 photo by steed media service
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Chairman and CEO of Uniworld Group, Legend Award Honoree
When
Byron Lewis decided to found UniWorld Group in 1969, he was an island
floating in a sea of homogeneous advertising and communications
agencies along the corridors of Madison Avenue in New York. Despite the
lack of interest in diversity, as well for Lewis’ burgeoning
expertise in the advertising genre, he eventually grew UniWorld into
one of the most successful African American ad agencies, with annual
billings exceeding $250 million. Attending the AdColor Awards, where he
received a Legend Award and witnessed other minorities gain notoriety
for their pioneering brilliance, was a poignant moment for the
76-year-old Long Island University journalism grad.
“I’ve been in this business for
over 45 years and can remember when there was no interest in
multiculturalism and there were almost no black people or Latinos or
women in the advertising industry,” he laments. “I
absolutely believe that the industry knows that multicultural is the
future. We have the fastest growing population, the fastest growing
small businesses and African Americans, in particular, are driving the
culture.”
The natural storyteller from
Far Rockaway, N.Y., listened to his mother regale the family nightly
with stories about the white families whose homes she cleaned. He later
created the first black soap opera, “Sounds of the City” on
radio in the ‘70s. He also learned how to reach black people with
very few, but catchy words that popped. From that foundation, Lewis
built UniWorld.
“A 30-second commercial that shows people
of color in a positive light is one of the few influences that really
exist. We in a very small way are trying to show [that] and I think
it’s come full circle,” says Lewis. –terry shropshire
