Reflections on Success Vincent T. Cullers

Young people should get involved-wherever it is. In advertising, some don’t want to work with Black agencies. Some want to join major advertising firms. We also need entrepreneurs and people who will make contributions to the community. For years, our agency actually functioned as a training ground for many young students seeking their first exposure to the ad industry. We would teach them and they would move on. It was not the best way to develop a business, but I enjoyed it.

Thirty years ago, we were the one and only ethnic agency. We were inventing the wheel. The market potential was tremendous even then. The Black consumer was not very difficult to reach. There were strong, clear definitions of what Black people were. Today, Black people have evolved. The emerging market is still Black, but many of us are still trying to assimilate. This makes it more difficult to penetrate and reach the Black audience.

The ethnic agencies still seldom have the budgets the general market agencies receive——but that doesn’t mean we produce ads of lower quality. In fact, we are forced to be more innovative because we have less to work with. In the final analysis, it’s not the money that produces excellent advertising for clients——it’s talent. Clients respect talent. It’s always hard to start something new and different. The general condition for Blacks in the business was bad. I’m sorry to say it’s not too much better now. There was and is a problem of racism. When we began, white clients were reluctant to spend money on the Black market. They didn’t understand it. Some didn’t even believe it existed. We spent a lot of frustrating years knowing we had the knowledge to get a job done that others didn’t even realize needed to be done. It has been a long and difficult journey, but if I could begin my career over again, I’d choose to become an ad man. This is one of the most exciting, rewarding careers in the world. Despite the many hardships, I would do it all over again.

Vincent T. Cullers, Chairman and CEO, Vince Cullers Advertising, Inc.