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 GSDandM, 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.
