This document provides an overview of General Electric (GE), including: 1) GE's history beginning in 1876 and its evolution into a multinational conglomerate operating in various industries such as energy, aviation, healthcare, and media. 2) GE's large portfolio of businesses and products across multiple sectors. 3) Details on GE's current market situation as the leader in many industries, with over 300,000 employees globally. 4) How GE focuses on customizing products and building strong customer relationships.

1. University Of Balamand
Faculty of Business Administration
Marketing Management
Mrkt 310
General Electric
Project presented to Dr. Bassam Khoueiry
Prepared by: Julien Mozaya

2. INDEX:
 General Electric :
Company profile
Company portfolio
Current market situation
Product customization
 Magic stick:
I) Executive summary
II) Target market(S-T-P)
III) Competitive strategy development
IV) Distribution channels
V) IMC
VI) Estimated sales volume
 Conclusion

3. General Electric
GE is Imagination at Work - GE is multinational American technology and services conglomerate
that has businesses in energy, technology, financial, industrial, and entertainment.
Company profile:
GE began in 1876 with Thomas Alva Edison’s opening of his first experimental factory in New
Jersey. After a number of years of experimenting, he established the Edison General Electric
Company in 1890. For two years, Edison’s General Electric was in stiff competition with
Thomson-Houston Company, a rival electrical innovation company. In 1892, after each
company’s patents began to make it impossible to install new technology, the two companies
combined to form the General Electric Company.
Since that time, GE has gone through countless acquisitions and restructures to become the
incredibly diversified company that it is today. GE is now divided into four separate businesses
that focus on individual industries, and while these businesses are separate, they still
complement each other. Those divisions are Technology Infrastructure, Energy Infrastructure,
GE Capital, and NBC Universal. These four divisions employ over 327,000 people in over 100
countries.
In addition to the information presented above, GE has a 323000 high performance and quality
employees not to mention its annual Net Income estimated by 17,410,000 dollars. This puts GE
at the top of its game while leading its industry despite the challenging market conditions that
faced the economy in the last couple of years.

4. Company Portfolio:
Headquarters: Greater New York City Area
Industry: Design
Type: Public Company
Status: Operating
Company Size: 323,000 employees
2008 Revenue: $18,251,500,000
Founded: 1883
Website: http://www.ge.com
 Appliances
o Dehumidifiers
o Dishwashers
o GE®
o GE Café™
o GE Monogram®
o GE Profile™
o Microwaves
o Refrigerators
o Service & Support
o Washers & Dryers
o Water Systems
 Aviation
o Asset Management
o Aviation Services
o Business & General Aviation
o Commercial Engines
o Corporate Aircraft Financing
o GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS)
o GE Honda Aero Engines
o Maintenance
o Marine Engines
o Military Engines
o OnPoint(sm)

5. o Systems
o Unison Industries
o Walter Engines
 Consumer Products
o Consumer Electronic Accessories
o Computer Accessories
o Digital Cameras
o Home Electric Products
o SmartHome Products
o Telephones
 Electrical Distribution
o All Products
o All Services
 Energy
o All Products
o All Services
o Centrifugal Pumps
o Energy Financial Services
o Gas Turbines - Aeroderivative
o Gas Turbines - Heavy Duty & Combined Cycle
o Gasification
o Hydropower & Water Control
o Investment Focus
o Lifecycle Services
o Nuclear Energy
o Solar Power
o Steam Turbines
o Wind Turbines
 Finance - Business
o Energy Financial Services
o GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS)
o Healthcare Financial Services
o Media, Communications & Entertainment Financing
o Real Estate Financing
o Satellite Services
 Finance - Consumer
o Consumer Financing
o Global Banking
 Healthcare
o All Products

6. o All Services
o Diagnostic ECG
o Healthcare Financial Services
o Healthcare Information Technologies
o Interoperability
o Life Sciences
o Medical Diagnostics
o Patient Monitoring Solutions
 Lighting
o All Commercial Lighting Products & Services
o All Consumer Lighting Products & Services
o GE's Commercial Lighting
o Commercial, Automotive
o Commercial, Ballasts
o Commercial, Compact Fluorescent
o Commercial, Halogen
o Commercial, High Intensity Discharge
o Commercial, Incandescent
o Commercial, LEDs
o Commercial, Linear Fluorescent
o Commercial, Miniature
o Commercial, Sealed Beam
o Commercial, Specialty
o Consumer, General Purpose
o Consumer, Automotive
o Consumer, Fluorescent
o Consumer, Holiday Lighting
o Consumer, Outdoor
o Consumer, Specialty
o Consumer, Track & Recessed
o Lighting by Industry
 Media & Entertainment
o Entertainment TV & Production
o Media Communications & Entertainment Finance
o Movies
o NBC Universal
o News, Sports & Info
o Parks & Resorts
o Peacock Equity Fund
 Oil & Gas
o Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers
o All Products
o All Services
o Centrifugal Pumps
o Compressors

7. o Drilling & Production Systems
o Energy Financial Services
o Gas Turbines
o Pipeline Inspection & Integrity Services
o Reactors & Steam Condensers
o Reducing & Metering Systems
o Steam Turbines
o Turboexpanders
o Valves - Control & Safety
 Rail
o All Services
o Locomotive Products
o Rail Services US
o Rail Services Europe
o Traffic Control & Dispatch Systems
o VeriWise RAIL
 Security
o Commercial Markets
o Government & Military
o Residential & Consumer
 Water
o Energy Financial Services
o Equipment
o Membrane Elements, Cartridge Filters and Lab Products
o Process Chemicals
o Water & Process Technologies
o Water Treatment Chemicals

8. Current Market Situation:
In today's hyper-competitive environment, market research is not an option; it is a necessity.
Luxury marketers that want to win must stay vigilant in tracking the shifts, turns, and changing
preferences in their affluent consumer market. They need up-to-the-minute data, as well as a
historical perspective, to anticipate the next major luxury business opportunity or branding
challenge.
GE participates in a wide variety of markets including the generation, transmission and
distribution of electricity (eg. Nuclear, gas and solar), lighting, industrial automation, medical
imaging equipment, motors, railway locomotives, aircraft jet engines, and aviation services. GE
experts benefit from being part of a company that has deep, wide cross-industry activity, and
also has a significant presence in a wide variety of geographic markets. It has the fourth most
recognized brand in the world, worth almost $48 billion
GE has always been and is still the market leader in developing innovative products in its
industry sectors in order to solve the problems of the world. GE has not only survived for more
than 100 years but has also dominated the market share and provided its customers with the
products they need and want.
GE competes against a number of other companies, but most of them are more specialized,
focusing in one industry. GE's operations, on the other hand, are spread across many different
industries, limiting its exposure to competition from any one company.
GE mainly has two tiers of competitors which are:
GE Competitors:
 Tier 1 Competitors: Honeywell (HON), Siemens AG (SI), United Technologies Corp (UTX),
3M Company (MMM)
 Tier 2 Competitors: Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), News Corporation
(NWSA), Viacom (VIA), The Walt Disney Company (DIS)

9. DIRECT COMPETITOR COMPARISON
GE C PHG SI Industry
Market Cap: 175.68B 79.11B 27.19B 81.11B 275.04M
Employees: 323,000 276,000 118,225 405,000 680
Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy): -20.00% 58.80% -11.30% -8.90% 13.90%
Revenue (ttm): 161.56B 38.99B N/A N/A 5.34B
Gross Margin (ttm): 30.63% N/A 35.56% 27.02% 33.22%
EBITDA (ttm): 24.66B N/A N/A N/A 217.84M
Oper Margins (ttm): 6.96% -35.45% N/A N/A 8.96%
Net Income (ttm): 11.75B -22.80B N/A N/A N/A
EPS (ttm): 1.080 -2.782 N/A N/A N/A
P/E (ttm): 15.28 N/A N/A N/A 21.36
PEG (5 yr expected): 1.67 N/A 2.9 0.61 1.72
P/S (ttm): 1.09 2.03 N/A N/A 1.29
According to the table viewed above, which compares different companies in the
Conglomerates industry, GE once again has been proven to be number one gaining the highest
positions according to all ratios and percentage estimates.

10. Product Customization:
Creating loyal customers is at the heart of every business. Therefore, GE is becoming a customer
oriented company focusing on building customer relationships through the following:
 “Dreaming Sessions” help us look into future customers’ needs.
 Net Promoter Score (NPS), a metric GE has adopted to track customer perceptions of
performance strengths and weaknesses.
 Customer summits hosted by GE’s diverse employee affinity networks (such as the
African American Forum and GE Women’s Network) at Crotonville.
 “Leading & Learning,” one of GE’s signature programs that brings together women
leaders from inside and outside the company with female GE customers to discuss
important issues of the day.
 The GE Marketing Toolkit that has been organized around the company’s framework for
promoting growth: Calibrate-Explore-Create-Organize-and-Realize (CECOR). The tools in
the kit stem from many different sources, such as the Crotonville marketing classes,
different GE businesses, leading consulting and marketing textbooks and Six Sigma.
Through working together with their customers to understand their operational and
organizational needs, GE services and solutions are customized to provide the most cost
effective through-life support. They liaise with the customer to create the right solution
incorporating the appropriate capabilities of GE. These can include inventory management and
supply, spares, repairs, modifications, reliability enhancements, capability upgrades, data
management and information exploitation. All of GE’S flexible services and solutions are backed
up by 24/7 technical and logistics support, and the unique knowledge, expertise and know-how
of our GE Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

11. What is the Magic
Stick?
This unique creation consists of just a stick that blows a sheet of steady air forming an air canopy
that doesn’t let raindrops get all over you.
It is an innovative concept that uses wind power to form an air canopy. It forms a steady stream of
air that's sucked in from the bottom of the shaft and then released out the top. The result is an
invisible canopy of air that shields you from the downpour. The air-curtain whose air comes into
the intake, goes out into the outlet, and behaves like an umbrella is capable of blocking the rain. You

12. can easily control its length and size of the air-curtain. Not only does its refined and ingenious design
give convenience to users, but also saves the environment from the use of plastic bags.
To ensure that the umbrella has a significant effect on those who see it, the designs and colors
used should captures people’s attention.
I) Executive Summary
By evaluating people's feelings towards umbrellas, we were able to identify shortcomings with
the current model of umbrella usage. At the moment, everyone is expected to carry a personal
umbrella. Compact umbrellas, while easy to carry, are prone to failure and in most cases do not
provide adequate coverage. Full-sized umbrellas and golf umbrellas are too large and bulky for
daily use. Market research showed these two commonly recurring complaints. People want
large umbrellas when it's raining but do not want to carry them once they get inside. Our
solution to this problem is an umbrella distribution system.
II) TARGET MARKET
STP:
The initial step in conducting our marketing research is to divide the market into different
segments and identify the target segment in order to communicate the distinctive benefits of
the product’s market offering.
A- Segmentation:
A market segment is a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics
that cause them to have similar product needs.

13. Successful segmentation requires the following:
-Homogeneity within the segment
-Heterogeneity between segments
-Segments are measurable and identifiable
-Segments are accessible and actionable
-Segment is large enough to be profitable
 Demographic variables:
- age :Generation X-Y
- gender: unisex
- Size: S-M-L
→ Psychographic variables including personality, life style, value ,income and attitude
- General Electrics' magic stick is perfectly adapted the fashionable people.
→ Geographic variables: (Regions, Countries, Climate…)
B- Targeting Strategies:
Magic stick’s targeted market is the niche market.
Its strategy is to target the niche market .The niche market is a narrowly defined custom group
seeking distinctive mix of features. In this way, we are targeting a small segment but concluding
large profit and growth potential. It is unlikely to attract other competitors.
C- Positioning for competitive advantage:

14. Product position is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes or the
place the product occupies in consumer’s minds relative to competing consumers’ greater value.
Magic stick is positioned on high quality features and designs.
Market Analysis
Umbrellas have been utilized and evolved with human beings to provide a sense of safety and
protection from the elements. Umbrellas keep us dry during the rain. However, users are not
satisfied with the current stage of umbrellas and still look for more evolution and improvement
of the products. To identify major customer needs regarding the umbrella usage, market
analysis and user studies related to the product were conducted by getting feedback of the
actual users for different types of umbrellas.
Selected Responses
Among the answers to survey questions asked during the user studies, the following responses
are selected.
 "I want the size of my umbrella to be adjustable, so I can get into my car with an
umbrella when it rains. In that way, I don't need to get wet when I get in."
 "I don't want to lose my umbrella in any case since I usually lose one and get a new one
before it breaks off."
 "I want my umbrella to be smaller, so it's easier to carry around."
Identified Customer Needs
Based on the observations and answers to the survey questions, our team has identified four
major customer needs:
 Umbrellas should be hard to lose
 Umbrellas should be easy to open and close
 Umbrellas need to be portable
III) Competitive Strategy Development:

15. A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers
greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that
justifies higher prices.
1) GE’s competitive strategy development:
GE’s competitive strategy development options allow for many different kinds of possible
developments. Along the same lines, they thrive on the thrill of certain components of the larger
practice. In their competitive scenario planning practice, they make sure that their clients
understand what they’re doing and why.
In a competitive economy, wasting time can mean missed business opportunities — to prevent
that, commercial lending companies try to quickly identify and meet their borrowers' needs. As
experts from GE note, the shift in alignment is more than a marketing ploy—instead it can offer
value in a variety of ways.
To try and stay in the lead, GE dedicates time to try and manage its speed lending. Their
executed plan is:
 GE maintains horizontal and vertical specialists— with teams that focus on specific
geographic areas, supplemented by ones with specific-industry expertise.

16.  They have in-house industry experts means that our customers don't have to explain
their industry to us, which can save them valuable time and avoids time-consuming false
starts.
Other advantages and characteristics that differentiate it from its competitors are:
 Strength: Customers can rely on GE Capital as they navigate changing business
cycles. They’ve been through it all before and have the strength and experience to help
its customers now, and as their financial needs change and grow in the future.
 Flexibility: Once GE has designed and helped its customers build a tailored finance
solution for their business, they can count on premium on-going customer service,
giving them the security of an experienced partner. GE will ask for feedback all along
the way to make sure they root out any problems as they strive to continually improve
service delivery and look for new ways to meet their needs.
 Global: GE can take its customers to the places they want to go through their extensive
network of local talent — whether it be entering new markets, exporting outside the
customer’s market, or supporting operations the customer already has in place. They
can also provide funding in local currencies and complete cross-border transactions.
2) Magic Stick’s competitive strategy development:
All the above will boost the Magic Stick’s competitive strategy development. Because GE is a
global brand, it will be able to distribute the Magic Stick across all of its market segments. What
makes the Magic Stick unique are its following characteristics and their benefits to people in
general:

17.  Customer
Dryness
Ease of use / ergonomics
Speed of operation
Portability
Reliability - includes ditching of canopy
Cost- it being a new and improved umbrella
Accessibility
Aesthetics
Safety
Mildew/rust resistance → low maintenance- since it’s made of plastic.
 Umbrella accessory manufacturers
Standardization (size) - adjustable
Cost
 Competing rainwear manufacturers
Market differentiation from umbrellas
Satisfying consumer needs, especially reliability and ease of use
 Retailers
Standardization (size)
Cost / margin
Aesthetics / product differentiation
Ease of storage and inventory
Reliability / few returns
Customer satisfaction
 People around umbrella users
Unobtrusive (size) open and closed
Low sound signature
No leakage post use
Aesthetics

19. IV) Distribution Channel:
A distribution channel is an organization or set of organizations involved in the process of
making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.
The program is multi-tiered, providing a range of expertise and specialties, yet always bringing
mutual collaboration and success to GE customers. The program is expanding rapidly with new
strategic channels and a revitalization of longstanding relationships. Each channel brings
enhanced customer value through GE product sales, complementary technology offerings,
consulting or implementation services supporting our Smart Grid, Smallworld and Enmac
software suite of solutions.
V) IMC Program
In our campaign for the launching of our new product we will have to use the IMC program. IMC
program Integrated Marketing Communications is a term used to describe a holistic approach to
marketing communication. Therefore, our aim is to ensure consistency of message and the
complementary use of media. We will be using offline marketing channels which include
magazines, public relations, industry relations, billboard, radio, and television. By developing an
integrated marketing communication program using all the elements of the marketing mix
(product, price, place, and promotion) we will meet our aim and have future success and profits.
By using the right approaches and resources within our company maximizes the impact on
consumer mind and results into maximum profit at minimum cost. To start with the four P’s:
Product: the magic stick is a new product and invention in the market. Therefore it’s a
differentiated product that carries unique qualities like no other product.
Price: we decided to set a price ranging between 30 – 40 dollars depending on the accessories
that the consumer chooses. It’s a high price compared to the price of an umbrella, but not to
forget it is very differentiated and no one has seen it before.

20. Promotion: in Lebanon the advertising field relies mostly on televisions, bill boards, and
magazines. We will conduct a sales promotion in the beginning of the launch just to encourage
people to experience our new innovation.
Place: the magic stick will be distributed to our retailers in the different regions, and by name
General Electric sells itself due to the good reputation and high end products it has delivered to
customers all through.
Concerning the advertising, we will have to carry the special features of the magic stick in this
way we will be seeking to generate increased consumption of our product through branding,
which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate related
qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers
Moreover, direct marketing is our procedure to sell this product. We chose direct marketing
since that it attempts to send its messages directly to consumers and the second characteristic is
that it is focused on driving a specific "call-to-action." This means that the response from
consumers is measurable and tracked in a faster way which is the main aim of any firm, since it
tells whether the product has excelled or failed.
The goal is a campaign that is effective and consistent across media platforms. As marketers we
want ads with the greatest breadth of appeal which provide the greatest number of attention-
getting, expose the brand, and motivates.
Using all these strategies we will definitely gain edge over competitor is called Integrated
Marketing Communication.
VI) Estimated sales volume:
Estimated sales for a business are based on the assessment of:
 the advantages of our product
 our customers
 the size of the market
 our competition

21. In order to measure and check the success of sales of the magic stick we should be able to know
our return on investment (ROI), which is the ratio of money gained or lost on an investment
relative to the amount of money invested.
G.E has an ROI of 3.24 which is relatively good compared to the industry average which is 4.77.
Therefore, the new innovated product should add up on these figures to increase the ROI to
increase the level of return for G.E. in the industry.
Total production volume is estimated at 2000 units up front, with an additional 400 units per
year for upkeep. And related to the market our estimated sales are to be more than 50% during
the first year.

22. VII) Conclusion:
GE’s new product, Magic Stick crosses all boundaries of unconventional design and prevents you
from getting drenched. According to the studies we have conducted, the magic stick will be very
accepted by consumers since people are always following innovation and new products and
don’t mind paying a premium to have a privilege over others and be differentiated. Our product
also has many features that consumers have not experienced before. Competition is minimized
since no other company has done such a product before.
Isn’t that magic? After the thing gets real, not only we’ll change the way to use an umbrella, but
the definition of the word ‘umbrella’ may be changed, too.
VIII) References:
 http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10434061-1.html
 www.ge.com
 http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ge