UH Releases 2016-17 National Commercial: ‘This Is Innovation’

Spot Produced In-House, Features UH Band and Students

The University of Houston has released its 2016-17 national commercial, “This Is Innovation,” prominently featuring members of The Spirit of Houston marching band drum line and UH students in action. The commercial was produced in-house by the Division of Marketing, Communication and Media Relations and builds on the University’s “Powerhouse” marketing campaign, which launched in 2014. 

“This Is Innovation” was produced around a music track written specifically for the project by UH alum and Spirit of Houston Band assistant director Jamey Kollar. The beat of the percussionists drives the visuals, which features student-athletes in competition, nursing students in a clinical lab, architecture students welding a project in the Keeland Design Center and others getting hands-on training in labs in the Texas Center for Superconductivity, the College of Pharmacy and the Virtual Reality Clinical Research Lab.

The commercial is set to the backdrop of Houston. The band scenes were filmed at Houston’s premier greenbelt in Eleanor Tinsely Park with the downtown skyline in the background. 

“Producing a commercial that is seen on a national stage is a big endeavor,” said Lisa Holdeman, interim assistant vice president for marketing, communication and media relations. “It is an undertaking few universities do each year, and even fewer produce these spots completely in-house. With this commercial, we wanted to convey the energy that we feel here on campus. We want viewers to see the innovation that is happening each day at the University of Houston.”

The commercial will debut nationally Saturday (Sept. 3), during the 11 a.m. Houston Cougar football opener on the ABC network (KTRK Channel 13 in Houston). The No. 13 ranked Cougars will face No. 3 Oklahoma. The spot will air during each televised UH football game, as well as during regional and national telecasts featuring the UH athletics teams throughout the 2016-17 academic year.