New student-run advertising agency opens in Sing Tao Center
Journalism professor Chuck Borghese, a veteran in the industry with decades of experience, will manage the student teams on their work with real-life clients.
Henry Gorsuch, '26 | October 22, 2024
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Advertising is like a treasure hunt. You start out with the needs of your client, gather clues about what people love and find the perfect way to grab their attention. It’s a mix of strategy and creativity, and if you do it right you create satisfying results with a lasting impact.
Journalism students at Ohio University get to embark on this hunt with a new experiential learning opportunity: a student-run advertising agency located in the recently renovated Sing Tao building on South Court Street. Chuck Borghese is its managing director, and he’s bringing decades of experience with him.
“I like to say that the agency will ask the big questions,” Borghese said. “What makes this brand tick? How do we solve an issue that a brand is having?"
Chuck Borghese, professor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and managing director of the student-run ad agency.
The agency is named NEXT‽, and it's a name as bold as its mission. The interrobang at the end—a combination of a question mark and exclamation point—captures the spirit of curiosity and excitement driving the agency.
“We settled on the name NEXT‽ because it depicts being at the cutting edge of where the business of marketing communication is going; and the fact that our students are truly the future and what’s ‘next’ in our business,” Borghese said.
Real deadlines, real experience
There used to be a student-run agency called 1804 Communications which acted as a sister organization to the Scripps Public Relations Student Society of America (Scripps PRSSA). While it did work for real clients, it acted merely as a club and only met once a week. The new student agency counts for class credit and will be on a more professional scale; it will have real deadlines, pressures and needs coming from its clients.
The agency will work with four accounts: Captain D’s Seafood, a chain of quick-service restaurants spanning several states; Beyond Pulse, a company specializing in a wearable diagnostic fitness tool for athletes; Rural Action, a local nonprofit organization whose mission is to uplift Appalachian communities; and Cairn Recovery Resources LLC, an addiction treatment center in Zanesville focused on counseling and mental health treatment.
Students will be split into two teams; each team will handle two accounts. These accounts will work with the agency over the course of several years, with new students circulating through the agency during that time. Borghese also foresees potential involvement with students outside of advertising and strategic communication majors such as actors, photographers and musicians.
He’s also happy with the Sing Tao house. Borghese envisions it to be a hangout spot where students can work between classes; he said he's impressed with the look and feel of the space.
“It feels like a professional agency,” Borghese said. “It really does. It's in a great part of the campus. A client's going to come in there and say, ‘wow, I'm at an agency’.”
Sing Tao feels like a professional agency environment. Students can go there for meetings and collaborations.
What would you do for a Klondike bar?
Before going on to work on well-known campaigns for beloved brands, Borghese grew up in New York City. His family was what he called a “New York Daily News Household.” His interest in the Daily News and one of its columnists, Jimmy Breslin, made him want to pursue a career in journalism. After hearing about its journalism program (now the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism), he enrolled in Ohio University as a sophomore.
As he progressed in his studies, his professors noticed his creative storytelling abilities and thought he was a good fit for advertising. Borghese says he loved the journalistic edge that advertising had and how a brand’s truth connects with a consumer. He began to pursue this route and interned at an advertising agency after his junior year.
Borghese went on to become well-versed with agency life, working at companies such as DONER, Ogilvy & Mather, Merkley + Partners and Doyle Dane Bernbach. He was responsible for advertisements for brands like AXA Equitable, Klondike and Mercedes-Benz.
Borghese created many successful, captivating and hilarious ads. These ads include but are not limited to getting a painful wax for a Klondike bar , talking to gorilla about annuities and barrel-rolling out of a moving car for a free appetizer.
Students can collaborate and immerse themselves in a real agency environment at Sing Tao.
Let the treasure hunt begin
This new agency offers students more than just academic credit; it’s a real-world experience that can shape their careers. By working with a diverse array of clients and managing professional deadlines, students put themselves ahead of the curve. They’ll be more than ready when they graduate and enter the workforce.
“Ever since working at the agency, we’ve kind of hit the ground running,” said Maxwell Burton, a senior studying strategic communication at OHIO. “It’s been a lot of fun, especially working with Chuck. He’s got such a creative brain, and I’m excited to exercise my creative brain in this new student agency.”
Kellyn Flohr, a junior studying journalism and sports management, also recognizes the benefits of the new organization.
“It’s a good opportunity to get real-world experience with real clients," Flohr said. "...It’s nice to have a building we can come to, even if it’s just to hang out and do homework. It’s a really great opportunity and something to put on my resume for the future.”
Borghese’s vision, combined with comprehensive, real-life agency work, promises to make this venture a unique and lasting opportunity for Ohio University students.