Ch 6: ANALYZING

BUSINESS MARKETS
Group 6:
Raunak Kapoor
Rajesh TR
Harjot Singh Chance
Aditya Akshay
Harshit Vyas
General Electric- B-to-B Marketing
Major Verticals of GE Taglines Milestones
• Energy • 1970s: Progress for people • Revenue:
• Technology Infrastructure • 1980s: We bring good things to life 1981: $12 billion
• GE Capital • 2003: Imagination at work 2001: $280 billion
• NBC Commercial (100% • 2005: Ecomagination 2014: $260 billion
stake sold to Comcast)
• 2006: Health Care re-imagined • Financial Times’s “World’s Most
• Consumer and industrial Respected Company”
• 2009: Healthymagination
• #4 Business Week “Top 100
Global Brands”
Case Summary:
• General Electric, founded by Thomas Edison in 1878, expanded into various verticals over the years till
1960s. Diversified its B2B product line in 1970s and 80s. Revenues increased from $12 billion in 1981 to $280
billion in 2001.
• Diversified brand offerings got unified under a global message “Imagination at work” and several future
modifications like eco-friendly orientation in 2005.
• Strategic restructuring and downsizing in 2008-09 helped company invest more in research and innovation
and pushed B2B sales.
• Initiatives like “Power by the hour” for aviation industry improved customer satisfaction.
Questions and Answers
Importance of B-to-B marketing and
strong B-to-B brand to GE
• Businesses are consumers of large
quantities of various products which help
them provide customer with end product
or services. Almost all consumer base of
GE is other businesses, thus making it a
Business-to-Business (B-to-B) marketer.
• A strong B-to-B brand communication is
of paramount importance to GE. Through
the innovation and imagination prism, GE
could communicate to all 4 types of
buyers – “keep-it-simple” buyers, “own-
expert” buyers, “want-the-best” buyers
and “want-everything-done” buyers.
Also,
Have new “imagination” campaigns
worked successfully?
• Yes, the new brand campaigns
helped position all 11 GE product
lines and businesses under one
umbrella of GE and pushed the focus
on innovation and new technology.
• Initially, the business buyers and GE
employees alike retorted to the new
tagline, but it sent out a strong
message of being an “old new
company” with best-in-class quality.
Riding on the “most respected
brand” reputation of 1999 onwards,
innovative focus helped GE drive its
B-to-B sales to a new level.