Taking On the Advertising World

Growing up in Lowville, New York, about 100 miles from Syracuse, Scott Bingle ’20 filled his bedroom with Syracuse University memorabilia. The Syracuse logo was painted on one wall, and another wall prominently displayed a picture of the University’s mascot, Otto, and a jersey of Gerry McNamara, a former guard for the men’s basketball team.

Despite his attachment to the University, Bingle wasn’t sure he wanted to attend a college so close to home. “I thought I wanted to go somewhere new,” explains Bingle, who earned degrees in advertising and marketing management through the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

Bingle had a custom T-shirt business in high school and loved art, so it made sense to pursue studies in advertising. “Advertising seemed like an intersection of art and business,” he explains. “It’s compelling to see these big, powerful brands express themselves.” He soon realized that Syracuse, the school right in his own backyard, had everything he wanted.

Majorly Focused

After growing up in such a small town, Bingle felt intimidated when he first got to campus. “I was meeting people from all over the country and the world. I felt very much on the outside looking in,” he says. Eventually, he came to realize that the next four years were up to him, and he was determined to make the most of his experience at Syracuse.

Bingle was lucky to have what he calls his “aha” moment early in his college career. His second advertising class, The Big Idea in Advertising, taught by Professor Brian Sheehan, solidified his chosen major. One of his projects was researching a product for an advertising pitch. Bingle chose cameras. He spent time in a camera store learning about the products and the customers’ demands, attended camera club meetings, and interviewed photographers.

Bingle’s enthusiasm is palpable as he leans forward in his chair to explain why that class was his most inspiring: “It was the first time I was really challenged to go above and beyond in my research. I knew then that it was what I loved. It was a lot of work, but because I loved it, it didn’t really feel like work.”

On-Campus Organizations and Involvement

Bingle immersed himself in his chosen field, earning the Harry D. Meyers Memorial Prize in Advertising in 2019, the Advertising Student of the Year Award and assuming leadership positions in a list of organizations that could make your head spin.

In January 2020, he completed his tenure as president of TNH Agency, the largest student-run advertising agency in the country, based out of Newhouse. Students from four schools and colleges create campaigns for such local clients as Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and J Michael Shoes, and national brands that include Twix, Tide and Krispy Kreme.

Bingle also served as chief executive officer of Syracuse’s American Advertising Federation National Student Advertising Competition team. This premier college advertising and marketing competition provides college students with the chance to create a strategic ad campaign for a corporate client. The team developed a marketing plan and pitched their work to advertising professionals.

Bingle was a mentee with Newhouse 44, an alumni networking and mentorship group that seeks to elevate the Newhouse brand by working on alumni programming.

One of the biggest thrills of Bingle’s college career was being named to the 2019 Homecoming Court, made up of seniors who represent the Orange spirit in their academic, co-curricular and community involvement. Bingle and the other members were introduced before a sold-out football game, a complete surprise for his parents, who were in the stands. “I didn’t tell them I was on the Homecoming Court,” Bingle confesses. “It was a treat to see their shocked reactions when my name was called.”

It was a lot to juggle, but Bingle thrived on the challenge. He believes people often underestimate their capabilities and can do a lot more than they realize. “The more you do, the more you’re able to get out of it,” he says.

Immersive Learning at Home and Abroad

For someone who so passionately engages with the world around him, it was only natural that Bingle would decide to study abroad. In fact, he went abroad not once but twice as part of his major.

After his first year, he went overseas for a London-based class on international advertising. Bingle and nine other students visited with executives from Toyota Europe and Ford Europe, and with the managing director of an advertising agency for Coca-Cola in Europe. The student who had once felt intimidated by large cities soon became a confident young man living in one of the world’s largest and most dynamic metropolises.

Just two years later, Bingle went abroad again, this time to Hong Kong. While there, he met with the head of the World Bank in Singapore to discuss the financing of the Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious infrastructure development project that would stretch from East Asia to Europe, and he visited the United Nations’ refugee center in Malaysia.

Bingle took his learning outside the classroom through internships in advertising, including with the Food Network, where he sold ad spots with the sales team. As a research intern for South by Southwest, an annual conglomerate of film, interactive media and music festivals, he helped discover startups across the globe as part of its accelerator program.

Between his junior and senior year, he interned with WarnerMedia at CNN in New York City, where he worked on campaigns that would bring the network’s brand together with its advertisers’ brands.

Bingle reflects on a trip he took to New York City as a child. As he and his family were leaving, he turned around to take a picture of the skyline and a building under construction. His internship was in that same building. “Just crazy,” he muses, shaking his head.

Guiding the Next Generation of Syracuse Students

Mentoring is also a big part of Bingle’s life. He was a peer mentor to both Newhouse and Whitman students. He looks at it as a way to step back and reflect. “I’ve been so fortunate to have people push me in the right direction,” he says. “Mentoring is a way for me to show people that they have the potential to grow and learn and do great things.”

He stressed to the students he mentored that they could be anything they want to be and create the life they want to live here at Syracuse. “That’s the life I live when I wake up every day,” he says.

He views his mentoring as a way to share his accumulated experience with the next class of students. “I felt like as a graduating senior, everything really came together,” he says. “Honestly, every year was better than the last.”

Coming Full Circle

Bingle didn’t have to look far for his first job out of college. He stayed with WarnerMedia at CNN, starting as the coordinator of News Marketing Solutions in July 2020. He was recently promoted to manager, a step that he attributes to the experience he gained at Syracuse University.

“I feel like I came in with a really good foundation that enabled me to have a strong start to my career,” Bingle says. “I was able to just dive in headfirst, and I think that led to lots of little successes, which then culminated in this quick promotion. It’s abundantly clear that Syracuse graduates come to the table so much more prepared and knowledgeable than some graduates from other schools.”

In his role, Bingle, works with different brands, including such clients as Amazon, Peloton, State Farm Insurance, Walmart, Proctor and Gamble, General Motors, and the National Association of Realtors, helping them strategize how best to advertise their brand and different WarnerMedia touchpoints. He started with brands looking to spend $200,000 to $500,000 and is now working on campaigns where clients are looking to spent $1 million or more.

And true to his mentoring roots, he’s also on the company’s board for EMERGING out of the New York City office, which is their business resource group that focuses on helping young professionals excel.

Though he was sad about the abrupt end to his on-campus experience due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s excited to come back to Syracuse for the 2020 Commencement ceremony this September. “I'm looking forward to putting an exclamation point on the end of the sentence when we finally get to celebrate graduation.”

This story was updated Sept. 9, 2021.