GE Thursday will launch an online ad campaign featuring live video of CEO Jeff Immelt speaking on "A New Approach to Healthcare" at 10 a.m. EST. The Webcast will be broadcast live in banner ads on the
sites of large Web publishers including CNN, the BBC, AOL, Yahoo, The Huffington Post,
The Washington Post, Weather.com and WebMD.
Viewers will also be able to post comments
in banners during the speech. Partnering with GE on the effort are ad technology provider EyeWonder and agency Beeby Clark + Meyler. GE on Wednesday was tight-lipped on details about the campaign
except that it's linked to GE Healthcare, the conglomerates medical technologies and services unit.
Financial Times reported last month that GE was preparing to launch a marketing blitz
for its $17 billion-a-year health-care business modeled on the Ecoimagination campaign it debuted in 2005. GE ran a live video ad banner campaign last year when Immelt presented the company's annual
report to investors. Viewers were invited to ask questions within banners during the Q&A session.
Fortunately, Immelt's appearance will not conflict with the live Facebook Webcast Thursday by
the teen sensation Jonas Brothers, which takes place later in the day.--Mark Walsh