GE: IDEAS ROUNDTABLE

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: GE
Agency: OMD
Category: Best Use of Branded Content & Sponsorship
Advertising campaign: IDEAS ROUNDTABLE
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)
Group Director/Strategy: Chris Leins (OMD)
Associate Director/Digital: Laura Correnti (OMD)

Execution
The Atlantic Roundtable was born - a customized cross-platform experience across print, online, mobile, and social to push custom content through GE’s and The Atlantic’s digital footprint.Ideas Roundtable: Engagement was spurred by putting GE-developed data visualization at the center of the conversation. Conversation supporting the data visualization was then created through The Atlantic’s expert insights and commentary. Commentary was refreshed weekly and promoted across platforms. - Homepage takeovers and native promotional units were customized to promote the Ideas Roundtable - Mobile and interstitial units featuring data visualization teasers were used to drive app users to the destination- Sponsored tweets were activated to drive interestSmart Content Correlator: Using smart scanning technology, a first-time offering built for GE, The Atlantic’s online articles were enhanced to feature GE content without leaving the page. Complementary GE videos & data visualization were served into relevant editorial features, allowing GE to amplify brand engagement.

Effectiveness
From the Brown Yardley 2012 study, business decision makers perceived GE more positively after the campaign – they believed GE is an industry leader, and makes products that improve quality of life. Ideas Roundtable:- Average time spent was just under two minutes, which was above The Atlantic’s article page average, where users consume editorial content- Content generated an active user base as 63% of visits were “repeat visitors,” reaching 18K people Smart Content Correlator:- GE content integration proved to be an effective way to communicate the “GE Works” message* Video completion rates ranged from 24%-49%* 5.5K video views

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 partnered with The Atlantic, a thought leader publisher that provided a unique opportunity to engage with their audience through GE message integration and thoughtful conversation.