The BrandForward Blog

You’d think a huge multi-national corporation would have an ad budget. At least that was my first thought when I stumbled onto the GE crowdsourcing page in Google Moderater. And once I had a chance to read through it I had to also wonder whether they had a budget for a brand manager. Or even a copywriter.

Seriously.

Because that spiffy crowdsourcing tagline: “GE + You = Awesome” isn’t even trying to work. I mean, it didn’t even get out of bed this morning.

This is actually surprising because GE has done a pretty decent job of both brand development and engaging in social media. The “Imagination” positioning concept is off the hook. (Are we still saying that?) I loved it the first time I saw it. And 2006’s “Picture a Healthy World” campaign was recognized as a legitimate and successful effort in crowdsourcing.

I also read a post about their Facebook “25 Things About Me” that supposedly lists some interesting facts, although for the life of me I can’t find anything Facebooky besides some seriously unmanned Pages and Groups. A quick scan of the @GE_Reports Twitter stream demonstrates that the company and its social media team are friendly, engaged, and obviously understand social media and crowdsourcing. Although on the ge.com website, I couldn’t find a single connection to GE’s social media presence, which surprised me. Especially after reading a handful of glowing posts.

Maybe there’s some magical place where all of the GE social media gates open with a wave of the wand, but after about 15 minutes of googling, I was still only able to access the company’s social media presence in piece meal. But let’s overlook that for the moment.

The real question is… why… with all the company’s knowledge and experience in social media… why did GE choose to do a belly-flop on Google Moderator? No careful measuring of the wind speed, assessing diving board height and spring, no precise choreographing of a graceful world-class dive into a shimmering pool. No.

It was the kind of entrance that makes small children scamper and lifeguards escort you off the premises.

In a twist of irony, GE’s first sentence in their social media introduction talks about large corporations blundering into the digital space and how they want to make sure they don’t also do that. And then they unveil their master plan.

Hire a happenin’ social media agency? No.
Hire a rockstar consultant? No.
Confer with their myriad agencies of record? No.
Watch an episode of Gossip Girl? Okay maybe.

GE’s master plan (to make sure they don’t blunder in the social media space) is to consult the ultimate expert. You!

Because of course, GE + You = Awesome.

Why exactly is this an epic belly flop?

Branding
The whole reason I was inspired to write this post was because I respect GE, but this whole Google Moderator thing just doesn’t feel like the brand. It almost feels like a disconnected initiative, as though GE had nothing to do with it. I mean why would they lead with n00b talk about “blundering into digital” when the company already has a clear presence? Something just isn’t adding up.

The concept of asking consumers to think of ideas is certainly on-brand and ties in with “Imagination,” but the connection isn’t leveraged. Not even a little. It would have been an incredible opportunity to connect the brand with the consumer in an inspiring and interactive way. It could have been brilliant. Outrageous. Show stopping.

But instead it comes across like it was more of an afterthought, an idea land grab, or a hurried way to stick a tentacle into another pot.

And it feels like they’re splashing from one brand voice to the next.

Crowdsourcing
Besides the lost brand connection opportunity, the most disappointing part about this particular GE crowdsourcing effort is the lack of strategic guidance for the crowd. There’s no mention of what GE wants to accomplish, no list of global or local objectives, no brand preface, no nothing. Not even a hint. It asks for ideas for a “new media initiative” but is essentially encouraging willy nilly thinking. There’s a time and place for indulging in genius whimsy, but this project comes across a little too blandly assembled to be serious about inspiring that level of creativity.

Something good can definitely come from asking consumers to share thoughts and ideas. Something not so good can also come of it. Crowdsourcing is a promising tool with respectable applications (as well as some sketchy ones), but soliciting one-way ideas out of the blue, without creating a conversation and a relationship in the same space you’re “dialoguing” in, without providing meaning, without including guidance… (and doing it all in an off-brand voice!) is nothing short of flopping yourself into the middle of a crowded pool.

And hoping droplets of the splashing H2O magically sprout a rain forest.

For a crowdsourcing initiative, it isn’t nearly engaging enough. It’s traditional one-way communication. Sure, the whole thing is gussy’d up to look like a genuine conversation, but in actuality GE is broadcasting a request for suggestions, and then Awesome You and the rest of the hoi polloi respond. But in this instance you don’t get to engage on your terms. There’s not even a link to connect you with their already existing social media channels.

And because GE doesn’t provide any useful information in their Google Moderator call for ideas, the effort comes across less like a valiant search for a brilliant, strategic concept that wells up from the crowd, and more like an effort to cheaply accumulate as many ideas as quickly as possible. Without creating a connection with the crowd, without creating an atmosphere of two-way communication and reciprocal sharing in this venue it really looks like a rushed effort to round out a presentation deck with some snappy examples of potential tactics. It’s more grasping than crowdsourcing. And it’s beneath GE.

Instead of a graceful swan dive into the crowdsourcing pool, GE has officially landed a surprising belly flop.