April 6, 2022
GE Current, a Branding dilemma
Is there a simple way to integrate the Hubbell Lighting brands amidst all the different channels?
"GE Current, a Daintree company" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue easily. And with the closing of its big acquisition of Hubbell Lighting two months ago the now-much-bigger lighting company is challenged with even more lighting brands, more channels, more agents and, possibly, more customers who don’t fully understand all of the moving parts.
So as the company is working to finalize marketing strategy, branding dynamics and new website(s), we wonder how Current will work to make all their brand puzzle pieces and channels as easy as possible for lighting people to grasp.
“a Daintree company.” Does the phrase add distinction or value?
When General Electric Company sold Current, powered by GE in 2019, the commercial & industrial lighting group soon came to be known as GE Current, a Daintree company. With the GE name carrying weight in lighting circles, the new owners wanted to maintain use of “GE” but were required to add the “a ________ company” suffix to clearly communicate ownership was not GE while also differentiating from other GE spinoffs like the one that became GE Lighting, a Savant company.
In corporate communications, after the first mention of the 5-word company name, the simplified “Current” is used thereafter. Some passive aggressive lighting people occasionally add a word when they deliberately speak the name “GE Current, comma, a Daintree company.” And when distributors, agents and other lighting people discuss the brand, it’s often referred to as “GE Current” a two-word standalone term that is never used in company communications without the accompanying Daintree suffix.
Does “GE” carry weight in lighting circles like it once did?
As a globally respected brand, the “GE” name may still carry value, but as the once-dominating lighting industry dynamics of “Big 3” lamp companies has disappeared, the “GE” value seems diminished. Further, the 25 - 40 year old Gen Y professionals who generally do not care – or even know about – the “GE meatball” are taking over over sales, marketing and management roles throughout the industry.
So what will Current do with the GE moniker? Keep it, lose it, phase it out? We aren’t privy to Current’s contractual obligations, but if the decision boils down to the only way to keep “GE” is to also maintain the “a Daintree company” suffix, our vote would be to drop the GE moniker and build the company and the brand around a simplified “Current.” Signs point to Current doing just that.
What will we call the group of brands currently known as Hubbell Lighting?
When the company announced the completion of the Hubbell Lighting acquisition it stated that the combined new business will be branded as Current. This means that Current is faced with the challenge of defining groups of brands amidst lots of company-wide, cross-channel gray areas.
At the recent LEDucation trade show, we didn’t see Hubbell Lighting branding, and instead saw the individual brands highlighted. Kim Lighting. Kurt Versen. Prescolite. Columbia. Hubbell Outdoor Lighting. What do we call the cluster of 12+ brands now? Or does the group of brands even need a distinctive name?
Like any branding exercise, one must think about the market. The customers. The industry stakeholders who buy, install, specify, sell and represent the brand. Current has the challenge of making it as easy and intuitive as possible for an electrical distributor to know who to call for product info, availability and pricing.
Right now Current’s various channels run in many different directions. For instance, in Atlanta, a distributor would contact:
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Southern Lighting Source for help with an Albeo high bay lighting order or a DOT project.
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Lighting Associates for help with a Hubbell Outdoor Lighting order.
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GCD for help with commercial lamps.
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Next Generation Lighting for help with a Forum Lighting quote.
While the industry occasionally buzzes with speculation about widespread Hubbell Lighting/Current agent consolidation, we do not expect that to occur. Most of the Current agents have an electrical supply focus while the existing network of Hubbell Lighting agents are often known for having a stronger focus on lighting specifiers.
The branding strategy for the Hubbell Lighting pieces is the hardest part of this puzzle to solve.
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In the early years of the Genlyte Thomas marriage, the market settled on the unofficial “Red Team/Blue Team” terms. We don’t see an “Orange Team/Yellow Team” moniker making sense here.
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Gray-haired lighting people may recall CPM for “Columbia Prescolite Moldcast” and DCO for “Daybrite Capri Omega” from decades past.
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Since early 2021, Signify has been trying to segment its North America professional channel with the “Genlyte Solutions” brand grouping, but it doesn’t seem to be sticking as most lighting people seem to describe the brands simply as “Signify.”
This Hubbell Lighting rebranding is a head-scratcher with no perfect solution that would likely please all stakeholders. So we will wait and see what the Current official strategy is later this year. For the record, we are vehemently opposed to “Hubbell Lighting, a Daintree company.” Thank goodness that’s seemingly not an option.
