UWG Inc. explained

UWG Inc.
Former Name:UniWorld Group, Inc.
Type:Private
Industry:Advertising
Hq Location City:New York City
Hq Location Country:New York
Areas Served:-->
Key People:Monique L. Nelson (CEO)[1]
Owner:Lori-Laine Holdings (51%)
WPP Group (49%)[2]
Divisions:UniWorld Group Advertising
UniWorld Group Healthcare
UniWorld Group Hispanic
UniWorld Films[3]

UniWorld Group, Inc., branded as UWG, is a full-service advertising agency[4] [5] headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite offices in Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, and Los Angeles. It is the longest-standing multicultural ad agency in the United States, founded in 1969.[6] [7] [8] In 2014, the company rebranded itself as UWG.[9] [10]

Some of its current and past clients include Lincoln-Mercury, Ford Motor Co, CVS Pharmacy, Marriott International, U.S. Marine Corps, AT&T, and Burger King.[6] [1] [7]

History

UniWorld Group was founded in 1969 by Byron Lewis,[11] [12] who pioneered the concept of multicultural advertising.[13] The company conceptualised the marketing campaign for the 1971 "blaxploitation" film Shaft. The company was credited for popularizing Shaft by using the rhetoric of black power.[14] [15] [16]

In 1974, the company created a radio soap opera that centered on the post-Great Migration and African Americans settling in the Northern United States, entitled Sounds of the City. The soap opera helped the company earn its first million dollars in gross sales.[17] [18] The company started creating TV commercials in 1975. Its first television advertisements were for Avon, a cosmetic company.[19]

In 1997, the company launched UniWorld Entertainment, a production company that developed national TV specials. The company has also handled publicity for films such as A Bronx Tale (1993), Amistad (1997), Boyz n the Hood (1991), Glory (1989), Malcolm X (1992), Shaft (1971), Shaft's Big Score (1973), and Shaft in Africa (1973).[18]

UniWorld did Burger King's minority advertising in the '80s and '90s.[20] [21] In 2000, WPP plc acquired a 49% stake in UniWorld Group for an undisclosed amount of sum.[22]

In 2012, Monique Nelson and her family acquired the majority stake and were appointed chair and CEO of the company.[23] In 2014, UniWorld Group changed its name to UWG.[9] [10] [24] Some of the notable clients that UWG served include CVS Pharmacy, Marriott International, U.S. Marine Corps, Gatorade, AT&T, Mars, Incorporated, Amtrak, Smirnoff Vodka, Colgate-Palmolive, Texaco,[25] Lincoln-Mercury, and Ford Motor Co.[6] [1] [26] [27] [28] [7]

Awards and recognition

UWG has been ranked multiple times in Black Enterprise magazine: #16 on their Industrial/Service 100 (1994),[29] Advertising Agency of the Year (2000);[30] [31] #5 in Advertising Agencies (2011);[23] and #8 in black-owned ad companies in the United States (2014).[32] The Association of National Advertisers has given the company Multicultural Excellence Awards in 2010, 2012, and 2017.[33] [34] [35]

The company's founder, Byron Lewis, was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) in 2013.[36] [37]

Other awards and nominations include: Communications Excellence to Black Audiences (CEBA) awards (1983)[38] and the APAC Effie Awards Gold Award in United States Multicultural & Lifestyle Segments  - the multimedia 'Real Talk' ad campaign produced for the United States Marine Corps (2010).[39] [40] [41]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Baskin . Anna . PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: MONIQUE L. NELSON TO TAKE OVER FOR BYRON LEWIS SR. AT UNIWORLD GROUP . . May 2, 2012.
  2. Web site: UniWorld Group advertising & marketing assignments . Adbrands.net . 9 January 2020.
  3. UniWorld Film's New President . Upscale . 1999 . 28 .
  4. News: TARQUINIO . J. ALEX . Office Tenants Flee Manhattan Rents for Brooklyn . . November 4, 2008.
  5. News: Dougherty . Philip H. . Uniworld Starts Unit To Create Hispanic Ads . . July 30, 1982.
  6. News: Top Black Ad Men and Women You Won't See on Mad Men . . November 4, 2014.
  7. News: Rittenhouse . Lindsay . Toasting UWG's 50th year . . August 2, 2019.
  8. News: UniWorld: Changing of the guard . . March 5, 2012.
  9. News: Aditham . Kiran . UniWorld Group Rebrands as UWG . . June 3, 2014.
  10. News: Spiropoulos . Richard . Changes at UniWorld repositions agency for digital age . . June 3, 2014.
  11. News: Byron . Ellen . Questions for… Byron Lewis . . March 3, 2004.
  12. News: Leader of the pack . . May 8, 2013.
  13. Jet; 07/26/99, Vol. 96 Issue 8, p24, 2p, 5 bw.
  14. Book: Eric Lichtenfeld . Action Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie . 2017 . . 9780819568014 . 14, 15 .
  15. Reid, Mark. Redefining Black Film. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
  16. Book: Robert E. Weems . Robert E. Weems, Jr. . Desegregating the Dollar: African American Consumerism in the Twentieth Century . 1998 . . 9780814793275 . 97, 98, 192 .
  17. News: Campbell . Barbara . SOUNDS OF CITY, Black Soap Opera, to Cut the Jive . . April 8, 1974.
  18. Book: Jessie Carney Smith . Millicent Lownes Jackson . Linda T. Wynn . Encyclopedia of African American Business: K-Z . 2006 . . 9780313331114 . 446 .
  19. Book: Laura Warren Hill . Julia Rabig . The Business of Black Power: Community Development, Capitalism, and Corporate Responsibility in Postwar America . 2012 . University Rochester Press . 9781580464031 . 126, 127, 128 .
  20. News: Dougherty . Philip H. . Uniworld Group Gets A Burger King Account . . April 14, 1983.
  21. News: Elliott . Stuart . Burger King Widens Role for Uniworld . . December 20, 1993.
  22. News: Sampey . Kathleen . WPP Takes Piece of Uniworld Pie . . June 19, 2019.
  23. News: Edmond . Alfred Jr.. UniWorld Group's New CEO Monique Nelson . . May 30, 2012.
  24. News: Willoughby . Sergie . UniWorld Group CEO Byron Lewis Retires . The Network Journal . May 4, 2012.
  25. News: Beatty . Sally Goll . Black-Owned Agency Retained By Texaco to Bolster Its Image . . November 21, 1996.
  26. News: WPP announces joint venture with Uniworld . . June 16, 2000.
  27. News: Dingle . Derek T. . No. 37: Black Ad Agency Slays A Madison Avenue Giant . . July 24, 2017.
  28. News: UniWorld Group wins Amtrak Account . Portada Online . October 12, 2012.
  29. News: Uniworld Group Inc. celebrates its silver anniversary in the advertising business by targeting international markets . . January 1995 . 95.
  30. Alexander . George . A matter of survival . . September 2000 . September 2000 . 23 .
  31. G. Graves . Earl . June 1, 2000 . How UniWorld redefining urban reality . . 189, 190, 192, 194, 195 . 0006-4165.
  32. News: Minority Owned Advertising Agencies Shut Out on Game Day . . February 2, 2015.
  33. News: Burrell and UniWorld Win Top Honors at ANA . Rolling Out . November 11, 2010.
  34. News: Wentz . Laurel . Ford, GM, Xoom, Rosetta Stone Win ANA Multicultural Ad Awards . . November 1, 2012.
  35. Web site: ANA Announces 2017 Multicultural Excellence Award Grand Prize Winners . . November 6, 2017.
  36. News: UniWorld founder Byron Lewis' Hall of Fame induction to be celebrated at Schomburg . https://web.archive.org/web/20130817014117/http://targetmarketnews.com/storyid04091301.htm . dead . August 17, 2013 . Targetmarketnews . April 8, 2013.
  37. News: Caslin . Yvette . Advertising maverick Byron Lewis inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame . Rollingout.com . April 29, 2013.
  38. News: Dougherty . Philip H. . Uniworld and J.W.T. Tie for CEBA Awards . . October 28, 1983.
  39. Web site: 2010 Effie Winners . 1, 9 . 2010.
  40. 2010 United StatesMulticultural & Lifestyle Segments
  41. Web site: Effie Search - 1 - 5 of 5 results . 2024-01-18.

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