Strategic Brand Management
We work to strategically steward, elevate, protect 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.
News and Updates More Stories
Nov 15, 2023
NC State Announces Licensed Wine Celebrating Reynolds Coliseum
NC State University announced today a new officially licensed wine as part of the Hallowed Places Collection, which launched in 2021. The third offering in the limited-edition series features Reynolds Coliseum, one of the university’s 10 Hallowed Places.
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Mar 28, 2023
NC State Announces 321 Coffee Partnership
NC State University announced today the start of a new partnership with alumni-owned and -operated 321 Coffee to produce an officially licensed co-branded coffee. The “Greater Good” blend will be available for purchase directly from 321 Coffee beginning on April 11. The medium roast coffee features NC State branding and barista Sam, one of 321’s first employees and a lifelong Wolfpack fan.
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2023 OSBM Brand Snapshot
The 2022-23 Office of Strategic Brand Management Brand Snapshot is our biannual report directed primarily at current/prospective NC State licensees, retailers, cobrand and collab partners, and sponsors, but also tells stories of successful University and OSBM key performance indicators, initiatives and strategies that a broader group of our internal and external constituents may find interesting.
Please note, because some of the retail/licensing reporting lags, much of the included financial data is from FY22.
FY23 marked the fourth fiscal/academic year that the Office of Strategic Brand Management has been a self-support unit of University Communications and Marketing. Our Brand Snapshot and the included metrics show continued growth in our contributions to the University Mission, as well as our elevation, protection, and monetization of the NC State Brand. Still faced with lingering impacts of the pandemic as well as national retail headwinds, we just recorded our second consecutive record-breaking year in revenue generation, which benefits NC State student scholarships, as well as a continuation of beneficial and strategic brand partnerships and collaborations.
Staff
Christopher Boyer
Assistant Vice Chancellor, 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, Strategic Brand Management
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, Strategic Brand Management
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
Project Coordinator, Strategic Brand Management
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.