How Texas A&M Is Using Creator-Led Influence to Become America’s University

Texas A&M has always been synonymous with tradition, pride, and service, but today, it’s aiming for something bigger. 

Under a bold new vision, the university is working to become the national university for America, defined not just by its academic excellence but by its purpose-driven storytelling and cultural presence.

From partnerships with icons like Dude Perfect and Buc-ee’s to 80 million YouTube views reaching audiences far beyond Texas, the school is rewriting what higher education branding looks like.

In this conversation, Ethan Braden, CMO at Texas A&M, discusses how the university is scaling its story across platforms, redefining “national relevance,” and building a future where creators, students, and faculty drive the brand forward.

Q: How are you focusing on growing the Texas A&M brand to be recognized nationally as the university for America?

We are doing two things at once. First, we are telling a well-researched and clearer story about who we are: a major land grant university built for service, contribution, research that matters, and a place where the American Dream is alive, well, and accessible.

Second, we remove friction by putting that story where Americans live their lives. Our goal is not mere awareness. It is mental availability. We want people who may never set foot in Texas, or Kyle Field, to know what Texas A&M stands for and why it matters to the nation.

Everything ladders to that: scale the storytelling, show up in national conversations, and demonstrate, day after day, how Texas A&M is a force for good. It is bold, but it is grounded in deep human truth.

Q: What platforms or channels are performing best for building that national conversation?

YouTube has become our largest engine. This year we crossed 80 million views, up eight thousand percent year over year, with ninety percent of those views occurring outside Texas.

Our LinkedIn is one of the fastest-growing university profiles in the country and now a major channel for faculty expertise, research reputation, and national reach. National media, industry stages, activations, sports partnerships, and streaming platforms extend the footprint.

Our strategy is simple: meet America where its attention already is, especially when it is novel but natural for higher education to be there.

Q: What does “national relevance” look like for a university in 2025? How do you measure that?

National relevance means a university consistently appears in the moments, conversations, and cultural spaces shaping how people experience and connect in the world. It is not a ranking. It is salience, credibility, and contribution.

We measure that through visibility, expert mentions, YouTube and social reach, earned media volume and sentiment, growth of audiences outside Texas, partnership amplification, and the velocity of our stories through national channels. When A&M regularly shows up in media, research, culture, and industry conversations, that is relevance.

Q: What role does creator marketing play in growing the university? What criteria guide your choices?

Creators are today’s storytellers. The right ones are real, trusted, influential, and capable of reaching audiences that universities rarely reach through traditional means.

As we scale in this space, we will select partners carefully. They must reflect our values, expand our national footprint, bring credibility in their domain, and help us tell a story about purpose, innovation, and character in their own way.

If a partnership does not grow mental availability among people who would not otherwise encounter Texas A&M, it’s probably not a great fit. 

Q: Tell me more about your collaborations with Dude Perfect, Stetson, and Buc-ee’s. How do you build those campaigns, and how has America responded?

Every partnership starts with one question: can this help America see something true about Texas A&M? Dude Perfect offers cultural reach and an authentic tie to Aggies who live our core values with incredible spirit and connection. Stetson, Poncho, and others help us express identity and heritage in a way only Texas A&M can.

Buc-ee’s brings ubiquity and joy, grounded in our relationship with Aggie founder and benefactor Arch “Beaver” Applin III. We want to pursue work that feels natural to the partner and unmistakably true to us. The response has been remarkable.

What surprised me most is how deeply former students resonate with seeing their university step confidently and creatively onto the national stage beyond athletics. It signals momentum, courage, and a modern expression of tradition.

Q: Do you think universities underutilize creator partnerships? How can others benefit?

Without question. Higher education often runs the same plays and communicates only to those already listening. Creators let you engage millions who are not.

The key is alignment over gimmickry: pair your mission with a partner who earns trust and attention with authenticity. When done well, the reputation upside is immense.

Universities underestimate this. They think too small. They think too institutionally, and they are very risk-averse. The country is telling and consuming stories through creators now. Universities can join that conversation. We are and will do more.

Q: What role do internal creators (students, faculty, researchers) play in your strategy?

They are, and will increasingly become, central. Students, former students, and faculty are the most credible storytellers we have. We will build systems, tools, and workflows that help them create, publish, and amplify their work with ease.

Our job is to power the engine and elevate their stories. When you unleash the creative and intellectual potential inside a university, the brand becomes exponential. That is where the future sits.

Q: What does the future of university branding look like? Is Texas A&M inventing that playbook?

The future is human, national, digital, and creator-driven. It rewards universities that communicate with the care, cadence, craft, and courage of modern brands.

And yes, Texas A&M is writing a new playbook, one modeled on the works of Mark Ritson, Byron Sharp, and marketing experts. We are proving that a large land grant university can warrant attention, shape culture, and stand for something bigger than itself.

Our efforts in 2026, including our 150th anniversary, will accelerate that transformation and set a new bar for what major public research universities can represent.

Q: If another university CMO said, “We want to build a brand like A&M,” what would you tell them?

Start with deep human truth. Invest in finding, unearthing, and polishing your insights. Know who you are, what you contribute, and why audiences should genuinely care.

Then build a system, and the team, that takes that truth to scale emotively and on the audience’s terms. Brands are built on consistency, creativity, and compound interest.

Put your story in the places where people already spend their time. Be patient. Measure. And dream big to lead nationally. The country needs universities that stand up and step forward with clarity, humility, and conviction.

Q: With public trust in higher education declining, how is Texas A&M working to reestablish confidence in the value of a college degree?

Higher education continues to face a trust and value crisis. Only one in three Americans today believes a college degree is worth the cost. That erosion of confidence is real, and it should concern all of us. But moments like this also create opportunity.

Texas A&M is investing in emotive storytelling, national relevance, and mental availability because we believe a university grounded in service, research, character, and contribution still matters deeply to the country and its people. Our work is to prove that every day. Our aspiration is simple: to be a university America knows, turns to, believes in, trusts, and respects. To be the best university for the nation and beyond.