If you’re an avid NC State fan you may have missed it.
Perhaps you walked away from the television trying to beat your head against the wall after another of Tom O’Brien’s players was injured. Or…maybe you were in the stands during our televised games this season concentrating on a return on investment analysis of your Lifetime Rights If you were in the stands maybe you were so engrossed in the game that you were watching substitution patterns instead of the drivel on the jumbotron (which probably wasn’t audible anyway with Carter-Finley’s antiquated sound system).
Regardless of your focus on Wolfpack football games, you also may not watch cable television or read national magazines like Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated. Maybe you don’t have a kid considering college so you’ve ignored US News and World Report’s “Best Colleges†issue. Or you don’t go to any website other than SFN – for which I will not faulty you – including newsandobserver.com, Charlotte.com, GoPack.com or Facebook or even YouTube for that matter.
If you’re among the living, by now you’ve probably seen the first pieces of NC State’s new marketing campaign branded “Red Means Goâ€. The campaign was put together by the university’s (not athletics) marketing staff working with a Charlotte-based marketing and PR firm, Luquire George Andrews and it is absolutely FANTASTIC.
This campaign rocks! It portrays NC State as not only ‘cutting-edge’ but fast-paced and generally ‘cool’ while simultaneously exhibiting some pride and confidence without turning people off with excessive bravado or arrogance. (Can you tell I like it?)
Heck, when was the last time NC State took ANY official stance that was brash, self-promoting and unapologetic? Red Means Go is edgy and, God knows, it’s nothing like those other miserable university halftime TV spots that have a perfectly racially balanced group of students sitting under a tree..or worse yet, some dude spending 30 seconds telling you how wonderful he is because he studied tree frogs in Angola while you were at the frat house. (Back when NC State provided students with an enjoyable social experience that included a decent greek community; but, we will leave that for another time.)
In light of the University’s many mis-steps that get criticized across the world wide web, we think it is important to highlight something that is being done the right way. We want to make sure that everyone experiences one of the best projects to come out of West Raleigh in a long time. You may not believe it…but, NC State is actually saying good things about NC State! And, IN PUBLIC nonetheless!!
All of us know that NC State University is THE institution of the people of North Carolina. NC State executes its mission with a keen focus on making tangible differences in people’s lives through real-world applications of our research, teaching and partnerships. NC State walks the walk while other universities get public credit because they are better at talking the talk. Now, at least some people at NC State seem determined to make sure that the rest of the world recognizes NC State, which is the first step to the broader population and market appreciating the values of degrees.
They are right … the smart are impatient, eager, tenacious. NC State is where higher learning becomes H-I-R-E learning. This campaign makes me proud to be an alum and I hope that they people at NC State will accept my appreciation and applause for this great work.
The following are a few important links in case you’ve missed them. We ask that you do some surfing and also pass this entry along to your friends. We think it is important that SFN drives traffic through these sites to help re-inforce the strength of the NC State online community. (Just in case anyone has forgotten)
(1) Red Means Go – http://www.ncsu.edu/redmeansgo (see the whole campaign and get some desktop backgrounds and other things)
* NC State on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/ncstate (has tons of videos!!)
* http://www.ncsu.edu/featured-stories/community-of-scholars/august-2008/tv-spots/index.php – HOLY COW www.ncsu.edu IS A LOT BETTER THAN IT USED TO BE!
It’s interesting to see how many Wolfpackers aren’t afraid of the internets like the folks in our Athletics Department – more than 1,000 people have joined the “Red Means Go†group on Facebook. (Please don’t ignore our FaceBook entry from April.)
Speedbump TV:
Gateway TV:
