GE To Break Smart Grid Campaign During Super Bowl

January 29, 2009

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During the Super Bowl, GE will launch its new advertising campaign, called “NOW,” with the theme of “innovation you don’t have to wait for.” The campaign will incorporate three themes including ecomagination, healthcare and global research, with a key focus on Smart Grid technologies.

Last September, GE and Google announced that they would lobby together in Washington D.C. for renewable energy and that they would collaborate on advanced energy technologies – including the development of a smart grid.

According to an Information Week article by Bob Evans, GE:

has a set of tools that can “enable grid intelligence processes” by “converting data into knowledge that decision makers use to drive greater productivity and profitability.” Hmmm — sounds like some mainstream BI or ERP talk. Either way, the point is that forward-looking CIOs can seize huge opportunities by getting out in front of how their companies evaluate, source, measure, adjust, and pay for their energy usage.

Sunday’s 30-second spot will feature a dancing scarecrow and discuss a” smarter, more efficient, and sustainable” energy grid as part of GE’s ecomagination initiative.

According to GE, “the ad is a modern take on the classic song, “If I Only Had A Brain,” from the film The Wizard of Oz, imagining what can happen when old technologies have a brain and become smarter.”

Here are the campaign details from the preview site:

Television – Super Bowl advertisement

-For the first time, GE will advertise on the Super Bowl with a 30-second ad called “Scarecrow” that focuses on Smart Grid technology
-The ad is created by BBDO New York
-The ad is scheduled to appear on US television networks including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, Bravo, USA, SciFi, Comedy Central, Discovery and ESPN after the Super Bowl

Digital

-GE is incorporating augmented reality technology that will be featured on its new microsite – PlugIntoTheSmartGrid.com
-This is the first time that augmented reality technology has been used to interact with a consumer in an advertising effort
-Banner advertisements, print ads, and web films will drive consumers to the microsite to experience the augmented reality technology
-The digital campaign was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

Print and Outdoor

-Print and outdoor ads are focused on three areas:
Ecomagination: highlights GE´s renewable technologies
Healthcare: demonstrates how GE is providing worldwide healthcare solutions such as x-rays in China and ECG technology in rural India
Global Research: evaluates what the world needs and discusses how GE innovates solutions to redefine what´s possible
-The ads are created by BBDO New York and will run in publications such as the New York Times, Financial Times, Fortune, and Wired

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Reader Comments

“-This is the first time that augmented reality technology has been used to interact with a consumer in an advertising effort”

Wow, that is SO wrong.
BBC did it last year with Merlin.
Lego is currently doing it in stores in various places.
Previous to that their was an advert for a Zoo in a newspaper with models that popped out back in 07.

I’m sure it will be a good campagn, but AR and adverts have been going together for awhile.

darkflame | January 30th, 2009