More than appliances, GE sees Canada as a growing market for its brand
The company once known for bringing good things to life is trying to expand its brand image.
GE Canada has launched its first ever brand campaign, highlighting the role it plays in key business sectors such as aviation, energy and health care. Developed by BBDO Toronto, the print, out-of-home and online campaign uses striking photography to showcase GE’s technological expertise against backdrops highlighting Canada’s natural beauty.
One ad promoting GE Aviation, for example, highlights a facility in Bromont, Que. that manufactures engine components for both commercial and military aircraft.
Kim Warburton, vice-president of communications for GE, said the campaign objective is to tell “the bigger GE story” and build broader awareness of the company’s operations.
While more than 95% of Canadians recognize the GE brand, Warburton said that in ongoing brand surveys, people overwhelmingly associate the company with appliances and lighting–which account for less than 10% of its business.
Warburton said the company’s products cover a broad range of sectors, “from massive motors that get shipped to Saudi Arabia to energy efficient motors going into locomotives” to the GE Capital division–one of the largest finance companies in the country outside of the major banks. It provides financing for an estimated 60,000 businesses.
“We haven’t been talking in a big way about all the things we do,” she said.
The English and French campaign will run through 2012 and highlight examples of how GE is helping its customers “green” and “power” Canada–all wrapped up in an overarching platform of how GE is working for a stronger Canada.
“The world has woken up to Canada”
The awareness campaign is the result of GE’s effort to focus on 12 so-called “growth regions,” including Canada, outside of its U.S. base. With global growth increasingly coming from foreign markets (more than 50% of GE’s revenues now come from outside the U.S.), the company said it needed to better focus on its global operations.
“Canada really has what the world wants,” said Warburton. “The world has woken up to Canada, and there’s a lot of business happening in Canada that’s very much resource- and commodities-based.”
Changing the consumer perception of GE represented a significant marketing challenge, said Warburton. The campaign’s direction was determined by extensive internal and external research, an evaluation of its annual brand surveys dating back to 2000, and discussions with both its agency partners and Canadian board of directors to identify key areas of discussion.
The campaign has both business-to-business and business-to-consumer elements, said Warburton, with ads appearing in print publications including Air Canada’s in-flight magazine enRoute, Maclean’s, and online with The Globe and Mail and National Post. An out-of-home buy includes traditional billboards and in-elevator ads.
Media for the campaign was handled by OMD Canada.
