Innovation and New Product Development Case Study

GE Betting Big on Digital Cameras and Printers:Will it Leverage the Brand?

OR

Abstract:
General Electric (GE) planned to leverage its brand image by attaching its brand name to a line of digital cameras and photo printers, designed and marketed by General Imaging. The company felt that this new initiative would keep its brand afresh among the young generation consumers. This brand extension strategy would not only leverage its brand equity but would also add to its licensing fees. But GE needed to compete with the major players like Canon, Sony, Kodak and Hewlett Packard (HP) in the saturated market of digital cameras. Moreover, the printer segment was highly competitive with HP enjoying more than a third of the market share and Kodak entering the market with new technology. Though General Imaging planned to synergise GE's brand image in order to foray into the camera and printer market, it would still be difficult to make its presence in this mature and competitive market. The case deals with GE's strategic move to amplify its brand. It further gives an insight into GE's history and how the company tried to leverage the 'Brand GE' by the brand extension exercise.

Pedagogical Objectives:

Keywords :  General Electric, General Imaging, Canon, Sony, Kodak, Hewlett Packard, Camera, Printer, Epson, Lexmark, Jack Welch, GE Inspira, Brand equity, Brand extension, Ecomagination