FAIRFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2006--GE announced today the appointment of Dan Henson to Chief Marketing Officer, effective immediately. He succeeds Beth Comstock, who was promoted to President of NBC Universal Digital Media and Marketing Development. Henson will report directly to GE Chairman & CEO Jeff Immelt.
Henson, 44, will focus on customer satisfaction and enhancing the capabilities of GE's 45,000+ sales and marketing professionals. He will be responsible for driving sales and marketing excellence, sales force effectiveness, enterprise accounts, strategic marketing, advertising, branding and communications.
"Dan is an outstanding GE leader committed to helping our customers grow their businesses by tapping the breadth of GE's products, services and expertise," Immelt said. "His broad skills in sales, marketing, quality and operations combined with his global experience will be great assets to our commercial and communication team as well as our customers around the world."
Henson's responsibilities will also include cross-business marketing and sales initiatives including:
-- Imagination Breakthroughs - GE's marketing-led innovation pipeline with 90+ projects designed to generate $50-$100MM of new revenue within three years,
-- ecomagination - GE's cross-business commitment to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges, and
-- Experienced Commercial Leadership Program - A two-year global training program designed to develop the next generation of GE's sales and marketing leaders. Participants complete four six-month assignments at a GE business and upon graduation, are considered for key commercial leadership roles.
An 18-year GE veteran, Henson most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer for GE Commercial Finance where he led the global expansion of the business' enterprise selling efforts that simplified, from a customer perspective, GE's go-to-market process by providing a single point of contact. Previously, as president and CEO of Vendor Financial Services from 2002 to 2005, he led a $675 million business with more than 9,000 employees. In that period, the business transformed from a successful financer of small and medium equipment to the world's leading supply chain finance company.
Henson has extensive experience outside the U.S. He led teams in London for European Equipment Finance and in Mexico City for Commercial Equipment Finance, and has spent considerable time in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. He also served as the quality leader for GE Capital where he used six sigma methodologies to improve processes for the business and its customers. Henson joined GE in 1987 and was named a Company officer in 1999.
Henson earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
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