GE Takes Over The New York Times Print Edition for the First Time

On Dec 6,  for the first time in the publication’s 171-year history, The New York Times featured a print ad takeover by a single advertiser - GE - in honor of the brand’s historic business transformation into three industry-leading companies.

Taking a cue from GE’s historic planned separation, T Brand, the content studio of New York Times Advertising, has developed creative for the entire Tuesday print edition that spotlights the theme of “focus” and provides a guided experience of focus tools. Each new GE company is represented in four Focus Breaks to help sharpen readers’ attention and provide additional details on GE Aerospace, GE Vernova and GE HealthCare. The print ad takeover’s theme of 'focus' resonates beyond GE’s new direction: whether you’re learning something new or building the world’s most advanced machines, the clearer your focus, the bigger your impact.

“GE is beginning again, on the path to create three companies all essential to modern life and all focused on delivering for the future. GE Aerospace, GE Vernova and GE HealthCare are sharpening their focus on building a future that works in the critical sectors of aerospace, energy and healthcare. Today’s takeover of The New York Times print edition underscores our belief that focus is a superpower, especially in an age where our attention is divided among endless input, and that focus is the key to delivering long-term value. We were thrilled to collaborate with New York Times Advertising and our long-time agency partner Giant Spoon to bring this historic partnership to life,” says Linda Boff, GE’s chief marketing officer. 

Throughout the print edition, GE and T Brand Studio have worked with experts to create ads that feature science-backed Focus Breaks exemplifying the connections between thought and action, creativity and invention. The creative catapult behind the ad campaign was built on research that showed breaks are necessary in order to focus and engage, and certain tools can help us better direct our attention while heightening our concentration.

Techniques and concepts include a foldable paper airplane adapted by Ken Blackburn, a four-time Guinness World Record holder for time keeping a paper airplane aloft; a Magic Eye optical illusion from the creators that ignited the worldwide 3D craze; and a circular crossword puzzle from award-winning puzzle maker Brendan Emmett Quigley.

"Our creative concept for GE dives into the theme of ‘focus’ and crosses the chasm between marketing objectives and the larger human truth that we're all experiencing. There’s so much going on, so much noise, that focus in both the micro and macro sense has become harder to capture. The average attention span, according to some studies, has decreased by a full third since the year 2000 — shorter than a goldfish! By drawing a clear parallel between GE’s business focus and mental focus, we underscore GE’s core goals, and create something that we hope is a lot of fun for readers. Turning The New York Times advertising space into a playful interactive experience aims to give everyone the tools to focus on what matters most,” says Nathan Reese, creative director at T Brand Studio. 

GE worked with agency Giant Spoon to choreograph the historic print ad takeover, representing more than a decade of partnership and a shared commitment to innovation between the agency and GE.

“The innovation of this project is in its simplicity: create focus as the only advertiser in The New York Times print edition to establish and explain GE’s connection to focus. By taking over The Times ecosystem, we are giving readers the opportunity to experience the brand’s value proposition in relatable, tangible ways. Moving the ad needle from full-page to full-paper advertising, GE has raised the bar on attention-driving marketing once again,” says  Laura Correnti, partner at Giant Spoon. 

The immersive GE advertising takeover will be promoted across The Times, including print, desktop and mobile takeovers, as well as an audio takeover in 'The Daily'.