Defy Gravity by University of Toronto
SYNOPSIS
Launched in late 2022, the Defy Gravity campaign was created to “support and amplify the important work of U of T’s many faculties, colleges and divisions, and underpins U of T’s new fundraising and alumni engagement campaign”.
The website announces “The new brand will inform a storytelling approach that showcases how U of T brings together top minds in every discipline, background and perspective in one of the world’s most diverse urban regions – and gives them the platform to achieve incredible things”.
The results are pretty staggering. As of June 2023, fundraising has surpassed $1.6 billion and the alumni engagement goal exceeded 50%.
The campaign is ongoing.
CRHEATE REVIEW
You may already be familiar with this campaign as it was launched a while back, but it passed the CRHEATE test – because it stood out and stayed there. Why?
For starters, they refer to this as a campaign. Now, marketers are used to campaigns and universities run recruitment campaigns and such, but it’s not so common to see HEPs create a mission-oriented campaign. And It’s a bold mission captured in a series of initiatives that are dramatically set up on the website …
“How do you want the world to change? Explore groundbreaking U of T projects and join us to transform lives. What matters to you matters to us. With your support, we can defy gravity together.”
Initiatives include – Spark Creativity + Culture. How refreshing.
In Defy Gravity, U of T has created a companion platform for the university brand. I’d be amazed if they hadn’t applied a similarly rigorous process to the project branding because the precision and clarity of the work would certainly suggest so.
The primary goals of the campaign are clearly defined …
to inspire 225,000 alumni to get involved as volunteers, mentors, donors, participants, and leaders and encourage them to contribute their time and talent to the University one million times collectively
And to raise ...
$4 billion for the University’s highest priorities
These bold objectives elevate the purpose of the story and grab attention – painting on a bigger canvas. This is something they’ll use to judge their effectiveness and others will use it to judge them. I love the ambition of this.
Of course, other HE institutions offer a similar purpose, mission and vision, but are they running it as a campaign? I’m not so sure. And have they articulated it so beautifully demonstrating a level of commitment from idea through to execution? I think we know the answer to that.
The campaign film (above) at 1:42 does what you may expect, but it curates a history of challenging the norms elegantly to a female v/o that leads perfectly to the Defy Gravity end frame.
It would have been great to see even higher views generally for the various campaign films, but as there don’t appear to be short edits I guess paid media wasn’t used. I was also surprised not to see a Defy Gravity playlist on the U of T YouTube channel because they seem to be great at this otherwise.
The unexpected opening section of the Livestream may be too zeitgeisty for some, but I love the way they’ve established a cultural touchpoint for the institution in the city and the nation. Presented by student Emily Jin its a symbol of reflection, recognition and renewal which other 200-year-old + institutions would do well to learn from.
We see and hear from a variety of voices that gives a strong sense of community to the piece. Each keynote section is artistically filmed in a panelled hall – modernity in a traditional setting. Inevitably the stream ends up using a variety of formats from contributors – but you can’t have it all.
Overall, the campaign art direction wouldn’t look out of place for some blue-chip commercial brands in fact, I’d suggest it could stand up very well in such an illustrious company. It looks the part.
The copy has been crafted to be broadly precise. By that I mean it speaks to a broad audience in a personal way. It’s accessible, ambitious and emotive. No potential partner is excluded in the way the campaign is pitched. But it’s not dumbed down (always a concern of the academic community when it comes to comms). The writing may not be witty or characterful, but it’s well-considered, brand consistent and makes you feel like you are already part of the mission – even when discovering it from a small village in SW England as I did.
The writers have cleverly identified the connection points and meaningfully set these in a national and global context.
Together, We Can Rise To Any Challenge. We see the unknown as an invitation. Setbacks as motivation to push forward. Join us for the most ambitious campaign in Canadian history.
Powerful stuff.
Together, the words and pictures give a real sense of making the impossible (or the unlikely) possible.
Insightfully, David Estok, U of T’s Vice President of Communications says…
“Having a sterling academic reputation and ranking among the world’s best universities goes a long way, but you also need a strong brand to help convey who you are, what you stand for and the urgency and relevance of your mission. Defy Gravity does that”.
Most universities/faculties/innovation hubs will get to the ‘who you are’ bit, but David and the team have pushed beyond into ‘what you stand for’ and that creates a tension point most engagement requires.
I’m in. They’ve created a story I can see myself in. And if I can, why not thousands of others? U of T has opened its arms to me (some 3,452 miles away) and said ‘Come along’, not just in their words but in their deeds.
Defy Gravity is a brand platform that showcases the university to the world…
“A message of hope, optimism and humanity”.
Only a cynic would sniff at that.
Three take-outs
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Mission-related campaigns are a great way to intensify your story. Some brands have made campaigns a partner to their product. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty instantly comes to mind (a powerful and memorable story). Others, like Patagonia, have effectively put ‘purpose’ at the core of their business. HE providers may feel that they’re all doing a similar thing making differentiation too difficult. I’d suggest differentiation isn’t the challenge, being distinct is. Creatives have a pivotal role in achieving this, alongside the strategists.
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Defy Gravity paints on a bigger canvas than many HE comms, both in its message and execution. They have to work together. There’s no point in a grand gesture if people aren’t going to see it. So think like a broadcaster or filmmaker. If you’ve created an amazing story and have all the proof points to support it – you need to make people aware. It’s going to need cash to reach your audiences across multiple media, but that’s an investment in success, right? It ain’t gonna happen just by WOM.
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You’re fighting to cut through along with everything else, not just other universities. So whether you’re creating a powerful story for a whole university, individual schools, innovation hubs or spin-outs you’ve got to think big and consider everything else as competition.