User:Cheswash/sandbox

Byron Lewis (dates), pioneered multicultural marketing, he also the founder of UniWorld Group, a multimillion dollar advertising empire.

Early life
Byron E. Lewis was born December 25, 1931 in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Thomas Eugene Lewis and Myrtle Evelyn Allen. The family later moved to Queens, New York City where he grew up and attended school. He married Sylvia Wong Lewis, a graduate of Smith College, in 1974. Sylvia Wong Lee a journalist, and art-activists, plus she's also the director and founder of Narrative Network, they capture the voices of multicultural women that are artists and activists. Narrative Network also produced Shanghai to Harlem which captures the story of her families migration to Harlem. Lewis also has a son, Byron Eugene Lewis, Jr.

Education
Lewis attended the Shimer Junior High School and John Adams High School. He went on to attend college where he graduated in 1953 from Long Island University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

Career
After graduating from Long Island University, he served in the U.S. military between 1953-1955, afterwards he worked as a social worker. Then moving on to develop his career the world of advertising he began working in the field Black media, noting that the Black consumers had dramatically grown, meaning that they were interested in the same consumers goods as their white counterparts. Black Media market prospered through the growth Black Newspapers and Magazines.

Advertising years
One of his earliest positions in advertising was working with Black Newspapers in Harlem, NYC. In 1961, he started a Black literary magazine, the Urbanite Magazine. Then in 1964, he began working with Tuesday Magazine, as the Vice President Director of Advertising. Tuesday Magazine was owned by businessman W. Leonard Evans. it was a supplemental insert in national newspapers, mainly published for Black Americans at that time. Tuesday Magazine was a weekly, published as a supplement in mainly Black Newspapers, which included the Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin, plus newspapers in larger cities with thriving Black populations.

Through his work experience in Black Media, Lewis realized that the Black consumer was a significant growth market for advertisers seeking to capture Black consumers' dollars. In 1969, Lewis opened UniWorld Group, Inc., one of the largest multi-ethnic advertising agencies focusing on the Black and Brown market. He started the agency with funding secured from a venture capitalists firm based in Connecticut. However, after several years the UniWorld Group ran into financial problems, the venture capital firm that invested wanted to pull the plug. Yet, they were willing to give him another chance. Through clever maneuvering, Lewis came up with an brilliant idea to produce a Black Radio Soap Opera that new business venture is what helped to save his agency. After his failed attempt at writing his soap opera, a friend suggested he reach out to a colleague that had been in soap opera for advice; this led to him working with a team of Black actors, actresses, and writers. The soap was named Sounds of the City, focused on Black Family life and experience, was sponsored by Quaker Oats, even though it was not an easy sell to upper company executives. Some of the notable talents included: Zaida Coles, Robert Guillaume, and Helen Martin, along with Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.They hired Shaunneille Perry, who served as the writer and director for the radio show. Quaker Oats knew the value of the Black consumer market since it had several food products that catered directly to the Black consumer market, from Aunt Jemima Pancake, Grits and. Although today brands such as Aunt Jemima have undergone tremendous change for promoting Black stereotypes that are offensive and inaccurate portrayal of Black Life. The first Black media out to feature Sounds of the City was WJPC in Chicago; the station was owned by Johnson Publishing Company, one of the prominent mega Black Media companies giants, published ''Ebony Magazine. The Sounds of the City,'' launched May, 1, 1974, the show ran briefly for 39 weeks.

It was the Radio Soap that saved UniWorld from going under—helped earn UniWorld its first million dollars. This led to the agency producing other television commercials such as Avon. From this experience, Lewis began including other services such as Public Relations, Entertainment, Events, along with Unimundo, the Latina/Hispanic division. Capturing more of the Black media market, in 1980, he created a national syndicated Black News network. Under the leadership of Lewis, the UniWorld Agency worked with a diverse range of major Fortune 500 brands, along with AT&T, Avon Products, Burger King, Colgate, Ford Motor Company, Stax Records, which produced marketing campaigns for films such as Shaft, Boyz in the Hood, Glory, and A Bronx's Tale.

Lewis along with Jeff Friday, and Warrington Hudlin, joined forces by creating the American Black Film Festival, previously called Acapulco Black Film Festival, this venue featured hot ticket Black films such as, Shaft,.

Legacy
UniWorld Group continued to grow, and by 1999 was one of the top-grossing multi-cultural advertising agencies with $230 million dollars in sales. Byron Lewis retired in 2012, as the CEO of UniWorld Group; but he has retained the title of Chairman Emeritus CEO.