When a university is as big and bold as The University of Texas at Austin, it’s only fitting that its branding and TV spots are, too.
Along with creative partner GSD&M, the university developed five new public service announcements (PSAs) to energize the “What Starts Here Changes the World” campaign, celebrate the university’s world-changing alumni and challenge students to aim higher. They feature the Tower as a 3-D puzzle, twisting and turning with images of former students emerging from the structure.
The first PSA, titled “Awards,” will debut Friday, Aug. 26 on the Longhorn Network, a 24-hour ESPN TV channel.
“The inspiration for the new TV spots comes from how great universities and their alumni are like good parents. They want future generations to chase their dreams and have more fulfilling lives than they did,” said Kathleen Mabley, the university’s director of brand communications.
The filming of the new PSAs drew a great deal of attention from social media and news outlets when production company Klip Collective projected 3-D images of alumni such as Walter Cronkite, Lady Bird Johnson and Ricky Williams on 17 stories of the iconic Tower.
A sneak peak of the TV spots was premiered at Gone to Texas, the university’s annual welcome event for new students on Tuesday night.
“I really love the new UT TV spots that highlight the university’s alumni,” said Student Body President Natalie Butler, who attended Gone to Texas. “They help to inspire new students to build grand plans for themselves, because we definitely have big shoes to fill.”
The new PSAs will appear in the future on TV channels such as Fox Sports, ABC and ESPN as well as the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium’s high-definition video scoreboard.
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Keen graphics, but part of what makes the previous ads so good is Walter Cronkite's voice. I hope they don't ditch those.
Love it! hook'em!!
Gayle is spot on. Cronkite's "voice" is iconic. Without his voice-over's, these newer PSA's won't wow many folks other than Longhorns. When viewed in the context of better college promos, our ads are nothing more than "me too-style" "huff & puff" content...with the tower . Austin has the home-grown talent to produce world-class PSA's. However, it takes courage to push for creativity that stands out in the crowd. Perhaps UT's gatekeepers won't play the safe, common, chest-thumping card next year?
"What starts here changes the world." I'm just glad to even be apart of this time here to see new things happening. It's wonderful!
Too bad the spots will only be seen at first by the 16 people who have access to the Longhorn Network...
Tom, I don't think you've ever viewed another universities promos. If you have, you know these standout in a big way -- they are super creative with just the right attitude. Post a link of another university's ads that even gets close to this -- you won't find one. The voice over is by another alumni -- Bruce McGill. Cronkite, obviously, is not available to do future voices overs! Hats off to the UT and GSD&M teams for another great campaign.
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