GE Case Study

Ambition

With 300,000 people in 174 countries and 3,500 businesses, all number one or two in their markets, GE defined the 20th century corporation. With the transfer of leadership from Jack Welch to Jeff Immelt, GE was poised for transformation. GE’s focus began to shift: from manufacturing to technology and service, from US-centric to an emphasis on Asia and Europe, from a business driven by organizational silos to one with greater focus on the customer, and from an under-leveraged, atomized old-world brand to a 21st century powerhouse of innovation and impact.

Action

We worked with GE to create a market-facing brand architecture that hugely simplified its portfolio of businesses into solution platforms for customers. This allowed GE to enhance existing relationships with businesses and develop new relationships with consumers. We created a modern identity that liberates and celebrates the GE monogram, and that’s flexible enough to work with everything from jet engines to light bulbs. We traveled the world to excite GE leaders about the brand idea “Imagination at Work,” and helped them define how the brand should be made real throughout the business.

Impact

GE has been named “most admired company” for two years running by Fortune. It’s now pitching to countries and governments, using its new ability to bring unified solutions to its customers. $25 billion dollars in additional revenues have been added by 85 “Imagination Breakthroughs,” inspired by the brand idea. The GE brand has steadily grown in value and is now (2011) worth more than $47 billion.