Newhouse Advertising Senior Phoebe Gullingsrud Launches Digital Marketing Agency

Not even halfway through her senior year, and Phoebe Gullingsrud has her career plans in place after she earns her advertising degree from the Newhouse School.  

Gullingsrud launched POV Brand Management this fall, what she describes as an innovative digital marketing agency that specializes in the Gen Z audience. A dual major in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises at the Whitman School of Management, Gullingsrud is the agency’s founder and CEO. 

She has big ideas. POV offers multiple services to clients including social media management, strategic advising, content shoots, paid-ads and email marketing. 

“POV” stands for “point of view,” and the agency has already had clients in the tourism, hospitality and health and wellness fields.  

“The basis of what we do is help brands think of the message they want to send from the point of view of consumers to elevate impact,” Gullingsrud said. “The phrase ‘point of view’ has been a guiding principle of how we do our work.”

Gullingsrud said she was inspired in high school after joining DECA. In its mission statement, the international business organization states that it “prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.” 

“I experienced an ‘aha!’ moment when I was able to uncover a business problem and strategically solve it utilizing an innovative approach to marketing through digital,” she said. 

“Fast forward to my freshman year at Syracuse University, I was sitting in my business and communications classes and my brain was racing with ideas on how my learning could be applied to help real businesses.” 

Gullingsrud initially started an agency called POV Marketing Co., which was in business from May 2021 to September 2023. The agency was relaunched Oct. 1, 2023 as POV Brand Management. The decision to relaunch the business stemmed from a desire to apply the knowledge and experience the team had accumulated at POV Marketing Co. to elevate the business from a side project to a sustainable venture that would ultimately lead them into their post-grad life.  

The POV team also consists of chief creative officer Fiona Connolly, chief strategic implementation officer Whitney Krayer and director of public relations Heather McClure, who are all Syracuse University students. Other members—who found the agency through referrals or LinkedIn—are chief financial and operations officer Lauren Diaz (Boston College); chief strategy officer Melissa Garcia (University of Rhode Island); and integrated marketing specialist Sona Cyriac (University of Wisconsin-Madison).  

“The team is the biggest asset I’ve built,” Gullingsrud said. “Having such a strong group of women who have the same vision of the potential of the business makes me feel really inspired for what our future might hold.” 

They also hope to work with more brands focused on Generation Z, or those born from around 1997 to 2012.  

“[The POV team] are all a part of Gen Z which, unlike most traditional marketing agencies, allows us to lead with cutting-edge digitally driven strategies,” Gullingsrud said.

“We understand the digital scope because we are a team of digital natives, and we can bridge traditional business objectives to digital strategies.” 

She is setting an example for other entrepreneurial-minded students. The agency recently launched the podcast “POV: You’re Trending,” in which they share insights and advice for entrepreneurial-minded and digitally savvy listeners looking to use digital to pursue nontraditional careers. 

The team plans to devote their full-time careers to the agency after graduating-working remotely for now until a physical headquarters is established-and look forward to using their curiosity, innovative strategies and digital marketing skills to continue growing their client base. 

“After doing this business for two years in college, I realized that a lot of my generation doesn’t want to follow the conventional post-college career path of working a 9-5 in the corporate world,” Gullingsrud said. “A lot of people are more entrepreneurial and want to have more of a piece in the puzzle.”