand in the world in BusinessWeek
Stock remains $30 per share

Discussion Questions
1. Did Jeff Immelt and Beth Comstock do the right thing by dropping “We Bring Good Thins to Life” for “Imagination at Work”?
2. Has “Imagination at Work,” “Ecomagination,” and “Healthcare Re-Imagined”changed GE?
3. Can Immelt transform GE’s approach of innovation (risky, unknown areas like fuel cells, solar energy, etc.) versus past strategies of improvement of current technologies?
4. What should GE do next for its brand strategy?

Questions & Comments?
Thank you!

Ge

by irishsiao

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics

Ge Presentation Transcript