GE's Powerful Approach to Brand Storytelling | Connections Ep. 19 | Salesforce

I feel like as marketers, what we need to strive for are stories that are as interesting and compelling and engaging as the best thing that we're streaming on television. And that is a ridiculously high bar, but I feel like that's what good storytelling is, is how do you make people fall in love with your.

Hey, I'm Sarah Franklin, and welcome to Connections, where we hear from some of the most innovative leaders in marketing. Thomas Edison is known as America's greatest inventor, breaking new ground in mass communications, sound recording, and motion pictures. That spirit of innovation is in the DNA of General Electric, the company he co founded in 1889, and it continues today under their CMO. Linda Boffin. You grew up in New Jersey?

Yeah, I'm across the river, so to speak. It's nice to be in New York, but I'm a Jersey girl. I'm the oldest of four girls, so I kind of start there because in some ways, my family experience, as much as being from Jersey, I think if I look back, kind of shaped who I am as a marketer. So I was so fortunate to be born into a family of a mom and a dad who were obsessed with theater. And having that experience so young, I think really stayed with me and in some ways kind of shaped my love of storytelling.

I love that. And so you also have what we would call, or you might call the homegrown mba. I think you had, like, was it eight internships or something?

I think I hold a Guinness World record in internships.

You need to write that in the book, right?

I really do. You know, I went to a liberal arts college in upstate New York called Union College, and I loved college, but I always wanted to work. Fine student, great worker. And I think the way I explored that was, you know, starting sophomore year or so, I thought, okay, I can get some experience. And I went to Washington and did the, you know, summer internship on the Hill. I went and worked at, I don't know, three or four radio stations in the Albany area as an intern. And each time, I got a little closer to knowing this is something I'm interested in or a little further away, this is something I don't want to touch again. You know, to me, internships were ways to kind of see what might be beyond the game board and just get a glimpses of it.

You got incredible experience in marketing and communications for 18 years. Before you went to GE, what did you do?

Just about everything. ABC radio, networks. I went to a publishing company when magazines were pretty popular.

They were all the rage.

They were all the rage. They were all the rage. Worked at a big institute called the American Museum of Natural History and then went to Citigroup in a kind of startup job inside a big company starting a financial service company for women. And it sounds like popcorn as I'm describing it. It sounds like a potpourri of jobs. But the through line for me was always something that was a creative challenge that at least Sarah, to me felt as though I kept borrowing from what I had done before, even though the field were nonlinear. Right. What does the American Museum of Natural History have in common with Citigroup? But I think it's a way of thinking. It's a way of thinking of audience backed, which is always really important to me. It's discovering the DNA of an organization and what makes that special and interesting and unique, differentiated.

Well, it sounds like a steel thread, is that you loved ideas and you've come to GE where like, you bring ideas to life. What is that like to work at such an iconic company?

I feel like I work at Thomas Edison's company. Edison famously said, I figure out what the world needs and then I invent it. To work at a company that's focused on the future of flight, decarbonization and the energy transition, precision, health, you know, what treatment for what person, at what time. I pinch myself in the morning. It's really a goosebump kind of company. And the people who go to work at GE are folks that aren't looking for an easy job. So there's almost a sense in the culture of give me your tough problems, give me the things that are kind of hard to do. I'm going to figure it out. And you know, as a marketer, I don't have an mba and I've learned it on the job from the business people I work with, from the engineers who are problem solving, and I think most of all from trying to figure out how to bring to life a brand in a way that is interesting to such a panoply of audiences.

GE has incredible stories. How, as a marketer do you tell those stories?

So I think storytelling is everything. Any company has a set of facts and a set of stories. Data's so important. But without a narrative, data's dull.

Yeah, it's boring. You're like, was it just a bunch of ones and zeros?

Exactly. And at the same time, if you only have a narrative and you don't have data, that's sort of like an air balloon that floats away. So I think of storytelling, I think of our narrative as kind of this journey into ourself, into what is different. When I'm looking at work, I always am looking for, one, what's the connection with the audience? Two, is it simple enough? Are we making people work hard to get us, or are we making it easy for them to get us? And then is it differentiated? Or could our competitor do it and change the name and it would be the same thing?

That's the worst.

It's the worst. It's the worst. But I think it can be easy sometimes to fall into the trap of, okay, this is a pretty good way to say something versus nobody else can say it this way.

What are the challenges of taking a legacy brand and making it relevant today?

I think, to me, the challenge of being around for so long is keeping it fresh, keeping it relevant while still drawing on what's made us trusted, respected, a company that our customers count on 24 hours a day. There's a perennial GE story about innovation, about health, energy, aviation. And I think the challenge is keeping it fresh and finding ways that connect with you.

As a long established brand, you're still trying things and experimenting. Actually, I don't know if you knew this. Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, like, did experiments here in this building that we're at.

I so love that we were sitting in a building. Isn't that cool that. Where experimentation had its flames and it's, you know, its moment that is just so perfect.

How do you embrace his spirit of innovation and experimentation today?

I think in some ways, experimentation is part of what has kept our team and our brand rejuvenated. For instance, GE was the first brand on Vine. We did a little science experiment and we posted it on vine and we invited others to experiment with us. I use that example. It's this big. It's a teeny, teeny little example. But it's kind of in our DNA to think about how do you light a flame and maybe invite others and turn that flame into a campfire? I'll go back to Edison, since once upon a time he was somewhere in this building. This idea of, you know, with a light bulb. He tried a thousand things that didn't work, but then there was something that.

Did, then something did.

And I think that's true with marketing. Not everything's going to be a hit, and I think you have to try and see what captures people's attention, what they're going to spark to. So to me, experimentation is, I think of it as, in some ways, the lifeblood of storytelling.

How important is it to you to be on These digital platforms and to be the first to have the courage to go out there.

Being first isn't about the shiny object for us, it's about reinforcing that. GE's a company of innovation. I think the fact that we are willing to experiment, whether that's six seconds on vine or a six hour show on Nat Geo with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, looking at the science of breakthrough and discovery, there are ways that bring our brand to life, that reinforce who we really are. A company of innovation, a company of invention, a company that's excited about what's next.

That's so interesting. And I've heard you use this word, I hope I can say it. Well, it's interestingness.

Yes. So what is so first of all, Sarah, I don't even know if it's a word.

Okay. I looked in the dictionary, I missed it.

Better.

Did you say it? No, I was like, so to me.

There'S something about getting deeply comfortable with who you are as a company, as a brand, as a service, because I think without that, you're building a false house. So it starts with, in our case, what is super interesting about us? Our interestingness is different than yours, is different than Pepsi's, is different than Peloton's. There's something about interestingness that as a storyteller, I find really compelling. Like, what's that thing that's going to make you say, wow? I'm going to remember that. That was a story well told based on who we really are.

You mentioned brands like Peloton, Pepsi. How do you do that as a brand and as a marketer?

I'll tell you something we did early that I think was remarkably helpful to us. I dispatched a couple folks to just go and wander around our facilities, to literally go and walk our factories, smell the machinery, talk to people, hear their stories. It is amazing how when you're sitting across from somebody who's the machinist on a heavy duty gas turbine, you learn something that you could never learn sitting in a corporate office. And then from there we built dozens and dozens of stories.

And how open do you have to be with the beginner's mind when you, when you hear what's really coming back?

That's a wonderful question. I think the beginner's mind in some ways is why I personally try to surround myself with people from all different industries, startups, lots of agency partners, because I think that beginner's mind, fresh eyes, it gets worn off quickly. And then all of a sudden you're sort of saying, the same stuff, stuff and stuff. The same way.

You're not interesting anymore, and you're not so interesting anymore.

Goodbye interestingness. So I think that outside in point of view is really important. And I feel like our team at ge, my team at GE has that combination of, you know, some people have been there a little while. A lot of people have come from the outside and just have a fresh approach. To me, marketing is always exciting. It's always the next thing. It's always waking up the next morning and seeing what's Salesforce doing? What's another company doing? Oh, that's really interesting. I haven't thought about it.

You've been a huge part of GE's transformation. What's your advice to other leaders navigating change?

I feel like as marketers, what we need to strive for are stories that are as interesting and compelling and engaging as the best thing that we're streaming on television. And that is a ridiculously high bar. But I feel like that's what good storytelling is, is how do you make people fall in love with your brand?

You're so innovative. What is your advice to marketers that are trying to stay one step ahead of the curve?

You know, some, sometimes as marketers, we like to talk. We do like to talk. We like to talk. I like to talk. But I think listening to our audiences and figuring out where they're spending time is a way to kind of look into the future a little bit. I can't predict where the next big thing is going to be, but I can watch where people are spending time. And so I think it's listening to the marketplace and taking your cues from your audience. I think if you're not on the playing field, if you're not using the tools and spending time where your audiences are, you're never going to learn anything.

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