Firefox compatible

Client: General Electric
Creative Agency: Syrup

Visitors arrive at the Ecomagination site and are greeted by Jeffrey Immelt, GE's CEO. As the visitor explores further, they meet the site's video-based host, who describes both the philosophy of Ecomagination and what each business unit is doing as part of this large-scale initiative. Each section of the site presents GE's environmentally beneficial products within our illustrated landscapes, complete with their own soundscapes. Visitors horizontally explore the various landscapes, discovering each of the products. They interact with elements presented within the environmental scenes (clickable elements), bringing up imagery and facts about each product. Included in the product sections are figures and sources backing up these environmentally friendly products. This is the first time any large corporation has provided sources and links to their claims. The key is that visitors play with the web environment and are engaged on an experiential level with the content. By having Mr. Immelt and our host lead the audience through video, the site becomes more personal and connects on a deeper, human level that is in line with the environmental message.
-- Jakob Daschek, creative director, Syrup

As a Sunday morning news show watcher, where all the 30-second spots are by giant corporations pretending to care about the world, the environment and me as a person, I'm usually left asking, "So what is it they really do?" Of course it's hard to convey what you do as a global conglomerate in 30 seconds, so the best thing to say is, "We care about you."

With GE's new "ecomagination" site, the "we care about you" message gets delivered in a way that is truly mesmerizing. I could spend hours on this site, just uncovering the new landscapes and learning about new GE innovations. You have no idea what you're in for when you go to the home page, where GE CEO Jeff Immelt delivers an introduction on what "ecomagination" is all about. I can't say I'm fond of the name, as it reminds me of cheesy Disney words like "imagineering." (Just for fun, I tried the French and German intros, hoping I'd hear Jeff speaking other languages, but his speech is simply translated in text off to his right.) On interior pages, a new host appears, the English version being an annoyingly enthusiastic Ben Stiller look-alike, who describes the various GE advancements in new energy sources, water purification, aircraft, rail and other areas. The German and French hosts are also men, while the Japanese host is female.

Once you've listened to them, or have shut them off, you're free to roam the Flash countryside, where GE products and solutions are creating a heaven on earth. The animation is very well done and hides tons of information. For instance: Did you know that if every U.S. household owning a washer not qualified ENERGY STAR were to replace it with a GE Profile Harmony washer, we could save enough water each year to fill nearly 400,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools? You didn't know that, did you? I found that out by clicking on a group of kids playing soccer in the suburbs of a Flash San Francisco after I turned off Ben Stiller.

The hypnotic Vangelis inspired music works well for the site, but muting it is recommended as it can put you to sleep, or perhaps plant the seeds that you need a new dishwasher, one with SmartDispense technology, because if everyone in America bought one, we could have the potential to save more than 750,000 tons of dishwashing detergent. (Interesting note: the mute button is in the lower right for all versions except Japanese, where the button is on the left.)

I have to say I am a huge GE fan now, and I want to live in a world of idyllic landscapes, where quiet jets fly above and cities are powered by the wind. Hats off to GE for commissioning this site, which finally answers the question, "What is it they really do?" and a giant round of applause (maybe even a standing ovation) to Syrup for packaging all of this information into a very organized and entertaining site.
-- Dave Wilkie, creative director, Kinetic Results

GE's "Ecomagination" website combines a wealth of information for both consumers and B2B readers in an environment that, while fairly rich with playful, consumer-like interactivity, really does a good job drilling down to bring out the essence of this corporate giant's initiative to create products and technologies that are both environmentally sensitive and operationally effective for companies to use.

The presentation of the site's information and various media tools in cool green and blue hues, accompanied by tingly new age music are an attempt to straddle the line between a friendly consumer site and a straight-forward B2B offering.

The live-action host who appears in each landscape is helpful in summarizing GE's efforts in that space before encouraging the visitor to explore the horizontal interactive landscape where you can learn more. It would have been effective to have the host react a bit to the environment he was in at the moment, to give his presence a little more dimensionality.

There is a section for "Fun and Games," again designed to demonstrate GE's involvement in various market segments. Some of them were quite engaging and elaborate, offering multiple levels of play. But the initial navigation page was underwhelming in its presentation of the games, which actually would have been better presented in each of the various market landscapes they represented.

Overall GE gets strong marks for a multi-layered, informational and interactivity-rich presentation of a corporate initiative in a manner that serves its environmentally-sensitive theme. 
-- Kurt Indvik, general manager, iMedia