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.

Early years and education Lewis was born in Newark, New Jersey. Regarding his expertise on the Black consumer market, Lewis told The New York Times in 2021, “I spent a decade in the trenches learning how to get Black magazines, newspapers, radio and television stations going. I became a teacher and a salesman.” with Lewis starting out working on community initiatives. He then persuaded its executives to underwrite a documentary about the direct line of communication between the Black church and community. “This Far by Faith” aired during AT&T's annual show on PBS, per Lewis's suggestion. He handled the film's 1977 premiere at the American Film Institute Theater and a reception that drew Black leaders,

Lewis's next broadcast project was the 1974 Black radio soap opera "Sounds of the City." Lewis said credits the show with saving UniWorld from going out of business in the mid-1970s. Food conglomerate Quaker Oats was a sponsor on the project.

Lewis hired Lorraine Hansberry's cousin, Shauneille Perry, one of the first Black women to direct an off-Broadway play, to create “Sounds of the City.” helped legitimize Blacks “as equal consumers and equal citizens,” according to Lewis. He also organized an elaborate multi-city promotional tour with advance screenings and after-parties where people from the local Black communities mingled with the film's cast and crew. On hand were director Gordon Parks, star Richard Roundtree and composer Isaac Hayes, whose “Theme from Shaft” won the Academy Award for best original song. Lewis spent months on the road promoting the movie. Lewis later said, in reference to his marketing strategy for the film, “I put the whole campaign in major markets talking to Black consumers ... It was about word of mouth, and where does the word of mouth come from on this project? The barbershops, hair salons and on the streets.” This strategy involved plastering major urban areas with the Shaft movie poster, designed by Bill Allen, UniWorld's first creative and art director.

After taking over the national general-market account for Burger King in the mid-1980s, UniWorld produced its first television commercials. The ads, featuring the slogan, “We may not be the world’s No. 1. fast-food place; it just tastes that way," resulted in one of the biggest six-month sales spikes in the company's history.

In 1995, Lewis landed another general-market account for the candy maker 3 Musketeers, which was the largest assignment ever awarded to a Black-owned agency. UniWorld's television and magazine ads for 3 Musketeers featured a Black musketeer, as Lewis proposed, and a humorous theme.

Between 1991 and 1996, UniWorld went from doing $60 million to $133 million in annual business. The agency's entertainment division turned out nationally televised specials, including the first Black Oscars, a gala held in Los Angeles in 1989, which Lewis produced with Albert L. Nellum. The event was hosted by Bernie Casey and awards went to, among others, Eddie Murphy, Forest Whitaker and Spike Lee.

Its Washington, D.C. office, UWG-DC, was run out of a stately home Lewis purchased that later became known as part of the Mansion on O Street. Rosa Parks was a guest. In 1970, after acquiring “America’s Black Forum” from friend-colleague Walker Williams and his business partner, John G. “Jack” Gloster, UniWorld Entertainment began producing the only syndicated Black TV news show. Lewis installed his son, Byron Jr., as a writer and producer. The talent included Julian Bond, Janet Langhart, Juan Williams, James Brown, Armstrong Williams, Charles Ogletree, Deborah Mathis and Ed Bradley of “60 Minutes.” AT&T, HBO and Ford were sponsors. In 2002, the festival was sold to Jeff Friday and rebranded as Film Life's American Black Film Festival.

Political work Lewis worked on the 1970 campaign of Newark's first Black mayor, Kenneth Gibson,

Lewis enlisted support for the convention from friends like publisher John Johnson, corporate clients and show business people. Isaac Hayes, James Brown and Harry Belafonte performed. Comedian Dick Gregory spoke to the audience about issues of policing and healthcare.

In a scene from Nationtime: Gary, director William Greaves’s 1972 film (re-released in 2020) documenting the convention, Lewis told the crowd the organizers had credentialed 500 new outlets from around the world who “came to witness how we take care of our business.”

In 1976, his company became the first advertising agency to provide radio and press coverage of both the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Later, during the 1984 elections, Lewis worked on Rev. Jesse Jackson's historic presidential campaign, which was seen as an effort to shake up the left. Jackson was the first Black man to run for the White House. They met in a buffet line at a media sponsors dinner in Brooklyn for the West Indian Day Parade in the early 1990s. Sylvia was publisher-editor of the Caribbean American News, a free community newspaper. They talked about the challenges that Black and Caribbean newspapers faced proving their circulation in order to attract major advertisers. They developed a longterm friendship before marrying in 2011 in Harlem. The ceremony was officiated by the former New York Mayor David Dinkins, a close friend of theirs.

Byron has one son from a previous marriage: Byron Eugene Lewis Jr.

With Lewis at the helm, UniWorld received more than 100 advertising awards. The honors came from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and Communications Excellence to Black Audiences (CEBA), among others. as well as entrepreneurial awards from Medgar Evers College, the University of the West Indies and Target Market News. He has an honorary doctorate from Adelphi University.

Lewis served on the board of trustees for the Jackie Robinson Education Foundation, the Apollo Theater Foundation, American Institute for Public Service, Phoenix House Foundation and New York City Sports Commission. He was on the Metro Board of Governors for the U.S. Olympic Committee and is on the board of his alma mater, Long Island University. In 2008, he provided the concept and initial funding for the school’s entrepreneur institute.

In March 2022, a gift deed was signed by a major cultural organization to acquire Lewis’ archives, including his papers, photos and objects.