Guardian Australia develops a new branded interactive series with brand partner GE via MEC

Guardian Australia has forged a new brand partnership with General Electric (GE) to develop a series of interactives exploring the impact of technologies and innovation in Australian industry.

The first instalment of the series titled Powering People: Transformative Technologies Across Australia focuses on how technology will transform Australian cities, Energy, Aviation and Healthcare industries. The new agreement was brokered through media agency, MEC.

Interactive storytelling is at the core of this new agreement between GE and Guardian Australia.  As part of the six-month partnership, Guardian Australia will develop a series of technology and innovation interactives.

GE’s vision for the series was to detail how technology and innovation are changing people’s lives for the better. With proven experience in creating award-winning long-form content, Guardian Australia was an obvious choice for GE.

Says Emma Rugge-Price, VP, brand & communications: “GE is one of the leaders in branded content creation globally. We wanted an innovative media partner that could help us take this to the next level locally. We really value Guardian Australia’s fresh take on storytelling and ability to engage with a broad local audience across a diverse mix of industries, technologies and issues.”

Guardian Australia’s unique brand partnership model leverages the tools and techniques used by the editorial team. While the commercial business has access to these tools and techniques, brand partnerships are run independently from the editorial operations of Guardian Australia.

Says Ian McClelland, managing director at Guardian Australia: “We took a very collaborative approach and worked closely with the GE team to decide the subject and format of the interactives. GE trusted the Guardian’s expertise in long form digital storytelling and, to their credit, gave us ample control over how to cover the stories.

“GE understands the value and sophistication of the audience and is more concerned about producing genuinely engaging and informative content, rather than blatantly force feeding brand messages down the throats of readers. This is a positive trend that GE and Guardian Australia are helping to lead.”

The partnership was brokered and developed by MEC, a key stakeholder alongside Guardian Australia and GE.