Looking back at some past GE ads
Tom Paine
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Its too early to be writing obituaries for GE. But in anticipation of that time, we can start reminiscing about some of its great ads:
GE: "We bring good things to life" was the main corporate umbrella ad for many years (BBDO, 1979-2003, which ia a very long time). It was an effort to convince consumers that GE was more than nuclear bombs, nuclear plants, airplane engines that occasionally malfunctioned, and an awful NBC before Comcast took control.
The GE Healthcare / Matrix ad was classic, really pushing the envelope in corporate advertising. GE hired Agent Smith of 'The Matrix'. (Connected Hospital,BBDO, 2013)
Today GE announced plans to sell 20% of GE Healthcare and spin off the remainder to shareholders.
And a recent ad targeted for the Olympics:
Sarah Sanders not welcome in public place in Virginia
Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 23, 2018
PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/22: Plymouth Meeting-based CRF Health on the block, WSJ reports
Plymouth Meeting-based CRF Health is on the block, the Wall Street Journal reports .
CRF Health makes or supplies electronic assessment technology (EDC) used in clinical trials. Founded in 2000, CRF also has offices in the UK, Finland and Poland. It has 609 employees listed on LinkedIn, of which about 180 are in the Philadelphia area. Timo Ahopelto, Jarkko Joki-Tokola and Jaakko Ollila are the founders, though they do not appear to be active in the business now. Technically, its headquarters is in Finland.
CRF has had a string of PE owners before being acquired by the European PE firm Vitruvian Partners in January 2015. CRF has reportedly hired Jeffries to pursue the sale. It generates EBITDA of €40 million ($46.3 million), the Journal said. My guess is that it would fetch a few hundred million.
Vitruvian also owns Phlexglobal, a UK-based electronic clinical trial master file vendor with offices in Malvern, but that business, which Vitruvian's website states has sales of €25 million ($29 million), is not involved in the sale. Vitruvian Partners' website says CRF has sales of €100 ($117 million) .
The question is, will the buyer be strategic or financial?
The market is not set in stone, but rather is still experiencing considerable change. For instance, Veeva Systems (VEEV) recently entered the market with its own proprietary EDC offering.
june22 - Curated tweets by phillytechnews a class="twitter-timeline" data-partner="tweetdeck" href="https://twitter.com/phillytechnews/timelines/1010115984269676544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">june22 - Curated tweets by phillytechnews
ThingWorx parent PTC partners with Rockwell Automation ($ attached); Bulotta back in corporate fold at Microsoft
Tom Paine
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After seemingly getting close to GE, which is obviously dealing with its own share of problems lately, over the past few years, ThingWorx parent PTC found a new strategic partner last week; Rockwell Automation , which invested $1 billion in PTC for less than 1/10th ownership. And starting Monday, PTC will hold its annual IoT-oriented LiveWorx conference in Boston that is expected to attract about 6,000 attendees.
Where this will leave ThingWorx as a brand name and organization is hard to say; its center of gravity has been gradually moving north for some time, and now only 40 ThingWorx employees are still in Pennsylvania per LinkedIn.
PTC was a shrinking CAD/CAM software firm ( originally Parametric Technologies ) left over from the 1980s when it bought ThingWorx at the end of 2013 for $100 million plus. PTC's share price has more than doubled since then, perhaps more of a result of PTC's growing mindshare of industrial IoT rather than actual results. PTC is moving its headquarters from suburban Needham to Boston.
The Boston Globe has a piece on PTC's rebirth ( "How Boston software maker PTC came back from the brink") .
In related news, ThingWorx cofounder Rick Bulotta, who has been mostly freelancing since leaving PTC, has shown up in a new uniform: Microsoft's (H/T Technical.ly Philly). Microsoft has partnered with PTC in a number of IoT initiatives.
Its a small world.
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