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GE Fanuc Automation

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GE Medical Systems

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BG Automotive Motors

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GE-Fuji Electric

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GE Capital

Fleet Services

For new business alliances,

the right name and identity can provide an important competitive edge.

Edited excerpts from an article originally published in GE Design Matters 2, spring 1989.

We live in an age of alliances. In an era of rapid change and uncertainty, relationships in which two parties agree to “share to gain” help meet the need for growth while minimizing risk.

This is especially true at GE, where a global growth strategy has led to a growing number of acquisitions and joint ventures.

These alliances offer several benefits. They enable penetration into a new market, permit expansion within a current market, add new technology to strengthen the Company’s position in a current offering or to extend a product line, or offer some combination of these benefits.

One factor that can play a significant role in the achievement of these strategies is the alliance’s use of the GE name and Monogram. By using these elements appropriately, the new venture can take maximum advantage of GE’s image of quality and reliability and gain immediate recognition and high awareness in the marketplace, substantially sharpening the organization’s competitive edge.

Because they are an integral part of a new organization’s business and marketing strategy, decisions on GE name and trademark use should be made early in the organization’s development.

GE has developed practical directions for naming created, acquired, and joint venture affiliates.

In all cases, the goal is to enable use of the GE identity in ways that contribute to the organization’s marketing strategy, while preserving the value of the GE trademarks.

continued

A good example of the benefits of alliances is

GE Fanuc Automation. When GE decided to enter the programmed logic control (PLC) market, it faced fierce and entrenched competition. What the Company needed was a solid product that could be manufactured economically and efficiently and that had a strong presence in a marketplace outside the U.S.A.

eFANUC

GE Fanuc Automation

Japan’s Fanuc had the right product and was a vital player in the Asian marketplace, but it needed a presence in the United States and an Americantrained sales force.

So the two companies formed a joint venture affiliate called GE Fanuc Automation. “It’s a classic example of our ‘share to gain’ approach,” says Bob Magielnicki, then of GE Fanuc in Charlottesville. “We shared our sales force and a piece of the U.S. market, and we gained technological know-how and the products we needed to extend our product line.

“We considered the name and identification very early in the negotiations,” Magielnicki says. “The equity in both names is powerful. It was extremely important that we preserve both partners’ identities, while establishing a new identity for the business partnership we were building.”

To do this, the companies developed a joint mark that combines the GE Monogram with the Fanuc logo in a graphic signature. The Fanuc logo (block letters inside a rectangle) is positioned alongside the Monogram inside a square with the name

“GE Fanuc Automation” in the signature typography. The Laser Line is underneath, and Fanuc’s corporate colors are maintained on promotional items.

“One of the advantages of a joint venture is that each partner draws from the other’s strong points —‘share to gain,’” says Magielnicki. “Our logo is the physical embodiment of this union of the two companies.”

continued

Another area of corporate growth is medical systems, which received a solid shot in the arm when GE acquired CGR from Thompson of France.

During the period of integrating CGR, a transitional signature was adopted. “CGR is a key player in medical systems in Europe and is among the leading manufacturers of mammographic and X-ray equipment worldwide,” says Bob Filip, then Manager – Marketing and Sales Communications, GE Medical Systems. “Its reputation was so strong, we had to preserve its visual identity until our market became familiar with GE.”

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General Electric

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GE Medical Systems

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BG Automotive Motors

The transitional signature incorporated the typography and color of the CGR logo and used CGR Orange instead of Laser Red in the Laser Line.

It also used “General Electric CGR,” not “GE CGR.”

“The name ‘GE’ wasn’t widely recognized in Europe,” Filip explains, “and ‘General Electric’ was better known. So you play to your strengths. The combination of ‘General Electric’ and the existing CGR logo was a good starting point for our new operations.”

After a few years, the signature was changed to conform to the GE Identity Program standards.

Today the company is known as GE Medical Systems, that name is used in the graphic signature, and the Laser Line is Laser Red.

Another of GE’s joint ventures is with Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH, a leader in automotive technology.

Although GE is a respected and successful company worldwide, it was not as well known as a motor supplier in the automotive industry as was Bosch.

Gary Martin of GE Motors in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who heads the new venture, explains, “We wanted to call ourselves GE–Bosch, but some felt that name would dilute the Bosch trademark by implying

that the two companies had merged.” The resulting compromise uses “B” for Bosch and “G” for General Electric, and the joint venture is called BG Automotive Motors.

“The important thing,” Martin says, “is the signature.

The name is in the middle, with the Monogram on the left and the Bosch logo on the right. As long as the Monogram is used prominently,” Martin notes, “we won’t lose recognition. Our signature gives us that instantly. Consequently, the signature helps us penetrate a market in which we’re not perceived as the leader; it gives us entree into important European markets; and it preserves our partner’s identity, which they value fully as much as we do ours.”

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Similar benefits accrued when GE and Fuji joined forces to market low-voltage circuit breakers in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

“GE has good presence in the Middle East, and Fuji is strong in Southeast Asia,” says John Riddle of GE-Fuji. “Neither is dominant in its marketplace, so the alliance made a lot of sense for both parties.” “Furthermore, this venture allows us to source where necessary to ride with the ups and downs

of various currencies.”

To designate the alliance, the venture uses a joint mark combining the Monogram in a square

and the Fuji Electric logo in a rectangle in a graphic signature. The signature typography contains the name “GE-Fuji Electric.” This approach capitalizes on the recognition of both companies in their respective markets.

The value of the GE brand is also important to affiliates. “GE Capital Fleet Services” is the

communicative name for a wholly owned affiliate of GE Capital.

The company is composed of three fleet-leasing firms—Kerr Fleet Leasing, D&K Financial Corporation, and Gelco Corporation—acquired by GE over the past few years.

Fleet Services then-President Jim Rogers notes, “Our communicative name is a powerful asset. It gives us instant recognition and shows we have the financial strength of GE behind us.”

For GE Capital Fleet Services, as for GE’s other new alliances, the use of the GE identity strengthens its marketing position and improves its competitive edge.

That puts the value of the brand where it ought to be

—on the bottom line.