UniWorld Group, Inc. branded as UWG, is a full-service advertising agency, headquartered in Brooklyn,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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. In 2014, the company rebranded itself as UWG. Some of its current and past clients include Lincoln-Mercury, Ford Motor Co, CVS Pharmacy,

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. T ...

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

, AT&T, and

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

History

UniWorld Group was founded in 1969 by Byron Lewis, who pioneered the concept of multicultural advertising before its potential was widely recognized. One of the company's first achievements was the conception of the marketing campaign for the "

Blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

" film, ''

Shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

'' in 1971. The company was credited for popularizing ''Shaft'' by using the rhetoric of black power. In 1974, the company created a radio soap opera that centered around the post Great Migration and African Americans settling in the

Northern United States The Northern United States, commonly referred to as the American North, the Northern States, or simply the North, is a geographical or historical region of the United States. History Early history Before the 19th century westward expansion, the "N ...

entitled ''Sounds of The City''. The soap opera helped the company earn its first million dollars in gross sales. The company started creating TV commercials in 1975. Its first television advertisements were for

Avon Avon may refer to: * River Avon (disambiguation), several rivers Organisations *Avon Buses, a bus operating company in Wirral, England *Avon Coachworks, a car body builder established in 1919 at Warwick, England, relaunched in 1922, following ...

, a cosmetic company. 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 ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of ...

'' (1993), '' Amistad'' (1997), ''

Boyz n the Hood ''Boyz n the Hood'' is a 1991 American coming-of-age hood drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King, and An ...

'' (1991), '' Glory'' (1989), '' Malcolm X'' (1992), ''

(1971)'', '' Shaft's Big Score'' (1973), and '' Shaft in Africa'' (1973). UniWorld did

's minority advertising in the '80s and '90s. In 2000, WPP plc acquired a 49% stake in UniWorld Group for an undisclosed sum. In 2012, Monique Nelson and her family acquired the majority stake and was appointed Chair and CEO of the company. In 2014, UniWorld Group changed its name to UWG. Some of the notable clients that UWG served include CVS Pharmacy,

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

, AT&T, Mars, Incorporated, Amtrak, Smirnoff Vodka,

Colgate-Palmolive Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribution, and provision of household, health car ...

, Texaco, Lincoln-Mercury, and Ford Motor Co.

Awards and recognition

UWG has been ranked multiple times in '' Black Enterprise'' magazine: #16 on their Industrial/Service 100 (1994), Advertising Agency of the Year (2000); #5 in Advertising Agencies (2011); and #8 in black-owned ad companies in the United States (2014). The Association of National Advertisers) has also given the company mutlple Multicultural Excellence Awards in 2010, 2012, and 2017. The company's founder, Byron Lewis was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) in 2013. Other awards and nominations include: Communications Excellence to Black Audiences (CEBA) awards (1983) 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).https://www.effie.org/search?utf8=✓&search_form%5Bfilter_type%5D=1&search_form%5Bsort_order%5D=0&search_form%5Bkeyword%5D=UniWorld&search_form%5Bpublished_case%5D=0&commit=Search

References

External links

Official website

Chat: Monique Nelson
{{WPP 1969 establishments in New York City American companies established in 1969 Marketing companies established in 1969 WPP plc Advertising agencies of the United States Companies based in Brooklyn

History

Awards and recognition

Further reading

References

External links