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Steve Liguori, executive director of global marketing for General Electric, talked about the new internal Gold Standard marketing model, and a special social media service for GE marketers, at the Business Marketing Association's MarketingMasters Luncheon Seminar just a few hours ago.

Following the study in 2006 and self-assessments in 2007 to 2008, the central marketing team is maximizing all of the company's marketing's talents, to make sure the multifaceted but immature team is united in core competency areas. From there a Gold Standard vision was developed, exploring eight broad skill areas, such as strategy and innovation and segmentation and targeting. They were then defined and described in a handbook complete with sub-skill definitions, case studies and examples. The team researched various models from the American Marketing Association, Procter & Gamble, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets and elsewhere for inspiration, Liguori says.

Next spring, every GE marketer will do a self-assessment and rate their capabilities against appropriate skills and their sub-areas defined in the handbook. Where there are gaps, there will be training techniques designed for marketers based on their career level. It should also break down barriers between departments, providing a bonding experience that better illustrates the greater organization and purpose, Liguori says. "It's not that marketing in healthcare is different from marketing in energy," he says. "The industries are different, but the skill sets aren't different."

GE will also dish out quarterly "Marketing Rock Star Awards" for standout marketers who display strong innovation, integration, instigation abilities and implementation of practices, people who possess "leadership DNA," Liguori says. The company also built an internal combination of Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social sites last summer called MarkNet, a social site strictly for GE marketers to network and learn from each other. "Any marketer, any division, any level, any geography can find someone who's got the expertise to [solve a problem]," he says. Within 60 days of launching, 40% of GE's marketing community signed up voluntarily, and next week, the internal Web site will get an upgrade, and likely prompt more sign-ups, he says.

"My wish for you is you can get your hands around this too," he advises. "We're sure not declaring victory, but we really think we're on to something in trying to push ourselves and our marketing organization to a better place and a much, much more rigorous and disciplined place, to understand all the complexities. ... What are you going to do with your team, to get them motivated, to get them pointed in the right direction? I know 98% of you can't build your own [Gold Standard plan], but you can get pretty smart pretty quickly by seeing what's available to you and adapting it for yourself."

It'll be fascinating to see how GE gets such a huge team, working in everything from healthcare to television, all on the same page, and how its external marketing abilities will benefit. This is something Marketing News will certainly keep an eye on.