(Bloomberg) - Tyco International Ltd. hired a General Electric Co. advertising manager to improve marketing of the hundreds of brands the company obtained through more than $64 billion in acquisitions under its former chief executive.

James Harman, 48, was named to the newly created position of vice president of advertising and branding, Bermuda-based Tyco said in a statement.

He ran General Electric's "We Bring Good Things to Life" campaign as well as advertising after the September 11 attacks. He was with General Electric for 23 years and most recently served as manager of corporate advertising.

Tyco's new chief executive officer, Ed Breen, is trying to improve the company's image as former CEO Dennis Kozlowski and ex- Chief Financial Officer Mark Swartz go on trial next week to defend allegations of looting the company of hundreds of millions of dollars. Tyco, the world's biggest maker of security systems, electronic connectors and undersea fibre-optic cable, counts ADT, US Surgical and AMP among its brands.

"Tyco has hundreds of brands and Jim's role is going to be to help us figure out how to best" market them, said Charlie Young, Tyco's senior vice president of corporate marketing and communications and Harman's new boss.

He'll have a "modest budget," spokesman Gary Holmes said, though he declined to be specific.

Shares of Tyco, which is run from West Windsor, New Jersey, fell 70 cents to $21.16 in late afternoon New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have risen 24 percent this year.

Kozlowski was ousted from his job in June 2002.