Everybody Writes, 2nd Edition



59Brands as Media Companies

I just stopped in at GE Reports and got lost for a few minutes in a story about something called ZeeWeed Membrane Bioreactor, a GE-developed filtering membrane that is saving a New Zealand volcanic lake from gross algae explosions.

I don't live in New Zealand. I don't have a particular interest in algae or volcanoes. At least, I didn't before I read the piece. Yet the story held my attention.

Algae explosions are fascinating? Who knew … ?

GE Reports is an online magazine that shares stories and ideas about science and technology innovation—for example, a recurring feature is The 5 Coolest Things on Earth This Week.

It looks and feels not unlike, say, Popular Science magazine in that it seeks to make science and technology more accessible and meaningful for a general audience.

The award-winning GE Reports is published daily by GE itself, a global conglomerate that's been around since 1892. GE Reports is the hub of a content strategy that extends into various assets, all largely centered on creating awareness and advancing the idea of GE as innovator, and doing so in a neutral, vendor-agnostic way.

GE Reports is not trying to sell jet engines or wind turbines, in other words. There is no call to action with a pop-up order form inviting you to reserve and customize your own airplane.

Instead, GE Reports tells the stories of GE.

It shows how its innovations are helping people globally. It narrates those stories in a ...