Following President Beverly Warren’s initial ideas for rebranding 18 months ago, Kent State officially launched its new branding campaign with an anthem video last Monday. 

The $2.3 million campaign spreading over three years includes a greater focus on academics, recruiting from South Carolina and a 30-second Superbowl advertisement being run in the Cleveland and Erie market areas. This will be the university’s first time running an ad during the game.

As for the University of Akron, this will be their first year in refusing to run an ad in 16 years.

The news of Kent State running a Superbowl ad, though not nationally, still indicates an energetic effort in the rebranding campaign, entitled “Undeniably Kent State.”

In the two-minute video launching the campaign, “Undeniably Kent State” revealed a plethora of students. Starting with an emphasis on a football game night, featuring April Goss, the video then focuses on numerous activities and areas of study students pursue. Portions from the two-minute video were included in the Superbowl ad.

The rebranding campaign has set a series of strong efforts in motion in changing the way Kent State is perceived by outside audiences. As described by Warren, the purpose of the rebranding is to attract talent to the university through promoting a sense of community and highlighting academics and a sense of purpose.

Actually buying a regional ad during the Superbowl reflects a strong desire to attract new groups of students, and shows that Kent State is taking their rebranding seriously.

These rebranding efforts seem to show a strong desire to create a new name for the university, and will hopefully pay off.