WKU's Imagewest and Doe-Anderson announce partnership

Top row from left: Doe-Anderson, Imagewest and WKU representatives; WKU President Timothy C. Caboni
Bottom row from left: Todd Spencer; David Vawter and Kara Williams Glenn

An event was held today (April 25) to announce a three-year partnership between WKU’s Imagewest and Doe-Anderson, a Louisville-based independent creative advertising agency. The partnership connects Imagewest and WKU students to Doe-Anderson’s decades of industry experience, current industry best practices and a set of committed Doe-Anderson colleagues who will share their creative input with students.
 
Doe-Anderson, which has been building iconic brands since 1915, is a full-service agency that offers integrated communication services including brand and digital strategy, creative execution, media buying and planning, analytics, digital design and development, content production and public relations.
 
Imagewest began as a small club in 1988 and has since worked with hundreds of local, regional, national and international clients to provide professional services in advertising, public relations and design. When it transitioned to an official University program in 2004, Imagewest became the first student-powered revenue-generating advertising, public relations and design agency in the United States.
 
“Our Imagewest student interns gain valuable experience in advertising, public relations, marketing, user experience and design – graduating as young professionals with marketable skills and robust portfolios,” WKU President Timothy C. Caboni said. “Great student programs are strengthened when supported by great external partners, and I cannot overstate the importance of collaborations like this with Doe-Anderson and the benefits provided to our students and to our University.”
 
“Doe-Anderson is proud to partner with WKU as part of our shared commitment to attract, develop and retain the best talent in our region,” said Todd Spencer, Doe-Anderson Executive Chairman. “More than 10% of our 130 employees are WKU graduates. We are committed to enhancing the already stellar WKU experience, particularly for under-represented populations, to keep the pipeline of talent in Kentucky healthy.”
 
As part of the partnership, David Vawter, Executive Vice Chairman at Doe-Anderson, is serving as a Professional-in-Residence and Co-Director for Imagewest.
 
“I’m bringing my 38 years of experience at agencies all across the world to help prepare our Imagewest interns for entering the ad industry as prepared as they can be,” Vawter said. “We want to provide greater exposure to the day-to-day reality of what advertising and design students will face as they enter the job market so that they are more ready to succeed.”
 
Vawter said his fellow staff at Doe-Anderson long considered the idea of a partnership of this type to find and develop young, diverse talent.
 
“As I transition from being a working Chief Creative Officer to my new role at WKU, it seemed the perfect opportunity to forge an alliance between Kentucky’s longest-established ad agency and the longest-running student-run ad agency in the state,” Vawter added. “I have been very pleasantly surprised at how eager all these young people are to learn – and how excited and optimistic they are about our industry. That is good for all of us on both sides of the partnership.”
 
“Having a professional from Kentucky’s largest advertising agency take an active teaching role at Imagewest is invaluable to our student-interns,” said Kara Williams Glenn, Assistant Professor and Imagewest Co-Director. “Vawter brings extensive industry knowledge that offers students a rare opportunity to see what it takes to thrive in this industry at a top level.”
 
In addition, Doe-Anderson provided students with access to proprietary software for conducting industry research, measuring analytics and developing strategy, and they also created an Imagewest student summer internship program for up to six students.
 
“It’s exciting to see the partnership between Doe-Anderson and Imagewest already starting to take shape,” said Professor Kristina Arnold, Department Chair for the Department of Art & Design. “David’s presence in our classrooms and the Imagewest Agency over this past year has already shown marked results in the quality of our students’ work, in their confidence and in their ability to connect their academic experience to industry and a potential career.”
 
“Experiential learning continues to be a priority within Potter College, and learning opportunities such as these allow students to link lecture-based course materials to industry,” said Dr. Terrance Brown, Dean of Potter College of Arts & Letters. “Our newest partnership with Doe-Anderson and Imagewest, spearheaded by Professor Kristina Arnold, does just that. We are excited about the many untapped possibilities this partnership will create.”  
 
The 2022-2023 Imagewest students include:
   ·  Makenzie Bradley, a senior from Bowling Green, Ky., who is majoring in Advertising
   ·  Michael Bratcher, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., who is majoring in Graphic Design
   ·  Aaliyah Ellis, a senior from Louisville, Ky., who is majoring in Visual Studies
   ·  Tashja Gentry, a senior from Florence, Ky., who is majoring in Visual Studies
   ·  Starr May, a senior from Versailles, Ky., who is majoring in Computer Science and English with a
      concentration in Professional Writing
   ·  Brandon Murphy, a senior from Shepherdsville, Ky., who is majoring in Graphic Design
   ·  Kam Neely, a senior from White House, Tenn., who is majoring in Graphic Design
   ·  Weather Polston, a senior from Sonora, Ky., who is double majoring in Graphic Design and Studio Art
   ·  Devon Price, a senior from Taylorsville, Ky., who is majoring in Strategic Communications
   ·  Cam Pursley, a junior from Alvaton, Ky., who is majoring in Advertising
   ·  Jack Quinn, a senior from Lexington, Ky., who is majoring in Journalism
   ·  Emmerson Sikes, a junior from Bowling Green, Ky., who is majoring in Advertising
   ·  Isaac Teske, a senior from Louisville, Ky., who is majoring in Graphic Design
   ·  Sydney Vest, a senior from Frankfort, Ky., who is majoring in Graphic Design
   ·  Madison Whittle, a senior from Scottsville, Ky., who is majoring in Graphic Design and User Experience
      Design
   ·  Brittany Wiseman, a senior from Taylorsville, Ky., who is majoring in Graphic Design
 
Since its inception, Imagewest has supported more than 500 interns who have won more than 70 prestigious awards for their work. Former interns are employed at some of the most prestigious and visible companies around the globe, including Apple, Google, Peppercomm and Salesforce.
 
Beyond Imagewest’s for-profit work, students also offer their professional expertise pro-bono to organizations that would otherwise be unable to afford these services, such as Mashup Nation in Nashville, the George Washington Carver Center of Bowling Green and the International Center of Kentucky.
 
For more information, contact Kristina Arnold and Kara Williams Glenn at (270) 745-6566.

Posted: April 25, 2023