The agency is illuminated by color and and light — a blend of the natural and the fluorescent — highlighting an eclectic array of African art, paintings, sculptures, and montages. The rainfall of hues and varying textures adorns almost every inch of the expansive space. With panoramic views of the Bay Area, the office signifies power and self-expression as well as promise and daring.
And then there’s the staff — a mix of conservative, funky, trendy, and Bohemian types who represent a cross section of cultures: African, African American, Caribbean, Asian, Italian, Hispanic, and various ethnic combinations. “They hail from Morehouse to Harvard,” asserts Ray Clemons, the firm’s vice president and creative director.
It’s a conservatory that cultivates talent, creativity, and energy to produce a collection of unforgettable and, in many cases, soul-stirring spots. Through ads like Kmart’s engagingly soulful “Right here. Right now,” Pacific’s Bell’s amusingly familiar “Cousin Thomas,” and Coors’ sexy “Rock on,” an unbreakable connection has been made with consumers.
Welcome to the magical world of Carol H. Williams Advertising.
The chief executive confirms that every inch of her office is as strategic as one of the firm’s campaigns. “It is intentional, because that’s who I am,” Williams, 56, says of the agency that bears her name. “My home is always very celebratory, but also very peaceful, very intellectual. And so when I sought to create my own environment, I sought to have my creative pursuits come from a very beautiful and spiritual place.”
It has been this philosophy that has taken CHW from a small boutique in Oakland, California, 18 years ago to a supernova with satellite offices in Detroit, Chicago, and New York. At a time when many ad agencies — both general-market and ethnic — are regaining their footing in a rebounding economy, the agency has achieved forward momentum. For one, the prescient Williams stays at least 15 years ahead of psychographic, demographic, and cultural trends. And she has positioned herself to leverage, among other changing market dynamics, an African American segment that currently represents 13% of the total U.S. population and controls total money income of $631 billion. Asserts Jack Feuer, national news editor at Ad Week: “With the African American audience, there’s an additional chip on the table, and that’s their ability to influence the rest of the culture. That makes it even more of a coveted demographic.”
Williams is keenly aware of that fact, but her focus extends beyond the influences of the African American market. Her strategy: target clients’ needs and provide them with not only all-encompassing data related to the demographic but specific information on business opportunities within that market. To achieve this end, CHW uses new technology and quantitative analysis. Says Williams: “It keeps you ahead of the curve.”
CHW understands that in today’s market, clients believe “creative [advertising] without strategy is a commodity,” explains A. Patrick Buchanan, executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “Strategy is solid and that makes a difference.”
The result: CHW’s explosive growth. It has expanded its platinum roster of clients, which now includes General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Coors Light, Allstate, Kmart, Washington Mutual, Visa, and Crown Royal. In the past three years, the number of employees has increased by more than 250%, from 38 in 2001 to 135 today. And gross billings have surged by an eye-popping 130.7%, from $130 million in 2002 to $300 million in 2003. Due to CHW’s expansion in billings, the firm is gaining on GlobalHue, which posted gross billings of $325 million, for the top spot on the BE ADVERTISING AGENCIES list. This stellar performance has earned CHW the distinction of being named BE’S Advertising Agency of the Year — the second such kudo bestowed upon the firm in the past five years.
PASSION PRODUCES PROFITS
“I’m very good at what I do,” Williams states matter-of-factly. “And I don’t do it for the money. I really love it. I really love to problem solve. I really love the balance of science and art, understanding marketing strategies, helping to find emerging markets. To see results in the marketplace is like slam dunking a basketball. It’s the orgasm; it’s joy.”
Her magic is that she’s been able to share an infectious joy with others around her — mainly her employees, whom she considers brilliant. Recognizing weak areas and filling them with a talented, courageous professional is important, says Williams. How does one determine courage in an applicant? “Courage begins with being ok with who you are,” she explains. “I look for people who will take ownership in the agency. They look at this product as their product. The most important thing I give these people is their freedom.”
Buchanan echoes her sentiments. When Williams recruited him just under a year ago, her pitch was: “Wanna have some fun?” He adds: “Passion is the number one thing. You have to really love it. We look for people who are entrepreneurial. If they weren’t doing this, they could be really good doing it somewhere else on their own.”
The firm’s palpable energy has touched her clients as well. Says James Stengel, global marketing officer for Procter & Gamble, “She is a charismatic leader. The character of [her office],
the feel, the spirit. The whole culture blew me away while I was there. There’s clearly a high level of energy and engagement and rapport and harmony. It’s what you need in an agency to deliver outstanding work.”SLAM-DUNKING THE COMPETITION
Williams has the ability to excite clients by developing campaigns that resonate with consumers. In fact, Williams has a professional history of slam-dunking the competition. As a new entrant to the field of advertising with Leo Burnett in the 1970s, she gave birth to the endearing and very successful Pillsbury Dough Boy character with the catchy phrase, “Say hello to poppin’ fresh dough.” As an associate creative director, also at Leo Burnett, she developed another iconic slogan: “Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.” It revived the dying Secret antiperspirant brand from a No. 9 position in the market to No. 1 within seven months. “That line is simplistic genius, which often gets confused with nothing more than luck,” maintains Ken Smikle, president of Target Market News, a Chicago-based market research publication. “But Carol’s ability to consistently carve out nuggets of communicative genius really puts her in a place that very few other folks have been in this industry.”
Williams cut her teeth in advertising at some of the industry’s biggest agencies. A product of Chicago’s South Side, she intended to study medicine at Northwestern University. But as a 19-year-old junior, she found her true passion was writing plays for campus theater. The budding talent was discovered by Bill Sharp, a copy supervisor at J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, who noticed how one of her scripts engaged an audience. “They laughed where they were supposed to laugh,” reflects Williams. “It was the first time I discovered the alchemist in me.” Sharp invited her to participate in an advertising class sponsored by the American Association of Advertising Agencies — a move that propelled a dynamic career, taking Williams to the executive suites of the world’s leading agencies and, ultimately, to her own thriving enterprise.
Williams’ advantage is a strong general-market background. “She learned the fundamental principles of good advertising from folks who really set the bar in the industry,” Smikle explains. Couple that with the sensibilities of a young African American woman from Chicago, and “she literally c
reated a new perspective in advertising that hadn’t been seen before.”
Williams offers broad fundamentals for her success: passion, communication, clarity, and courage — intellectual components of the creative process. “Somehow the world has separated creativity from intelligence. I find that incredibly astounding,” she explains. “There’s absolutely no way you can be creative without having tremendous intelligence, [and] communication is the absolute epitome of intellectual prowess.”
Her business principles and distinctive taste continually set Williams apart from other marketers. Unlike many other black shops, she has refused to partner with mammoth general-market agencies. And Williams does not hesitate to terminate a relationship with a client she believes compromises the standards on which she built her firm. For example, she opted out of a contract with Bank of America for just that reason. “[It] was not a comfortable situation,” she says. “A huge client, but I have a philosophy that compatibility, and being able to advance who you are as a person is essential in my life. I don’t do what I do just for the money. I don’t have to.” According to Target Market News, a Bank of America spokesperson said, “We’re glad to have been associated with them and wish them continued success.”
COOKING UP CAMPAIGNS
At CHW, customer service is paramount. For example, the agency has created “road shows” in which clients lay out their business wish list and the firm, in turn, uses that exchange to identify strategies to drive revenues or capture market share. Another area is what the agency calls “business intelligence,” providing clients with commercial opportunities derived from market data on a particular segment. Clients also request customer relationship management competency applications that analyze shifting consumer needs and track revenue performance. In short, CHW measures how much product it moves off convenience store shelves as a result of one of its campaigns.
“Carol knows how to balance between the magic and the logic. So the magic is to attract consumers — to make sure that your commercial is going to have relevance with that consumer. The logic, because ultimately we’re trying to build a brand and sell a product. We need that logic to be persuasive with consumers. Achieving that balance is difficult,” Paul Mendieta, Coors Brewing Co.’s director of ethnic marketing says of CHW, which has developed commercials that have been used to reach ethnic and general-market consumers over the past five years. “What I can tell you for sure is that the attitude of African American young males toward our company and toward the Coors Light brand has increased significantly and that not only has an impact on our African American business, but [in the general market, as well] because African American consumers in urban markets have a lot of influence on what’s cool with the general market.”
When it comes to the development of marketing campaigns, CHW spends a great deal of time figuring out what elements will connect with consumers. Burned in the minds of its creative personnel is the company mantra: Whose eyes are you looking through when you view the world?
Asserts Clemons: “I don’t know how to make sushi. I know how to eat it. I know how it’s made, but that doesn’t mean I’m ever going to be a good sushi chef. Something about what we do makes us good chefs. We understand who it is we are speaking to. We understand it because we live it every day. We look through the eyes of our consumers.”
CHW used its signature approach in developing an innovative campaign for the Allstate account. The creative team first conducted exhaustive research, examining all aspects of the African American market. Then it mapped out a strategy to effectively marry Allstate’s business objectives with the consumer’s needs.
Using qualitative and quantitative research, CHW cooked up the commercial “Family Reunion” — a sentimental spot focused on enduring family values. The voice-over supplied by African American actor Dennis Haysbert (President David Palmer on FOX-TV’s 24), who is also featured in a series of Allstate’s general-market ads, connects to the viewer through this CHW-inspired monologue: “‘Need a tune-up, call Uncle Bobby. Need a job, call Aunt Gracie. You need insurance, just ask around because Allstate’s been in the family for over 50-something years.”
“[Our] creative is really smart because it is strategically creative and creatively strategic, and it all comes from consumer insight,” says Clemons. “When our consumers see it, it feels familiar and resonates from a place in their own mind-set — with the right triggers. When it comes out of Dennis’ mouth, he’s no longer only talking from the voice of Allstate. He’s also talking with me.”
The commercial also resonated with Allstate’s marketing brass. True to form, CHW encouraged the insurer to contract the Millward Brown Group, a global-market research agency, to measure the spot’s effectiveness. Williams and her team want to make sure that they’ve delivered. “We needed an agency that would really be a partner with us. [We needed an agency] that would understand the African American consumer and how to get the right messages to that consumer in a way that was going to help us build our business,” Jennifer Davis, director of multicultural marketing at Allstate, says of its three-year relationship with the agency.
As the influence of the African American market expands, CHW is not only poised for growth, but for dominance. You can bet that Williams and company will be working their brand of magic for years to come.