TXST NEXT Campaign

TXST Next is Now brand anthem video Play Video

Texas State has experienced meteoric growth over the past 20 years. The Rising Star of Texas, our previous brand campaign, had been a catalyst for much of that change. However, it wasn’t entirely reflective of where our university is today.

In 2018 a comprehensive image and awareness survey revealed that TXST, an Emerging Research University with over half of its alumni under 40, had cultivated a strong brand position with Texas’ next generation of leaders and innovators. Thus, the idea for TXST NEXT was born — Texas State University is driving what’s NEXT.

The survey also revealed that many Texans knew little about the university. To help grow awareness, we launched a robust advertising campaign in Central Texas, along the IH-35 corridor from Round Rock to the Rio Grande Valley. This is one of America’s fastest-growing regions and home to the most significant portion of our alumni base and prospective students. Through an integrated mix of print, out-of-home, broadcast, digital, social media, and activation events, we highlighted how Texas State shapes the future of Texas, our nation, and our world.

Yannis Banks shared his appreciation for the campaign video with a social media post that says: Just saw this commercial on tv. The school is stepping up.

A More Vibrant TXST Environment

The University Marketing team created visual opportunities across our campuses for Bobcats to make TXST NEXT a part of their social media presence.

Social media posts from Bobcats who took photos of themselves in front of TXST Next banners and backdrops around campus.
Three big banners hanging on a new building feature TXST branding and brightly colored line art of a star over a field of maroon.

Partnering Across Campus

Working across divisions to ensure that marketing and communications efforts have a firm foundation in our new brand was essential to NEXT’s success. We partnered deeply with units that face an external audience and created self-service tools and resources so everyone can access the brand.

We helped our colleagues in University Advancement launch NEXT IS NOW, the largest fundraising campaign in our history. And we undertook a comprehensive redesign of our alumni magazine, Hillviews.

A Hillviews layout uses white space, sans serif fonts, prominent photography, and bright colors to achieve a clean, modern look.
Materials from the Next Is Now campaign use elements like colors, photography, and typography that are rooted in TXST Next’s design.

Created in collaboration with Counter Brand and Type.

The undergraduate print stream was reimagined with our partners in Admissions. Every university produces an admitted student banner. We made ours distinctive by transforming our banner into an opportunity for shared celebration. Our double-sided banner included a statement on one side for future Bobcats to include their friends, family, teachers, and mentors in their selfies.

The Undergraduate Admissions print stream is laid out together, open to spreads that show off vibrant photography and bright splashes of color.
Four future Bobcats pose with a banner that reads “We’re going #TXSTnext!”

Making TXST NEXT accessible to the entire university community was integral to its success. Partner education remains a significant piece of our brand strategy, so we held The NEXT Conference, a full-day immersive brand training. We also built a robust new brand guidelines website with downloadable brand assets for designers. We also created a full suite of TXST NEXT print and digital templates on Marq (formerly Lucidpress) for those without design experience.

Samples of work done in Marq show how campus partners are using templates to create their own brochures, flyers, and posters.
A staff member reviews the rules and resources on Texas State’s Brand Guidelines website.
A group of University Marketing staff members answer questions during the Ask Us Anything session of The Next Conference.
Next Conference attendees laugh as they listen to a presentation.
147 templates in Marq
A Next Conference attendee reads a headline composed during an interactive writing session.

Going Beyond Stuff We All Get

Nearly every organization produces a mountain of swag for its new brand rollout. However, sustainability is important to our campus community. So, instead of making thousands of T-shirts that will most likely end up in a landfill, we proved our commitment to sustainability.

We partnered with a local screen printer to create Wear NEXT, a branded event on the Quad where we upcycled our students’ old clothes with one of four unique designs. We lived our university’s commitment to sustainability by giving more than 550 items new life within the TXST NEXT campaign.

Students pose with the tie-dyed shirts they got screen-printed with TXST Next designs during the Wear Next event.

We created and distributed limited edition seasonal merch boxes to influencers. Later, we used the boxes as a reward for scavenger hunts that we promoted over Instagram and TikTok. The approach built tremendous buzz for the brand and generated fantastic social media content.

TXST NEXT is making a tangible impact on our university.

Admissions:

  • Largest fall first-year class in school history: 7,590
  • First-Year Applications: Up 10.9%, surpassing 34,000 for the first time
  • Top 10% Applications: Up 15.7%
  • Top 25% Applications: Up 10%

Fundraising:

Since the launch of the NEXT IS NOW capital campaign, fundraising has exceeded $8 million for four consecutive quarters. University Advancement had only reached that level five times in the previous 30 quarters dating back to 2014.

Public Perception:

A recent regional image and awareness survey found:

  • 74% of respondents said TXST NEXT made them more likely to recommend the university.
  • 79% of prospective parents said TXST NEXT made them more likely to recommend/consider Texas State.
  • 64% of those who previously viewed the university unfavorably said TXST NEXT made them more likely to recommend it.

And we’re just getting started. 

 

Awards:

Texas State University’s Office of University Marketing has been named “Higher Education Marketing Team of the Year” by the American Marketing Association (AMA) at its 2022 Symposium for Higher Education.