2024 Impact Report
In late 2023, United States Air Force General (Ret.) Mark A. Welsh III, then interim president of Texas A&M University, set key priorities to advance the university. Among them was a call for Texas A&M to be a constant in the national conversation to ensure those beyond Texas understand and feel the “Spirit of Aggieland.” By showcasing our leadership in areas that are directly impacting outcomes to build a brighter, safer world, we are helping others see Texas A&M the way Aggies everywhere already do. In 2024, the Division of Marketing and Communications made tremendous strides to begin telling this incredible story.
Values Campaign
In summer 2024, Texas A&M’s Division of Marketing and Communications launched the Values Campaign, which focused on using the Aggie Core Values of Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect and Selfless Service to connect the university’s communications and marketing efforts. From a new commercial to national media recognition to a focus on YouTube, Texas A&M planted a stake in the ground over the last year.
Last year, Texas A&M became the most visible and recognized university in Texas and No. 6 among all U.S. public universities, a recognition from a third-party analysis that weighs data compiled from news mentions, level of public interest, size of online footprint, social media followers, visits to the university’s main website and video views (American Caldwell GUV ranking).
Staying in the national conversation will require focus, to identify and prioritize those things that will draw national attention. It will require tremendous marketing and communications expertise and the resources needed to support that effort.”
What Texas A&M Stands For
The launch of the Values Campaign included a new commercial, “What Texas A&M Stands For,” showcasing our faculty, staff, students, student-athletes, campus locations and more. In partnership with Texas Filmworks, this asset was developed with the national audience in mind — for those unaware of Texas A&M or in need of a re-introduction — yet grounded in the Aggie Core Values to resonate with our current and former students, donors and those who bring their talent and expertise here to develop the next generation of leaders.
Airing on multiple platforms throughout the Aggie football season, our university’s new commercial became the most-watched higher-ed video on YouTube in 2024.
Social Media
Enhancing Our ReachTexas A&M ranked No. 1 for total engagement on social media in 2024 — both individually and when combining engagement across all channels — versus all benchmarked peers. With a heightened focus on LinkedIn, which has a higher concentration of professionals and decision-makers than Facebook, Instagram or X, Texas A&M gained 242,000 new followers (+39%) in 2024 on the platform.
Capturing Attention on YouTube
In 2024, viewers spent over 683,000 hours watching content on Texas A&M University’s YouTube channel
Engaging Nationwide
Views of Texas A&M video content on YouTube — the world’s No. 1 video platform — grew exponentially from just 311,000 in 2023 to 29.9 million in 2024, a 9,360% increase.
What Texas A&M Stands For
2024 Commercial20,608,700 views
We Stand With Those Who Serve
Honoring Veterans Through Action2,501,534 views
Texas A&M Stands For Our Veterans at NASCAR
Texas A&M’s NASCAR Partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing Results1,808,274 views
Finding America’s Missing Soldiers
Historian Tristan Krause1,570,287 views
BUILD’s Legacy Of Service And Hope
Honoring Jerry Ebanks1,206,324 views
Mark A. Welsh III: Leadership Beyond Self
Texas A&M’s 27th President1,119,747 views
Earned Media
In 2024, Texas A&M led national conversations, elevating faculty expertise in national media with purpose and watching for trends where Texas A&M experts can provide understandable and relatable insight. We became one of only a few universities — including the only one in Texas and just one of two in the Southeastern Conference — to join the Associated Press’ Campus Insights video program, where Texas A&M experts and their research are featured in news coverage around the nation.
Featured in
Appearances on TV Broadcasts Nationwide
Lifestyle Changes Vs. New Year’s Resolutions
Michelle Bettin239 placements – Austin, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C.
Turkey Prices at Thanksgiving
David Anderson425 placements – Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York City, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Washington, D.C.
Pets and Safe Halloween
Lori Teller185 placements – Austin, Lafayette (Indiana), Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington, D.C.
Standing Desks For Schoolkids
Mark Benden281 placements – Boston, Grand Rapids (Michigan), Indianapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C.
Pumpkin Spice Craze
Marco Palma245 placements – St. Louis, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C.
Powell Economic Speech
Jill Cetina186 placements – Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, Sacramento, San Francisco
Bringing the Brand to New Audiences
Unique partnerships and appearances
Introducing Texas A&M to new audiences brings unique opportunities and places to do so. In 2024, we helped tell the story of our university’s mission through three novel activations across the U.S.: NASCAR, Dude Perfect and the Indy Classic. Each had a specific audience in mind, directly tying to three distinct areas of impact: veteran support, student interest and overall brand awareness outside of Texas.
The partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing featured Texas A&M-sponsored cars in two of the season’s final NASCAR Cup Series races. This activation alone brought the Texas A&M story to 5.2 million broadcast viewers and more than 200,000 in-person attendees, garnered 254 media mentions and added around 5,700 new social media followers to Texas A&M.
In Partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing
Looking Ahead
Experiential Marketing
More novel brand activations and new campaigns are underway to highlight the impactful research — and the researchers — at Texas A&M.
Brand Platform
A new brand platform is being readied to launch universitywide in April 2025, built on market research involving thousands of Aggies’ input and by a brand council composed of lead marketing and communications individuals from all corners of the university.
Web Design System
Aggie UX, Texas A&M’s brand-compliant, accessible and user-focused web design system, recently launched and already has 66 sites using the framework, with 31 in production. Based on the interest shared by the university marketing and communications teams, this is expected to grow exponentially over the next year.
I’m really proud of this team and the focus they have placed on enchanting the millions who have yet to embrace the Spirit of Aggieland with the incredible story and stories of Texas A&M University. And we’re just getting started.”