Skip to content
They said it couldn’t be done. Skeptics believed TCU was the unlikeliest football team to win a CFP berth. They started the season unranked. Irrelevant. The ultimate underfrog.
But Horned Frogs, if nothing else, are resilient by nature. Odd desert-loving creatures with self-protective mechanisms that surprise and shock predators when challenged.
This pretty much sums it up:
With a CFP spot achieved, the Too Cold University started looking toward the desert to continue their fight for the National Championship and affirm their presence on a national stage typically dominated by blue bloods. And what did they need along the way?
Marketing. Lots of marketing.
When TCU Won, We Really Scored.
Like many local businesses in Fort Worth, we’ve been longtime supporters of the Horned Frogs. Our relationship with TCU Marketing goes back to 2001. In the 22 years we’ve worked together, we’ve produced branding campaigns, web and software development, student engagement marketing, and other various marketing campaigns that all bleed purple—Pantone 268 PMS C to be exact.
TCU celebrated its 150th anniversary this last year, which is huge! Due to the importance of this milestone and the large marketing campaign accompanying it, we assisted the internal team in meeting their deadlines and creating outstanding work.
Our ongoing excellent customer relationship readied us for when the big call came.
The Call Was Made.
December 4, 2022, was a great day in TCU Football history. With the CFB Playoff clinched, the Frogs were bound for the desert.
Riff Ramming It All Over the Country
With deadlines looming, our teams set tirelessly out to work. However, there was only a week between the Fiesta Bowl and the National Championship. This required us to do a hefty amount of pre-work to set up for a potential win at the semi-finals. Once they sealed the Fiesta Bowl win, we had about 3-4 days to get everything ready to go out for the National Championship game. To put this timeline in perspective, imagine you’re down 20-17 in the fourth quarter with 13 seconds left on the clock. You need to throw a Hail Mary pass to win, no room for mistakes.
Each campaign needed to build off the momentum of the TCU Football team and link that with TCU’s history as a top national university. With that in mind, TCU and Ardent developed campaigns specific for each game location that borrowed themes from the local area such as “Horned Frogs Thrive in the Desert” and “Here for a Hollywood Ending.”
The Ardent and TCU team worked together under extremely tight turnarounds to build a total of four campaigns across various media outlets.
The Work
Fiesta Bowl Campaign
PRINT & DIGITAL:
Fiesta Bowl Campaign
ANIMATION:
CFP Championship Campaign
PRINT & DIGITAL:
CFP Championship Campaign
ANIMATION:
Thank You Campaign
DIGITAL:
Thank You Campaign
ANIMATION:
Luckily, we have an amazing team who worked tirelessly to get everything submitted by our deadline. After a few late nights and extra cups of espresso, It was extraordinary to see what our team pulled off.
ELISE – Account Manager + Production Manager
PAUL – Creative Director + Designer – Digital & Animation
COREY – Art Director + Designer – Print & Animation
AMBER – Designer – Digital Campaigns
OLIVIA – Designer – Digital & Animation
ANNA – Art Director + Production Manager + Designer – Print & Digital
All Eyes On Us
When it comes to battles between a powerhouse team and an underdog, or underfrog in this case, the underdog is typically the center of attention. Given this was a national campaign, you can bet that all eyes were on TCU, and good thing we handle pressure well. We met our deadlines, and our deliverables were shown to people all over the country. We’re talking millions of people. The proof? Here it is.
Our favorite reactions.
INSIGHTS:
INSIGHTS:
INSIGHTS:
Not to brag or anything, but our work was also featured in several major airports including Phoenix Sky Harbor, LAX, and DFW.
The coolest thing about this is that all this happened during the holiday season, aka the busiest travel time of the year. We’re talking about millions of people witnessing our ads. Fun fact, at DFW alone, 4.1 million passengers walked through its airport over the 20-day holiday period from December 15, 2022, through January 3, 2023.
We Made Quite An Impression
The numbers are in … and we’re pretty impressed by them. The national advertising we produced for two different campaigns created a startling number of impressions for an ROI that can’t be ignored. Take a look for yourself:
FIESTA BOWL PLAYOFF GAME:
CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Thank You, Frog Family.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to TCU for giving us the opportunity to take part in such a historic football season. We never imagined it would end in such a historical way, and we couldn’t be more grateful for being given the opportunity to take part in it. Go Horned Frogs!
Just Like TCU, We Specialize in Education.
As a full-service marketing agency, we’ve produced hundreds of campaigns for various universities and private K-12 schools. Private and higher education is just one of the niche areas we know well:
Bethesda Christian School
A long-term relationship allowed for us to be top of mind when Bethesda Christian School was ready to refresh their brand and produce other marketing campaign materials for its upcoming capital campaign. Overall assets produced included a modernized logo design, a mascot creation, a redesigned website with content strategy, and capital campaign print collateral.
Covenant Christian Academy
Covenant Christian Academy is a classical Christian private school in the DFW area. They partnered with us to create a new image campaign that showed how a Covenant Christian education is a unique, life-altering experience for faith-first families. In fact, you could say their educational approach is “uncommon” in how the fundamental values of faith and love for God guide everything they do. Drawing from this unique differentiator, the “Un-” campaign was created to showcase the spirit of their school and boost them to top-of-mind for parents shopping for a private Christian education.
Amid a sea of bland school messaging, the Un- campaign stood out proudly with the use of Covenant’s school colors—bold orange on a backdrop of blue. We ran multiple digital marketing campaigns for the school’s open houses and the athletics department utilizing the new branding strategy. To further capture the attention of potential families, we also directed and produced videos and photoshoots that simply told the story of Covenant Christian Academy—how being uncommon is actually excellent in a sea of sameness.
To see the final result of this campaign, visit here.
Grace Preparatory Academy
We’ve been proud to partner with Grace Preparatory Academy in nearly every area of their brand. Initially, this private Christian academy in Arlington, Texas, came to us for a brand refresh. We were also tasked with creating a lion image to represent their school mascot.
Our design team went to work, creating a fearless new face for the GPA Lions while restyling their logo and seal. We outlined comprehensive brand standards to guide the use of their colors, fonts, and logo, increasing cohesiveness across their facilities and their print and digital communication. Our efforts culminated in a new website that highlighted their fresh, elevated look.
Our partnership has continued with campaign-based projects. The Ardent team designed brochures, invitations, giving cards, and digital marketing assets (and even directed photoshoots) to support multiple campaigns such as their G3 development campaign and their annual North Texas Giving Day initiative. After wrapping up their most recent capital campaign, Ardent stepped in to design a new gym floor as well as the growing “Wall of Champions.”
View the campaign we produced for Grace Prep here.
Howard Payne University
A Christian liberal arts institution, Howard Payne University prides itself on fostering a close community where personal connection is valued. Seeking a revised website that was both beautiful and functional, we helped our client achieve both goals. We redesigned the entire website to help accurately tell the story of Howard Payne University with user-friendly functionality. SEO consulting was also a big part of the process, ensuring that each page within the site was constructed to optimize search results. This project also currently includes ongoing site maintenance.
Visit their new website here.
TCU Neeley Executive Education
Presently, we create social media ad campaigns with weekly posts for TCU Neeley Executive Education. Our client boasts a #1 rated faculty and a variety of in-person and virtual programming aimed to serve the busy executive or professional with lifelong learning. Our social media team ensures each message is crafted with pinpoint accuracy and timed just right to reach the intended target persona. The result? We’re helping get the word out that learning never stops.
Want National Championship-Level Marketing? We’re Your Team.
If you want National Championship-level marketing, this is the team you’ll want in your corner. Beyond creating show-stopping design and content, our incredible customer service will really help your team push your project across the line. For information about our full suite of marketing services, and how we may be able to help you expand your business, reach out to us today.
