Flying back from OU’s 55-19 loss to the University of Southern California in the 2005 Orange Bowl, Steve Sturges came up with OU’s new slogan, which was later debuted in a promotional video before a 2005 football game:
There’s only one Oklahoma.
OU has since capitalized on this phrase, still using it in OU football promotional videos and in other areas of OU Athletics.
Now, OU hopes to connect the long-time catchphrase of OU Athletics with the rest of the university by making it the cornerstone of the university’s new branding.
Launched Friday, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. said in a press release that, with the new changes OU is seeing such as the move to the Southeastern Conference the new brand will help to elevate the university. OU said Thursday they anticipate this new brand strategy will “enhance” how the university shares its story.
“These milestones not only reveal the direction we’re heading; they illustrate a substantial opportunity to share the life-changing OU story on a bigger, more deliberate scale than we ever have,” Harroz wrote in an email Friday. “Our role as the state’s leading research engine and as a place that has transformed generations of lives cannot be overstated. In fact, it is imperative that – across every sector of our university – we unapologetically share our successes and are united in our understanding of who we are and what we aim to be.”
OU Regent Eric Stevenson, who is chair of the Administrations and Operations Committee for the board, said at an OU Board of Regents meeting in May 2021 OU’s Marketing and Communications team had begun work on the new branding campaign at the time with 160over90, a public relations and marketing agency based out of Pennsylvania, as the lead agency.
During the May 2021 regents meeting, the minutes explained the new brand campaign was to support and further Harroz’s Strategic Plan to “refine the OU brand and leverage the brand successes of OU Athletics and the OU Health enterprise.” The new branding, the minutes read, is anticipated to aid in student recruitment, alumni engagement and the advancement of OU’s reputation across the state and country.
OU spent $2.75 million over three years on this campaign, which is focused on Sturges’ now 18-year-old athletic catchphrase.
“It is essential the University of Oklahoma develop and deploy a brand identity that reflects OU’s distinct value and places it amongst other top-tier public research universities,” the OU Board of Regents agenda read in May 2021.
Sturges, who in 2005 worked for OU doing promotional videos at football games, said the phrase was born out of frustration with having lost the national championship game, but he said it also came from knowing OU’s true passion and love for football is what set the university apart from all others.
“It was one of those things that happened in the heat of a really bad defeat,” Sturges said. “I was sitting there, and I was trying to justify who we were and really look at us as a program rather than just a team in the moment. That’s what came out … I love it. This is kind of my gift to the university.”
Sturges said other universities, like Louisiana State and Missouri, have used similar phrases, like “There’s only one, LSU” and “There’s only one, Mizzou.” He said, however, this phrase only works for Oklahoma.
He said past presidents of the university have previously bounced around the idea of using the phrase as branding for the university, but those ideas never took off.
“I didn't foresee that it was going to be used for this long by the athletic department,” Sturges said. “There was a time at which when former presidents there had talked about adopting it across the university as a whole … I think the university should use it. I'm excited about it. I want OU to get as much mileage out of it as they can.”
Last March, Stevenson updated the brand’s progress to the regents, saying OU already had an “incredible strong” brand, but they want to tell more people about it. He said the goal of the campaign was to recruit more students, and make alumni even more proud of their alma mater.
“We are strategically positioning OU in a way that remains firmly grounded in our crimson roots while keeping our eyes locked on our aspirations,” Harroz wrote. “Emphasizing a consistent message to tell our OU story will, over time, elevate OU’s already strong, globally recognized brand even higher – funneling an array of benefits back into our Strategic Plan.”
The new brand strategy launched in an updated ou.edu homepage as well as in a new brand anthem video, according to an OU spokesperson. The spokesperson said additional pieces of “There’s only one Oklahoma” will be rolled out over the next few weeks and months.
This story was edited by Alexia Aston and Jazz Wolfe.
