A Surprisingly Engaging Model For Healthcare B2B: GE Reports

When was the last time you read an interesting press release?

Next time you’ve got a few minutes, flip through the articles in GE’s Healthymagination…but be ready…you’ll likely walk away with a case of content envy.

It’s almost not even fair to label it a B2B publication. The industry-specific online magazine is clean, well-branded (of course…it is GE after all), and rooted firmly in a grossly missed opportunity in B2B healthcare content…story-telling.

Contently has hailed it as “The World’s Best Brand Mag”, and rightfully so. It makes you want to share articles, and I don’t even mean just in your professional network. After my first review, I immediately wanted to share what I saw with my personal channels, and that is revolutionary because it means that those business people (who are people after all) will share with each other, which is what everyone in the B2B space is really pushing for.

The Secret Recipe

They key to GE Report’s strength is its familiarity. Their pieces read like editorial works and that’s completely intentional. Managing Editor Tomas Kellner (@tomaskellner) actively (and humbly) leverages a company culture that believes in stories.

It’s not just me. It’s really a part of the culture that’s inside the company. I think we believe in content. We believe in stories. On this side of the business, which is communications and marketing, we do everything possible to be able to tell a really good story.

 That leverage pays off in the living oxymoron of viral business content.

Healthcare Done Right

I might be a bit biased, but the most interesting and human stories GE Reports have to offer show up on the healthcare side.

Trains and planes are cool and all, but you can’t beat an article that discusses what happens when we get hit in the head (not to mention a connection to the New York Mets and Giants)…especially when that article seamlessly ties to applications for MRI at GE Healthcare, specifically discussing completely revamping the way body imaging works.

The publication upholds one of the most basic rules of effective content (tying content to strategy and products) as well as respecting the nature of the Internet (rooting everything in the stories of humanity).

Better Than A Press Release

They even nail the hallmark of boring online content — the press release.

Check out this very subtle one. The title alone blows the majority of other releases away. I’m not sure if it’s an allusion to the 1966 science fiction film or the Lakeside/Coolio track (I’m guessing it’s the former, but the song’s looping in my head regardless), either way it doesn’t matter. The title is engaging:

Fantastic Voyage: GE Invests in Bowel Surfing Capsule that May Help Doctors Detect Colon Cancer

I don’t know if I’m more in awe of the movie reference or the use of the term “bowel surfing”, but the title is a beautiful way to make an investment announcement. Your typical press release would have read something like this:

GE Invests in Check-Cap Ltd. To Develop Camera That Helps Detect Colon Cancer

Interesting for sure, but it’s nowhere near as engaging as anything that “surfs” intestines.

I’m definitely going to be tuning in to Healthymagination in the long term. I’m sure their work will be the standard in B2B healthcare content in no time at all.

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