Digital Spark created “What If?”, a :30 national television spot for Carnegie Mellon University that debuted at the 2023 Tony Awards. The film set the foundation for CMU’s video brand guide and grew into a full-scale ad campaign. It started with one question: what if a university anthem didn’t look like every other university anthem?
The brief
Carnegie Mellon needed a visual asset strong enough to set the standard for its entire video brand. The usual higher education anthem, drone shots of campus and three students under a tree, was exactly what they did not want. The spot had to speak to prospective students by showing possibility instead of inventory. And it had a hard national deadline: the Tony Awards broadcast.
The approach
We brought university leadership two concepts. CMU's president chose "What If?" because it matched the curiosity the university actually selects for. Instead of aerial campus footage, we built intimate scenes of thinking, making, and problem-solving inside the university's walls. Every frame asks a question the way CMU students do.
The result
"What If?" premiered at the 2023 Tony Awards, on deadline. CMU regards it as the strongest visual asset the university has created, and it became the backbone of a full-scale ad campaign. The partnership kept going from there: the concept evolved into "What's Next," expanding into the university's cloud lab and beyond.
- :30national TV spot
- 2023Tony Awards premiere
The work delivered from Digital Spark served as the foundation for a full-scale ad campaign. Digital Spark's ability to capture our institution's essence and translate it into a compelling narrative was unparalleled.
Melanie Schramm, AVP of Marketing, Carnegie Mellon University
Common questions
Who created Carnegie Mellon University's What If commercial?
Digital Spark, a creative production house in Charlotte, NC, developed and produced the :30 national spot with CMU's marketing team. The film debuted during the 2023 Tony Awards broadcast and became the foundation for the university's video brand guide.
What made the What If campaign different from typical university ads?
Instead of drone shots of campus, the spot builds intimate scenes of students thinking, making, and solving problems inside the university's walls. CMU's president chose the concept from two directions Digital Spark presented because it matched the curiosity the university selects for.
What happened after the What If spot aired?
The film became the backbone of a full-scale ad campaign, and CMU regards it as the strongest visual asset the university has created. The partnership continued with a follow-up concept, What's Next, which expanded into more of the university's programs.
