Lead On

TCU took a bold stance and adopted Lead On as their rallying cry, showcased in leadership messages, street banners, elevator takeovers and surrounding billboards. TCU’s chancellor loved the campaign so much he even named the strategic plan after it! We released a powerful anthem video on digital, social and broadcast. To tie in campus partners, we created six storytelling videos representing colleges and their connection to Lead On. For the first time ever, TCU’s peer rating surpassed a key threshold that impacts university rankings. 

In 2023, with the basis of a solid brand in place, BVK gave the Lead On campaign an evolved, even bolder look and voice. Awash with color, the campus came alive with vivid new signage, encouraging Horned Frogs to “Lead On” courageously, compassionately and humbly. 

BVK’s PR team set out to achieve third party media endorsement by way of a robust publicity campaign. This included targeting top-tier national media with unique angles that interest their audiences, leveraging faculty subject matter experts for interviews of topical and timely events, and highlighting pioneering faculty research and alumni and student success stories. 

The Results 

BVK concepted and produced a nationwide mural campaign celebrating TCU success stories. The larger-than-life artistic portraits appeared in select U.S. cities to recognize outstanding individuals that represent the power of TCU’s alumni leading on in extraordinary ways in their chosen fields. The first mural in the series was unveiled in New York City in October 2022 and spotlights alumnus John Devereaux, currently touring with “Hamilton.” In addition to the murals, BVK planned high profile events with a prime view of the installation, featuring appearances by the featured alums themselves.  

To support the year’s work was a bold undertaking—a four-day immersive, on-campus exhibit tracing TCU’s remarkable past, present and the future it is destined to lead. Dubbed The Story of Us, this immersive exhibit filled a giant campus ballroom wall-to-wall with historic imagery, videos, memorabilia and interactive digital touch points. 

The Results

The campaign launch provided an unprecedented opportunity to coalesce messaging around three key university initiatives: their current “Lead On” branding campaign, their Vision in Action: Lead On strategic plan and this capital campaign. BVK developed all of the materials that enabled TCU to tell a seamless story about the essence of TCU, clearly articulating the critical role that philanthropy plays in helping TCU reach its strategic goals. For this reason, the name of the campaign is Lead On: A Campaign for TCU. However, the campaign theme is Lead the Charge. Lead the Change, which is the rallying cry for donors and other audiences to get involved. 

The Results