Fear the Turtle

The University of Maryland is launching its revamped Fear the Turtle campaign this fall, and I’m a HUGE fan of it. All the marketing materials feature the red shell logo and what I think is some pretty catchy copy. The push for this campaign is to declare to world who the University of Maryland is, and what we represent. I love the structure of the language. Short and direct. It works perfectly because it hooks the audience. Just to give you a little taste ...

Here, great gets greater. Theory becomes practice. Thinking turns into doing. Power becomes action. We’re not satisfied with beginnings. We need to set things in motion. Start movements. Shift behavior. Break new ground. Step forward. Challenge convention. Jump in. Stir the pot. See things others miss. Enter through different doors. Embrace impossible. Raise expectations. Build communities. Move boundaries.

We are provocateurs. Perfectionists. Entrepreneurs. Curious. Empathetic. Active. And hungry. Our path will be ongoing and will not be summed up by a single slogan. We have a mighty spirit inside that will not be denied.

We are no longer 'on the path' to excellence. We're there. And we need to start thinking and talking in that way. It's okay to brag. We've earned it.

Let us stand together and chart our course. Let us capture imaginations. Allow the world to see our genius, our talent, our heritage, our future. We are the University of Maryland. Fear the Turtle.