The General Electric Company – known simply as GE – was founded by Thomas Edison in 1889 and, for over 120 years, its monogram (or logo) has remained essentially the same. In November 2021, CEO Larry Culp announced he would be breaking the conglomerate up into three independent companies focused on healthcare, aviation, and power generation. Not yet decided is which of the three companies will retain the monogram that was recently valued at $20 billion. GE is a market leader in medical imaging, including its Senographe Pristina DBT system, so it is hard to imagine these products without the iconic logo.

The primary purpose of a logo is simply to identify a product or business. It is a strategic tool that enables a company to differentiate itself from the competition and stand out from the crowd. On their own, logos have relatively little value although they do contribute significantly to a company’s brand. Brand value requires substantial investment by the company over an extended period and so customers are willing to purchase – often at a premium – products that carry the logo.

The two logos seen at left are instantly recognisable. The original Apple logo featured Isaac Newton, with the law of gravity inspired by a falling apple, but founder Steve Jobs wanted something simple and hence the classic logo of the bitten apple was born. Fifty years ago, the founder of Nike, Phil Knight, paid just $35 for the “swoosh” logo that has become synonymous with the company’s products which now adorn some of the world’s highest profile athletes. Unsurprisingly, both Apple and Nike are listed among the world’s most valuable brands.

There are two global medical imaging firms, Philips Healthcare from Holland and Siemens Healthineers from Germany, that have been set up in the past decade as wholly-owned subsidiaries of their corporate parents. Interestingly, both have retained the corporate logo, with the addition of the words “Healthcare” and “Healthineers,” respectively. Perhaps GE will decide to do something similar with its healthcare company.

When CapeRay set out to establish its brand essence, we contacted the professionals at The Jupiter Drawing Room who helped us to establish our tone – contemporary, professional, empathetic, elegant, and simple. For our corporate colour we chose silver, while our logo (seen at right) was designed around a circle, a universal symbol of unity and female power, with our dual-modality concept of X-rays and ultrasound represented by the overlapping arcs and inward facing waves, respectively. Time will tell if our logo has helped to add value to the business.