Biography of Beth Comstock

She is accountable for driving NBC Universal’s digital strategy and leading the company’s content and distribution efforts to capitalize on new and emerging digital platforms. Her responsibilities also include strategic marketing, research, communications, and advertising and promotion. She reports directly to Bob Wright, vice chairman of GE and chairman and CEO of NBC Universal.

Comstock had served since 2003 as corporate vice president and chief marketing officer of General Electric. In this role, she oversaw commercial excellence and development of the marketing function across GE, and was responsible for cross-business marketing and sales programs, and integrated communications. As GE’s first chief marketing officer in more than 20 years, Beth invigorated GE’s marketing and sales efforts, transformed GE’s brand through the successful “imagination at work” and “ecomagination” campaigns, and developed the Imagination Breakthrough innovation effort to drive organic growth across GE.

Comstock has been a GE company officer since 1998, at which time she was named GE’s vice president of Corporate Communications. Previously, Comstock served as senior vice president of Communications at NBC (1996-98), and as vice president of NBC News Communications (1993-96).

Before that, she held a succession of communications and publicity positions at NBC, Turner Broadcasting, and CBS Entertainment, beginning in 1986. She started her career for a television news service and in local cable programming in Virginia.

Comstock will receive a 2006 Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications. BusinessWeek named her an innovation “transformer” in 2005. She has been named “Marketing Executive of the Year” by BtoB magazine, and “PR Professional of the Year” by PRWeek.