Ohio State is looking to change its image with a new slogan – “Do Something Big.”
Although the slogan has not been formally accepted, it is currently in the developing stage and being tested in several focus groups.
The goal of “Do Something Big” is to change OSU’s reputation by focusing on faculty scholarship and research, which Lee Tashjian, vice president of university relations, said is a distinguishing quality of OSU, and to promote academic excellence.
“We are living with an outdated image of OSU,” Tashjian said.
Studies done on OSU’s reputation show that most people associate OSU with athletics, a large bureaucracy and average academics, Tashjian said. Focus groups have been used to test this thinking and have reported similar results.
“We need to align OSU’s reputation with reality,” Tashjian said.
“Today’s reality is that OSU is ranked 20 among public universities, which is higher than any other public school in Ohio, there has been an improvement in the academic quality of incoming classes, and we have exceptional faculty with national and world recognition in their fields,” Tashjian said.
Tashjian said the core message behind the proposed slogan is, “if you aspire to make a difference, this university has the faculty, the researchers and the resources to make it happen.”
OSU has spent $273,000 developing and testing this slogan with HMS Partners, the largest ad agency in Ohio. The money has been used to fund focus groups and a RFP consultant.
“You need three things to change a reputation,” Tashjian said. “You need a consistent core message, you need to be able to deliver the message to a constituencies, and you need to have frequency.”
Tashjian thinks this slogan has all three components.
David Hoover, senior director of marketing and communications, said they plan to implement the new slogan in several ways.
Posters displaying examples of academic achievement along with the slogan will be displayed in different colleges on OSU’s campus.
For example, a poster in the physics department might read: “Einstein, Curie, You?” and along the bottom, “Do Something Big.”
Outstanding faculty, students and other academic achievements will be highlighted during football games and the message behind “Do Something Big” will be promoted during the President’s Convocation, held the first week of fall classes.
The purpose is to encourage current and new students to take advantage of the resources a big school like OSU offers them, and to use them to make a difference.
The “Something Big” is meant to be something big personally, such as reaching your goals of making a difference.
Tashjian and Hoover want people to be aware of the academic resources available at OSU.
“Do Something Big” is similar to Bowling Green State University’s slogan which is “Get the B!G Picture.”
“It’s a wonderful slogan,” said Fred Connor, marketing manager at BGSU. “Each school tries to identify and differentiate themselves. Sometimes it creates a problem when using similar terminology, but I doubt there will be any confusion among the two slogans.”
“Do Something Big” has not yet officially become OSU’s new slogan. Tashjian said a final decision will be made in the next few weeks and the slogan will be revealed in the fall.
