Advertiser: GE
Agency: OMD
Category: Best Use of Branded Content & Sponsorship
Group Director/Strategy: Chris Leins (OMD)
Manager/Creative Content: Alexa Christon
Global Advertising Director: Andy Goldberg
Group Account Director: Kevin Howard (OMD)
Manager/Creative And Media Content: Katrina Cook
Associate Director/Strategy: Rachel Weinstein (OMD)
Associate Director/Digital: Laura Correnti (OMD)
Execution
We executed a customized digital experience through original content, social sharing, online branded destination, and mobile sponsorship:Custom Content: “World at Work” was a web series created to profile projects, people, and startups making a positive impact on the world. 24 custom videos (120 minutes of content) and 36 original written pieces to support the videos were developed using interviews conducted by Mashable with 60 entrepreneursSocial: All content was organically distributed through Mashable’s homepage and then shared amongst the website’s social following.Branded Destination: After each piece of content was published on the Mashable homepage and shared to its social channels, it also lived on GE’s destination page. Custom online traffic drivers brought users to the destination page that aligned with the ”GE Works” campaign, including a GE-skinned video player.Mobile: GE became Mashable’s Facebook app launch partner to further distribute the “GE Works” message
Effectiveness
Mashable gave GE the spotlight to share unique content, which generated scale via paid and earned media. Media Results:- Video engagement*18K video views, 1,200+ hours of engagement* 1.1MM+ video completions - Consumers shares* 16.5K Facebook Likes* 61K Tweets* 17K LinkedIn Shares- “GE Works” reached millions * 33MM impressions served* Reached over 400K unique users- Earned media via Yahoo! News, buzz through Twitter conversationsWith these strong media results, according to the Brown Yardley 2012 brand tracking study, decision makers perceived GE more positively than the competition by believing that GE was an innovative industry leader.
Strategy
Our objective was to demonstrate how GE works to solve some of the world’s biggest problems through the key pillars of their business: building, powering, moving, and curing – known as “GE Works.”The primary target audience for this effort focused on thought leaders and innovators in the US that embraced social media news in the media landscape. To reach this target, we needed to shift our thinking and force more creativity into our work as well as shift from a monologue to a dialogue with them. We partnerered with Mashable, an influential online source in the emerging tech and social space, to create a customized branded web series called “World at Work.” The series provided the opportunity to communicate the “GE Works” message in a relatable and shareable way through original video and written content.