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YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    GE's Beth Comstock: Social Media Redefines the Focus Group

    By Chelsea Stark | Mashable – Fri, Feb 3, 2012

    Mashable's Davos coverage is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment.

    [More from Mashable: 5 iPhone Twitter Apps that Do More Than Just Tweet]

    GE's Chief Marketing Officer Beth Comstock sat down with Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore to talk about her role leading business innovation at GE and how their using social media as part of their business model. This is part of Mashable and Scribd's Documented@Davos, where they documented the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    Comstock explained her job at GE as trying to new ways to bring their products to market. She explained it as "creating the jet engine, then creating the iTunes of jet engines to bring it to market."

    [More from Mashable: YouTube Fame Requires Hard Work … Or, Dancing in a Turkey Suit [VIDEOS]]

    The jet engines Comstock is referring to will be able to "talk" to technicians, and even diagnose themselves. She said that GE is also investing in 3D printers for manufacturers to use themselves. Both these are examples of how the company wants to help others run their businesses better by making them more productive.

    "At GE, we make things like turbines and jet engines. They’re not very sexy, when you think about your iPad, but they are the inventions that power the world," Comstock said.

    Social media is another way that Comstock is helping businesses work better together. She said GE is trying to help groups of professionals, such as doctors or service engineers at a power plant.

    Comstock said that she also thinks social media use goes beyond just customer service or focus groups, allowing a circle of communication between customers and GE.

    "We’re using it to redesign our customer service in our appliance business. We get to people early if they have a problem, but we can also do product development together, figure out what features people like," she said. "I believe business is truly social."

    What do you think about GE's innovations? Let us know in the comments.

    Documented@Davos

    Mashable is working with Scribd on a program called Documented@Davos, where we’ll be interviewing young leaders, technology pioneers and forward-thinking organizations to share the important issues being discussed at Davos with everyone online. You can follow along with the hashtag #DavosDocs.

    Here's the lineup of leaders who will be interviewed for Documented@Davos:

    Coverage presented by BMW i

    Mashable's Davos coverage is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment.

    This story originally published on Mashable here.

     

    2 comments

    • William S
      William S  •  Las Vegas, Nevada  •  3 mths ago
      GE makes Billions but pays no US taxes. No GE products at my house!
    • Someone
      Someone  •  3 mths ago
      GE the favorite of the current administration.
      GE is actually purchasing almost the entire run of the Chevy Volt for MILLIONS more in write-offs.
     Post a comment
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