Northern Arizona University

A bold and boundless future

Northern Arizona University leads the way—enriching lives, expanding opportunities, and driving innovation across Arizona and beyond.

Boundless vision, Boundless REsults

THE PROJECT

With the arrival of their new President, Dr. José Luis Cruz Rivera, Northern Arizona University needed to move quickly to develop a brand marketing campaign that would incorporate the President’s strategic priorities around access, diversity, and environmental sustainability.

Supported by inspiring stories of faculty, staff, students and alumni, the new campaign - "Boundless" - captures NAU's bold vision and the steps the university is taking to enhance equity and access for all.

The revitalized brand is distinctive and sustainable, but the process by which we got there was as important. Red Cactus conducted 13 focus groups with over 100 participants, including feedback from current and prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members, and the Arizona Board of Regents staff. In the end, it was their thoughtful and constructive feedback that helped us to choose this concept (from three different options we presented) and make it even more authentic and memorable.

What We Did

Brand Refresh

Creative Concepting

Competitor Review

Qualitative Research

Advertising

Billboards

Digital Displays

Print Posters

Train and Bus Wraps

Sports Sponsorship

Radio Commercials

Brand Guidelines

Brand Workshops

Brand Microsite

Awareness and Ad Recall Survey

Prospective Student Survey

Want to learn more about our research and branding process?

tHE iMPACT

Fall 2022 welcomed NAU's largest ever class of full-time first-year students - including the largest number of Freshmen from the state of Arizona - in NAU's 123-year history.

The campaign has also won over a dozen industry awards including eight Educational Advertising Awards, five American Advertising Awards, three Platinum Hermes Creative Awards, and five Platinum MARCOM Awards.

Beatrice and her team have been amazing to work with - both creative and strategic in their approach, and responsive and client-centric. She worked seamlessly with my team and did an exemplary job of presenting the concepts. We have thoroughly enjoyed our experience working with Red Cactus.

Harlan Teller, Chief Marketing Officer

Airport Digital displays

Large scale window displays

Billboards Throughout Arizona

On Campus Bus Shelter Posters

Phoenix Suns Advertising

Guidelines for a boundless brand

Remarkable Element: Impact

By seamlessly aligning NAU’s core values with real, human-centered stories, Boundless transcends being just a marketing campaign. It became a catalyst for record-breaking student enrollment, deeper community connection, and national recognition.

Reaching Statewide and Online Learners

Everywhere You Want to Learn

Building on the success of our Boundless campaign, we expanded our reach to engage statewide and online learners—a diverse and growing audience critical to NAU’s mission. Through targeted messaging and strategic media placements, we promoted statewide and online programs via airport digital displays, billboards, and radio commercials. To drive measurable results, we also helped to launch a digital marketing campaign with clear calls-to-action and conversion-focused metrics. By segmenting key audiences and crafting tailored messaging, we ensured the Boundless story resonated with non-traditional students while maintaining a strong and consistent institutional brand identity.

Adult and Online Google Ads

From the very beginning, the campus community felt like Red Cactus’ concepts and executions were perfectly “us.” Red Cactus is as adept at keeping us on track with projects as they are uncovering new strategic opportunities to make us better and better.

Jessica Lawless, Director of Brand Strategy