Strategic Brand Management
We work to strategically steward, elevate and monetize one of our university's most valuable assets: the NC State brand.
A Stronger Brand, Built Together
At NC State University, we’ve built our reputation on generations of delivering economic, societal and intellectual prosperity. And our brand’s momentum and impact are just beginning to take hold.
The Office of Strategic Brand Management seeks to capitalize on our rising brand awareness to help the university accomplish its goals and achieve its potential. The results? Improved rankings, bright students and faculty, strong partnerships and proud alumni.
Our team provides leadership and guidance in managing existing university business sponsorships, developing new business relationships, internal and external brand management, and trademark management and licensing. We’re responsible for managing approved uses of any NC State logo, image or copy used by or in conjunction with any university business, nonprofit or agency partner. And we evaluate requests to film on NC State’s campus.
Trademark Licensing
Brand Snapshot
The 2023-24 NC State Office of Strategic Brand Management Brand Snapshot is our annual report directed primarily at our current/prospective licensees, retailers, cobrand and collab partners, and sponsors, but also tells stories of successful key performance indicators, initiatives, and strategies that a broader group of our internal and external constituents may find interesting. Please note, because retail/licensing reporting and metrics lag, a portion of the included financial data is from FY23.
This marked the fifth fiscal/academic year that the Office of Strategic Brand Management has been part of University Communications and Marketing. Our Brand Snapshot reflects the steadily improving (and record-breaking) results in our key performance areas, our contributions to UCOMM and the University, and our elevation, protection, and monetization of the NC State Brand. As noted on the back cover, our Office was awarded the collegiate licensing industry’s top annual honor (ICLA Synergy Award) in recognition of our efforts/results.
We are grateful for the support of our entire Wolfpack who helped contribute to the $1.5M in student scholarships we were able to provide this year in the areas of need, merit, athletics, and study abroad. Go Pack!
Staff
Christopher Boyer
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Brand Management
chris_boyer@ncsu.edu
Chris leads a coordinated effort to elevate NC State’s brand awareness and affinity, enhance university partnerships, and improve revenue-generation to support the institution’s strategic goals.
Gregg Zarnstorff
Director of Trademarks and Brand Protection
gdzarnst@ncsu.edu
Gregg provides guidance and support to facilitate use of NC State trademarks in accordance with pertinent policies, rules and regulations.
Sonni Minton
Assistant Director of Trademarks Licensing and Brand Protection
sdminton@ncsu.edu
Sonni is responsible for trademark and licensing approvals and assists in managing the promotional activities of the trademark licensing program.
Erin McCrary
Brand Management Associate
emccrar@ncsu.edu
Erin manages day-to-day operations for the Office of Strategic Brand Management and assists in the coordination of special programs and projects.