Tourney ads to showcase Penn's image

Click here to view the first NCAA Commercial.Click here to view the second NCAA Commercial.

Note: The third commercial, which focuses on John Heisman, inventor of the forward pass in football, was not set to be released at the time of publication.

If the Quakers go to the NCAA basketball tournament this March, the "Not Penn State" T-shirt might have to be retired along with senior point guard Ibrahim Jaaber's jersey.

For the first time, Penn has chosen to take advantage of the free ad space given to all tournament participants by the CBS network and will air one of three 30-second spots that it has developed with the advertisement agency Red-Tettemer.

The University came under criticism last March when it failed to air a commercial during last year's NCAA tournament game against Texas, a spot that was worth about $300,000.

"Last year was the first year we had heard much about" the ads, said Vice President of University Communications Lori Doyle. "When I looked at the opportunity, I thought it was too good to pass up."

Each version of the ad features a different influential Penn graduate and a description of their personal connection to the University: John Heisman, inventor of the forward pass in football, Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign correspondent for NBC News and Grammy award-winner John Legend.

"The single idea that we're trying to get across with the ad is that a Penn education inspires ingenuity," Doyle said. "It's an idea that's very simple but, we hope, very powerful."

Yet, obvious as it may have been for the University to take advantage of the free advertising opportunity, Penn's motivations for airing the spot go beyond the desire for exposure.

The University has struggled with its branding, and besides an attempt to shake the "Not Penn State" label, it is also combatting the widespread perception that it is not a part of the Ivy League.

According to a 2002 nationwide survey, only 21 percent of respondents recognized Penn as a member of the Ivy League. Among the same group, 68 percent associated "Penn" with Penn State.

To that effect, two of the three commercials directly link Penn with the Ivy League.

"The idea is to have more people be aware of the status of this institution," said Gauri Kapoor, group account director at Red-Tettemer. "That space wasn't being taken by Penn - it was occupied more by Harvard, Princeton and Yale" universities.

Both Doyle and representatives from Red-Tettemer emphasized that the ad was geared toward an audience that was less familiar with Penn.

"This campaign isn't necessarily targeted for the people applying to the University," said Dani Louchheim, senior account executive at the agency. "Anyone considering Penn will already know what it represents."

But despite the University's intentions, the ads may indeed have the added effect of convincing prospective students to consider a Penn education - especially those who put a premium on a school's prestige.

"Sure, Penn is already on many prospective student's radar screens," College Confidential senior counselor Sally Rubenstone wrote in an e-mail. But it still has "a ways to go to match the more widely acknowledged Ivies."

The University would get another chance to run a commercial if Penn were to beat its first-round opponent.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.