Search Results - Lewis, Byron.

Byron Lewis

Byron E. Lewis Sr. (born December 25, 1931) is an American advertising executive, entrepreneur and pioneer of multicultural marketing. He is the founder and chairman emeritus of UniWorld Group, one of the oldest and largest African-American-owned advertising agencies in the United States.

He was referred to by ''The New York Times'' as "the original Black media king," Lewis was instrumental in opening the eyes of major brands like Avon and Mars Candy, as well as the entertainment industry, to the buying power of African American consumers. Lewis came up with “The Diapers” ad for Lincoln Navigator, a national automotive account aimed for the first time at the urban Black middle class.

Summing up his career in a 2022 interview with journalist Craigh Barboza, Lewis said, “What I found was major corporations, and most white people, had never thought of Blacks as consumers." Before serving in the United States Army in the 1950s, Lewis graduated from Long Island University where he pledged Omega Psi Phi, the Black national college fraternity. He is a member of its hall of fame.

In 2000, Lewis sold a 49% stake in UniWorld to the British advertising giant WPP for an undisclosed amount. When he retired in 2012, he sold his remaining stake to Motorola entertainment marketing head Monique Nelson and her family. Provided by Wikipedia