275 Hoofprints Makes A PIVOT PIVOT The Department of Communication rebrands their advertising agency. The Department of Communication rebooted their advertising agency in fal l 2020. The agency was original ly named Hoofprints by former Assistant Professor Emeritus Steve Shaner in the fall of 2018. On Oct. 5, 2020, it was approved for a rebrand by Department Chair Laurie Diles and Associate Professor of Communication Jim Miller. It was renamed Pivot Creative Studio (Pivot) and became a useful tool for the Harding community. The agency extended their services with a mission to provide organizations with fresh strategies and innovative perspectives that assist clients in reaching their branding goals. Pivot was created to give Communication students real-life experience working with clients. They provided graphic design, photography, video production, branding, media distribution, print advertising and broadcast advertising. The studio also extended their services to Searcy, Little Rock and other surrounding Arkansas cities and companies. Pivot was run through a senior IntegratedMarketing Communications capstone class that was a part of an Advertising Campaigns course. At the start of its creation, Shaner hand-picked the students he felt would be an asset to the agency, Assistant Professor of Communication Lori Sloan said. They had some students stay involved in the agency the following year for the transition into a new advisor. “We hope to keep the continuity by utilizing any current students in Hoofprints and giving them an opportunity to still work in the agency in the spring for more experience, but not for course credit,” Sloan said. Their goal for the future was to continue the work Shaner began. “We came together as a group and decided that our hope is to make Hoofprints more universal so that it can continue to be something for future Harding students for years and years to come,” senior advertising major Vaughn Kypke said. With four students enrolled in fall 2020, there was an even distribution of strategy building and creative roles. The students involved in Pivot said they were excited to build on the agency Shaner began, and they hoped to make it even more well-known while retaining valuable real-life experience. “It is a unique opportunity for all of us to be able to sit with our professor and just brainstorm for two and a half hours about our projects,” senior advertising major Jessica Woessner said. “For colleges our size and bigger, there are not very many groups where you can have your opinion or your voice actually make such a big change, and I think that is very cool.” story by Britty Gist
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