GE's Commercial Women's Storytelling initiative
Branding + Event Marketing
Background for GE’s Commercial
Women’s Storytelling Initiative
The "If You Can See It, You Can Be It" initiative is a global program at GE designed to enhance the leadership skills of women in commercial (sales, marketing and product management) functions through the science of 'strategic storytelling.' The program was spearheaded by Cate Gutowski, Vice President of Commercial Digital Thread. Gutowski defines storytelling as "the ability to tell the right story, at the right time, at the right place to motivate others to take action."
I developed the branding identity for this initiative and scaled it across digital and print mediums. As a father of 3 daughters, I'm proud to work for a company that empowers women and sets them up for success. And I was honored to build the branding for this initiative.
Solution: Branding, Creative Direction, Illustration
Jeff Immelt, Chairman of GE, speaking to a group of women about GE's Commercial Women's Storytelling Initiative.
Cate Gutowski, Vice President of Software Product Management for GE, built a team to develop, create and deliver a new global leadership program experience for GE's Commercial Women and Customers.
Sketching is a foundational process
In thinking about the meaning of storytelling, I found similar parallels in architectural drawings. Before a building is erected, it is first an idea in someone's mind. That idea is transmitted into a sketch, which becomes an architectural drawing, which (eventually) becomes a building. The common thread:
It all starts with an idea.
Storytelling is exactly the same. It starts with an idea in someone's head. It then becomes a more formalized framework, which is then expressed either through writing, visual design, or spoken word. The three concentric circles allude to the process of a simple thought becoming a concrete idea.
You can see some initial design exploration below around storytelling. But the visuals focused too heavily on writing and books, when a majority of the storytelling done through this initiative would be through spoken word. The visual design system needed to be a little more abstract.
