For nearly 50 years, fourth year Miami University design students have had a unique opportunity to work collaboratively with marketing majors on real-world client projects with well established brands, developing advertising strategies for any number of products. 

In the classroom, this students divide into three competitive teams who work in isolation from each other on potential solutions to the client charge. They spend the semester developing campaign solutions that include market research, analysis, strategy development, and brand implementation. Deliverables range from print to digital to experiential design solutions. At the end of the semester, the teams present their ideas and research to client representatives, who then vote on which team best resolved the problem in a potentially enactable manner.

Nestlé toll house

Nestlé sought to increase sales of their Toll House chocolate chips outside of the traditional Thanksgiving/Christmas spike sales season. Teams developed advertising strategies that targeted younger, more diverse audiences. This studio was co-taught with Mike McCarthy of Miami University's Farmer School of Business and Peg Faimon of Miami's Graphic Design program.

p&g pantene

To promote their charitable efforts, Pantene challenged the Highwire teams to develop a social media event campaign aimed at young college women. The goal? To inspire and encourage them to donate their cut hair to be used in the creation of wigs which would then be donated by P&G to cancer charities across the country. This studio was co-taught with Tim Greenlee of Miami University's Farmer School of Business.

schneider electric

In 2012, Highwire students traveled to London to meet with Schneider electric on a campaign designed to familiarize US markets with the Schneider name as they launched a new series of consumer-based products aimed at increasing energy efficiency. This studio was co-taught with Mike McCarthy of Miami University's Farmer School of Business.

Pringles

In an effort to bring the Pringles brand into the social media market, P&G representatives challenged students to develop a social media campaign, complete with apps and games, that would increase and revitalize the brand presence overall. This studio was co-taught with Tim Greenlee of Miami University's Farmer School of Business and Glenn Platt of Miami's Armstrong Interactive Media Studies program.