11968: Saluting Bill Sharp.

The Marcus Graham Project and Leo Burnett are “celebrating 45 years of enlightenment” with a tribute to the late adman Bill Sharp, author of “How to be Black and Get a Job in the Advertising Agency Business Anyway.” Um, Leo Burnett is hardly qualified to party over 45 years of enlightenment—hell, the place can’t claim 45 minutes of cultural competency. Regardless, the event takes place at Leo Burnett on August 7 from 5:00-8:00 pm. RSVP here.

A celebration of the man and the mission

The Marcus Graham Project and Leo Burnett invite you to join us in celebrating 45 years of enlightenment as we relaunch a book written by the late advertising industry diversity pioneer Bill Sharp. His book, “How to be Black and Get a Job in Advertising Anyway” was written as an agency primer in conjunction with the Basic Advertising Course, created as one of the first programs to address training diverse leaders in the ad business.

The Marcus Graham Project, along with the Sharp Family and Sticky Docs have been working to relaunch a modern version of the book, soon to be available as an app in the Apple Store.

The event will feature prominent Chicago advertising leaders and veterans honoring the great man who started the important mission of bringing more opportunities and diverse perspectives to advertising, right here in Chicago.

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Space is limited.

11316: William ‘Bill’ Sharp (1930-2013).

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution…

William ‘Bill’ Sharp, 83: Advertising trailblazer

By Michelle E. Shaw

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Bill Sharp always had ideas. A natural salesman, the Chicago native found a way to start a new career, and managed to make it to the top of his field in fairly short order.

“He was over 30 years old when he decided to get into advertising,” said Tom Burrell, a colleague who is also Sharp’s cousin, “but he made up for lost time once he got in there.”

In the ’60s, Sharp landed an entry-level job in Chicago, and by 1971, Sharp moved his wife and three children to Atlanta, where he’d accepted a job with Coca-Cola. Sharp spent 10 years with Coca-Cola as a company vice president and advertising manager.

“Bill’s story is an amazing story,” Burrell said. “It is a profile of someone who willed himself to a better place.”

William Sharp, called Bill by most, of Atlanta died July 23 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 83.

A memorial service is scheduled for Aug. 10 in Chicago. H.M. Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Hill, was in charge of cremation arrangements.

Born on the South Side of the Windy City, Sharp was originally a salesman, said his daughter, Dianne Sharp Parks of Fayetteville. He was also a naturally gifted writer who loved using his imagination. “He was a real idea guy, and he was an entrepreneur to his core,” she said.

Before Sharp moved to Atlanta, he noticed there weren’t many blacks in the advertising business, and he wanted to do something about that. As a group supervisor at J. Walter Thompson in Chicago, Sharp created an initiative called the Basic Advertising Course, designed to help African-Americans learn the business.

The course was co-sponsored by his employer and the American Association of Advertising Agencies. The course helped “pave the way for African-American advertising practitioners as well as the hundreds of individuals who have continued his legacy of breaking barriers,” 4A president and chief executive Nancy Hill wrote in a letter to Sharp’s family last week.

Lincoln Stephens, director and co-founder of the Marcus Graham Project, said Sharp’s work enabled countless blacks to break into advertising.

“His efforts were not only landmark, they were necessary,” he said, “and that work continues on now in what we do, and the work of other organizations.”

Sharp stayed at Coke until the early ‘80s, when Burrell’s Chicago-based company established an Atlanta presence. In his work with what was then Burrell Advertising Inc., Sharp continued to work with Coke, as it had been one of Burrell’s clients for a decade.

While working with Burrell, Sharp took a special interest in minorities in the advertising business, and how people of color were portrayed in commercials and by the media, his daughter said. In 1990, Bill Sharp started his own ad firm, Sharp Advertising Inc., which specialized in African-American marketing and advertising. That firm, which grew to be one of the largest minority-owned ad agencies in the South, closed in 1998, at which time he began teaching advertising at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

During his more-than-40-year career, Sharp stayed fairly upbeat and optimistic about the state of affairs for minorities in advertising. But then again, he often managed to see the good in things, Burrell said.

“We were driving along Lakeshore Drive one day, and it was one of those overcast, cloudy Chicago-gray days,” Burrell said. “And he looked over and said, ‘Look at that bright shade of gray!’ And I thought, are you kidding? Bright shade of gray? But now I often refer to that when I’m thinking about things being bad. I stop and look for the good, or the bright shade of gray.”

In addition to his daughter Parks, Sharp is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Doris Sharp of Atlanta; and sons, Greg Sharp of Hamburg, Germany, and Michael Sharp of East Point.

10809: Alleged Award-Winning Hypocrisy.

Agency Spy posted a Blind Item about an HR director who allegedly accidentally sent an agency-wide email including an attachment listing each staffer’s salary. Tipsters claimed the figures showed female workers being paid significantly less than male counterparts, as well as a bunch of inconsistent pay standards. Now, it’s no big secret that incomes can vary widely at shops—even for equal positions—as a variety of subjective criteria factor into employment agreements. Then again, a clear pattern of discriminatory pay levels could inspire legitimate legal actions. To make matters worse, the post comments identified the agency as JWT Atlanta, sponsor and coordinator of the Bill Sharp Award for diversity in the industry. So if it’s true that the shop has a biased payroll, the place deserves an award for hypocrisy—but don’t expect them to display it in the company trophy case.

9281: Look Sharp With Bill Sharp Award.

From JWT.com…

JWT HONORS BILL SHARP

Bill Sharp Award Ceremony / JWT Atlanta

JWT Atlanta celebrates the winner of the first Bill Sharp Award, a student grant awarded to one African American student to support their pursuit of a career in the advertising industry. The award is named after the famed African American advertising executive and industry diversity pioneer, William “Bill” Sharp. While working as a Group Copy Supervisor at JWT in the late 1960s, Bill co-created and ran the Basic Advertising Course, which helped African Americans learn the business of advertising. In 1969, Bill published a book, How To Be Black and Get a Job in the Advertising Agency Business Anyway. His work and lasting devotion to helping create opportunities in the business for African Americans has touched thousands of individuals in the industry, and we are proud to honor his legacy.

6538: Go To Hall.

The American Advertising Federation will hold the 60th Annual Advertising Hall of Fame Ceremony on March 26 in New York City. This year’s inductees include Clarence Holte and William “Bill” Sharp.


Clarence Holte
Former Head of Special Markets, BBDO New York

Clarence LeRoy Holte was a pioneer specialist in ethnic markets and publisher and founder of Nubian Press Inc. in New York City.

Clarence Holte was born February 19, 1909 in Norfolk, Va. He attended Lincoln University (Pa.), the American Institute of Banking and the New School of Social Research, both in New York City. He joined Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, Inc. (BBDO) in 1952 and was the first African-American to reach the executive level in a general-market advertising firm. In his work at BBDO, he often traveled to Europe and Africa, where he found inspiration to develop the first advertising campaign that associated a brand with black history. It was called “The Ingenious Americans” campaign and was created for National Distillers’ Old Taylor brand.

Prior to joining BBDO, Holte worked as a teller at Dunbar National bank in Harlem in the 1930s before joining the Works Progress Administration. In 1944, he was hired as a sales representative for Lever Brothers Company.

Holte remained with BBDO for about 20 years, leaving to start Nubian Press in 1971. Its first product, Nubian Baby Book, was designed to acquaint black children with their African-American heritage.

An avid book collector, Holte had a collection of over 7,000 books acquired from all over the world on black history and culture. At one time, it was considered one of the largest and most valuable (over $400,000) private collection of its kind in the world.

In 1979, the Clarence L. Holte Literary Prize was created to recognize work dealing with the cultural heritage of black Americans. And in 1981, Lincoln University awarded him an honorary doctorate degree.

Since 2001, BBDO has sponsored the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) Clarence LeRoy Holte Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) award. The award is given each year to a student who exemplifies outstanding leadership an initiative and a passion for our business, who embraces its principles, and who demonstrates poise, compassion and consideration of the team effort.

Clarence Leroy Holte, a personification of all of the aforementioned attributes, died in Oakland, Calif., at the age of 85 in 1993. He is survived by his daughter, Helen Holte, DDS, and two grandchildren.


William “Bill” Sharp
Former VP/Advertising Manager, Coca-Cola USA; Former SVP & General Manager, Burrell Advertising; Retired President & Founder, Sharp Advertising

William Sharp, retired founder and CEO of Sharp Advertising Inc., is currently a consultant and adjunct marketing professor at Goizueta Business School at Emory University. Sharp opened his Atlanta-based agency in 1990 and served regional and national clients such as Southern Company, Georgia Power, Barnett Bank Inc., Burger King, Canaan Shoes Inc., Bell South and the Coca-Cola Company.

As senior vice president and general manager of Burrell Advertising/Atlanta, Sharp developed targeted advertising for Coca-Cola USA, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), Underground Atlanta and Georgia Power.

For nearly 10 years as vice president, advertising manager for Coca-Cola USA, Sharp managed all of the advertising for all of the company’s soft drink brands.

Sharp’s experience includes service as director of communications for the Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington, D.C.; copywriter for EURO RSCG Tatham; copy supervisor for Leo Burnett and group supervisor for J. Walter Thompson.

Sharp is well known in the advertising community for his expertise and achievements in communications, for his community involvement and for his contributions to motivating minority youth.

Sharp is the recipient of numerous awards including, Ad Man of the Year for Southern Magazine and The Art Directors Club of New York Award. He is also a noted lecturer; and was the founder/instructor of the “Basic Ad Course,” a American Association of Advertising Agencies–sponsored program that prepared minority people for professional careers in advertising. Sharp also wrote and published a book entitled, How to Be Black and Get a Job in the Advertising Business Anyway.

Sharp is listed in Who’s Who in America; Who’s Who Worldwide and Who’s Who in Advertising. He is immediate past chairman of the Atlanta Educational Telecommunication Collaborative (AETC), the organization that manages and operates WPBA-TV and WABE-FM, Atlanta’s public broadcasting stations. Sharp is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council, Goizueta Business School, Emory University, and a member of the executive board of the NAACP/Atlanta Branch and serves on President Carter’s Board of Councilors for the Carter Center.

Sharp’s past associations include chairman of the board of the American Advertising Federation, chairman of the National Academy of Engineering Telecommunications Subcommittee on Education, and past member of the Association of National Advertisers board of directors and the Federal Inter-Agency Media Committee that served to recommend communications policies to the president of the United States.