by Matthew Jones

Lewis Williams’ office sits on the 28th floor of the Leo Burnett Building at 35 West Wacker Drive, in the heart of downtown Chicago.  He lives in one of Chicago’s most contemporary neighborhoods, and he is a senior vice president and creative director at one of the most prestigious advertising firms in the world.

On the surface, the climb to the lofty heights where Williams now sits is not unlike that taken by most people in his position.  He grew up, went to college, graduated, got a job, and outperformed those around him until his star ascended.  Add to all of that the fact that Williams is a Black man from the Deep South, and a man who has had to endure significant obstacles, and the view of his lofty ascent changes dramatically.

Williams began to plan his future early on, and he focused in on his future goals with the help of a program called Upward Bound – a program dedicated to helping young students of different ethnic backgrounds gain the resources needed to pursue their professional goals.  “I credit Upward Bound for giving me the focus early on.”

One thing was clear from the start – Lewis Williams had talent.  He also had a curiosity about life, and a keen sense for the world around him.  After studying graphic design at Kent State University, and pursuing a career as a designer, he found himself at his first agency job – a small ad agency called Phillips Ramsey Advertising (now a division of McCann Erickson) in San Diego, CA.

“I’ve always had a knack for coming up with ideas – and in advertising, (coming up with ideas is) something you can actually get a job doing, rather than painting something and waiting for someone to buy it,” explained Williams.

The job was a good fit for Williams, but not a perfect one.  The perfect fit would come after he took a look at his boss’ portfolio.

“I looked through my boss Bob Kwait’s portfolio, and I really started noticing ideas – his headings, the copy – the real ideas.  I liked that,” said Williams, who up until that point had not known the depth of creativity and understanding needed to produce great creative work.

From that point, Williams began to explore his craft.  Much of what he learned initially came from Kwait, who he praises to this day for his wisdom.  “He was one of the best bosses I’ve ever had,” said Williams.

With Kwait’s help, Williams transitioned over to the creative side of the business, and a brilliant new career was launched.

Since entering the advertising field, over 20-years ago, Williams’ work has benefited the bottom line for numerous clients.  He has racked up countless awards for his creative work, and has spearheaded the creative force behind hundreds of successful campaigns.  Williams is now at the top of his game.

But hitting one’s stride and maintaining it can be two different things, particularly in a career that requires constant change, evolution and most of all, freshness.  To keep his work unique, Williams forces himself to take a unique approach into each new assignment. 

“If I’m working on a campaign for women’s feminine care, then I’ve got to get into my feminine side,” explained Williams.  “If it’s a project for sports, well, that’s something that’s already close to my heart.  I have to immerse myself into the assignment.  I do my fact-finding.  I find out what’s going on, and I start there.  I try to find a new way into something.” 

Allstate: Harnessing the Energy around March Madness

One example of Williams finding a new way into a unique solution is his hugely successful Allstate Alumni 3-on-3 Classic campaign.

“We were trying to get to the hard-to-reach young males,” explained Williams of the creative challenge that lead to the program.  “These are young guys, fresh out of school, and they’re thinking – I need something I can afford.  To them, Allstate seemed distant and corporate, because their parents have Allstate.”

The Allstate Alumni 3-on-3 Classic hosted basketball tournaments in New York, Chicago, Charlotte and San Francisco.  Participants from around the country were invited to come out and represent their Alma Maters in a friendly, but competitive, national contest.

“We set out to tap into the NCAA Tournament,” continued Williams.  “We wanted to get a relationship going (with the target market that followed it).  The actual assignment from Allstate was to create a 30-second spot, but what they actually needed was a relationship program.”

Account people know it’s risky to have the client ask for one thing, and you then come back with something else – particularly if it might cost more money.  But true to Williams’ form, that’s exactly what his creative team did, and it paid off, for the agency, and more importantly, the client.

“The people that came out for the tournament were amazing,” said Williams.  “There were these three guys from India – they couldn’t play a lick.  They lost all of their games.  But they came out, and they supported their school.  And they had fun.

“One guy showed up with his kid – she couldn’t have been more than two years old.  I was thinking that he must really have a lot of passion for basketball to show up with a baby.”

The tournament concluded with the winners of each regional contest coming together to compete in one final showdown – the Allstate Alumni 3-on-3 Classic Championship.

“(The participants) got to play their championship game in St. Louis, on the same turf where the NCAA champions were playing theirs.  It was really a different way to touch the consumer.”

Working From, and For, the Heart

Every marketing professional loves to succeed for his or her clients, but many creatives have an extra desire to do work that comes from within – and to create something that’s personal for themselves and their audience.

This is certainly true for Williams, whose work on behalf of the Ad Council – a pro-bono client of Leo Burnett – has gained critical acclaim and national reaction.  Since 1942, the Ad Council, a private, non-profit organization, has marshaled talent from across the marketing community to deliver vital social messages to the American public.

“The Ad Council work is most dear to me,” said Williams referring to his campaign for The Freedom Center, another non-profit organization that encourages all Americans to speak out against injustice.  “It was interesting – part marketing, part anthropology, part sociology – you have to be really sensitive to racial issues.  It was like a study into America – into race itself.”

It wasn’t just the research and execution that drove Williams on this campaign.  The Freedom Center assignment lived in a very familiar space for him, and it came through in his work.

“Everything came together – all of my experiences as a person – they all came together in this assignment,” said Williams.

Apparently, it struck a chord with millions of Americans across the country, as well.  Several hundred respondents, with both positive and negative comments, visited the freedomcenter.org website to post their thoughts.

“You had everyone from Black militants to Klansmen responding to the work,” said Williams of the impassioned reactions to the work.  “You don’t get that kind of response from most ad campaigns.”

According to Williams, creating powerful ads is a matter of finding the common threads that bind the entire audience, regardless of color or gender.

“If you have a good, strong idea, then it will translate (across racial barriers),” explains Williams.  “That’s true in music, movies, TV programming, or whatever.  It’s the sweet spot of truth – it transcends everything.”

“I was working on a lot of African-American spots for Sprint, here at Leo Burnett,” continued Williams.  “A lot of my white counterparts would say – ‘That’s not a Black commercial.  That’s me – that’s my family.’  I try to touch on the human quality that lives in all of us.”

That’s not to say that Williams shies away from doing African-American work – quite the opposite.  “I’m very proud to do African-American work,” said Williams.  “I say, bring it all to me, so I know that it’s done right.”

When ethnic work is not done right, it can be very insulting, and even damaging to the brand it’s attempting to promote.  As a constant reminder, Williams has an ad hanging outside his door.  It’s an ad by the Art Directors Club of New York (ADC), designed to solicit entries for it’s annual awards program.  The ad features an African-American man dressed up as a clown (that looks curiously like Ronald McDonald) and holding a chunk of gold in his hand.  The headline reads: Pimp My Brand.

Incensed, Williams wrote a letter to the ADC explaining how offensive the ad was, but there was no response.  McDonald’s also reportedly contacted the organization to protest the ad.  The ADC pulled the ad off their website as this story was being developed.

“I’m like the self-appointed diversity police in the industry.  I’ve even tapped on some shoulders here at Leo Burnett a few times,” said Williams who continues to see a need to speak out on potentially offensive or insensitive work.

Williams’ passion for helping to educate others is also demonstrated in the various classes and speaking engagements he conducts around the country.  He has a special presentation called Puttin’ Soul in the Game, where he talks about the changing demographics of the marketplace.  The presentations are given to fellow Burnett employees in special sessions, as well as other industry professionals.  Williams also conducts the presentation for advertising students at Syracuse University.

“In my classes and lectures, I talk about The Browning of America,” said Williams.  “In a lot of these types of settings, (people usually) talk about doing a great ad, and producing great work.  I want to give them something they haven’t seen before.  I get them to try to think about whether an idea is inclusive, or exclusive.  We need to ask ourselves if we’re being exclusive.”

Puttin’ Soul in the Game is an engaging and interactive discussion, where the audience is invited to participate.  In some instances, they engage in strategic exercises.

“I’ll tell the audience that they are shooting (a commercial that features) a family of five, and a dog.  What are the casting specs?”  In each and every presentation, the class almost uniformly begins to describe a white family.

“Why are they white?,” asked Williams recalling his typical response to his students.  “You didn’t ask yourself that question – you just went there naturally,” he continued with his simulation.  “Casting directors aren’t going to ask you that question, either.”

According to Williams, the creative team has an equal, if not far greater, responsibility to keep diversity, inclusion and other important creative nuances at the forefront of the work.

“As creative professionals, we should be a little more sensitive with (diversity),” said Williams.  “It’s very interesting, industry-wide – (creatives) are supposed to be the most open-minded, and the most free-thinking department.  And often times (with diversity), we’re not.”

The need for inclusion doesn’t stop in the creative meetings.  It extends to who is in the meetings.  When it comes to dealing with clients, Williams has considerable experience.  He has been able to win over clients with intelligence and effectiveness.  With more than two decades of experience, Williams understands how to make client relationships successful.

“Clients need to have a comfort level with diversity, and across the industry, some have it, and some don’t,” said Williams.  “You need to be able to relate to the person who might have your fate in their hands, and vice-versa.  When you’re working on a $600,000 assignment, you’re looking for a connection.”

Williams is no stranger to racial discrimination.  While he doesn’t feel it’s been a major factor in the workplace, he knows how to handle it when it arises.

“Being from the deep South, I learned how to deal with racial attitudes early on,” explained Williams, who was born in Macon, Georgia.  “Where I came from, we had different movie theaters.  I had to ride on the back of the bus.  It’s different for someone who grew up in the North, where it’s a little more under the surface.”

“If anything, (discrimination) makes you more determined not to fail,” he continued.  “But it’s added pressure.  It’s extra weight.  You can’t change that.  It has helped and hindered me.”

Blazing His Own Trail, With a Little Help Along the Way

While Williams has spent a lot of time helping and educating others, he is quick to acknowledge that he had some support along the way.  From programs like Upward Bound to supervisors who took a personal and professional interest, he has had the benefit of talented and passionate role models to help light the path.

“I would have to say Tom Burrell was a huge inspiration – I have a lot of respect for what he started,” said Williams of one of his industry role models.  “There’s also Phil Gant, who used to run BBDO in Chicago.”

While he only met these men in passing, they were, nonetheless, huge influences on him.  “It’s nice when you see your own people doing things like that.  You don’t have to know them well, or even meet them – just to see someone that looks like you (in top industry positions) is inspiring.

Not all of Williams’ role models have been from afar.  “Cheryl Berman (Chief Creative Officer/Chairman, Leo Burnett USA) was a great influence,” said Williams.  “She’s the one who was responsible for me being here.  She’s the one that hired me.  I learned a lot about humanity from Cheryl – taking real-life situations and finding the drama, and the truth.”

“My parents just wanted me to get a decent job.  I don’t think they know, or really care, about exactly what I do.  They know it’s good.  They see it on TV.  Most importantly, they know their kid is doing all right.”

There have been moments, however where Williams’ work has had a direct and positive effect on the family.

“We were doing a Family Reunion spot for Disney,” explained Williams.  “I got to use all of my family’s names.  It was the Cunningham Family Reunion – Cunningham was my mother’s maiden name.  I used the names of my aunts, my cousins, Mama Lula…  My family was really proud.  They said, ‘That’s OUR commercial.’”

Because it’s based in truth, most people – regardless or race or gender – can look at Williams’ work and feel like it’s their commercial.  In many respects, it is.

The End