They are among UCLA's biggest game-changers, American icons who were grounded in the real world but had a genius for envisioning a better future and took us all there.

 

Now the stories of how they looked beyond conventional thinking, stood up against naysayers and broke barriers in the arts, sciences, athletics and other areas of human endeavor are the basis for a new national ad campaign that highlights the qualities that set UCLA apart from other universities.

 

"For nearly a century, UCLA has been home to the dreamers. People come to these sun-drenched grounds not to be famous but to be great," says a new UCLA website that was created as part of the campaign. "They become innovators and influencers. Groundbreakers and nation builders. The ones who change the game, the hearts and minds, and the world. Welcome to the Class of Optimists."

 

The campaign — which launched Saturday, Feb. 11, with a 30-second television spot that aired during the men's basketball game against UC Berkeley — is essential to compete with other prestigious universities, all of whom advertise in major media as part of their marketing strategy, officials said. (Like other universities, UCLA receives TV and radio air time for free through the NCAA and pays only for the cost of producing the ads.)

 

"If we are to remain a top-tier destination for students and faculty, then we cannot afford to be left out of that conversation," Vice Chancellor of External Affairs Rhea Turteltaub said in a note to campus leaders. "UCLA is competing aggressively for visibility, public support and the best students and faculty from California and the world. This campaign is one critical tool for telling our story."

 

Although there are many ways for colleges and universities to get their messages out to the general public and potential donors, advertising remains the best method to reach the largest number of people in the most cost-effective way, Turteltaub explained. The objective is to establish who you are, articulate your values and express what makes you unique.

 

And the most powerful way to make that case is to celebrate the optimism and expectation generated on campus that barriers can fall, as demonstrated by the lives of 12 Bruin visionaries:  Jackie Robinson, Ralph Bunche, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Agnes de Mille, James Dean, Francis Ford Coppola, James Franco, astronaut Anna Lee Fisher, Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf, composer James Horner, and Greg Ginn, a leader of the punk rock movement.

 

Joining this stellar list of alumni in what's being called the "Class of Optimists" is Coach John Wooden, "whose simple pyramid became a blueprint for living a fulfilling life," Turteltaub said.

 

To create the ad campaign, a team from University Communications and Public Outreach has been working with a branding agency since last summer.

 

The new campaign will reach audiences nationwide through television, radio and print outlets, as well as the website. The TV spot will be seen Wednesday, Feb. 15, during the UCLA vs. USC game airing on Prime Ticket, and it will air nationally Saturday, Feb. 18, on CBS during UCLA's basketball game against St. John's. Music for the television spots was composed by alumnus and two-time Academy Award–winning composer Horner, whose score for the film "Titanic" remains the best-selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time. Subsequent radio commercials will be scheduled during NCAA games and local news broadcasts.

 

On Sunday, Feb. 12, the first print ads began running. In a half-page ad that appeared in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, UCLA alumnus Jackie Robinson, the first man to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball, is shown in a photograph sliding into base, producing a cloud of dust.

 

"When baseball wouldn't let him in, he refused to be out," the ad reads. "What barrier will you break today?"

 

Another print ad will follow in the Chronicle of Higher Education later this month.

 

To reach online audiences, the UCLA Optimists website features longer version of the TV spot, as well as radio ads and photos of the 12 individuals. Click on each photo and a vignette that explains the achievements of each pops up.

 

Responses have already started coming in the form of favorable shout-outs from a UCLA fan page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/uclabruins) and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23optimists). A feature piece on the ad campaign was written by the New York Times reporter who covers advertising and appeared in the newspaper on Monday.

 

"This campaign conveys the essence of what it means to be a Bruin, why that is such a special thing to be, and, most importantly, why UCLA matters in people's lives," Turteltaub said.