Coleman, Donald A. 1952–

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Donald A. Coleman 1952–

Advertising executive

Donald Coleman Advertising, Inc. (DCA) never shied away from being known as an African American agency. In one DCA print ad, the caption under a photo of a cup of coffee read, “How do you take your advertising? Well, if you want it to be successful, you take it rich and full-bodied. And if you want it to be strong, you take it Black.” The company’s founder and C.E.O., Donald Coleman, wouldn’t have it any other way. Coleman started his career in advertising by working for big, general-market agencies in Detroit and Chicago, but quickly made moves to launch an agency that was tailored specifically for minorities. While in his thirties, Coleman established what would become the third largest African American-owned advertising agency in the United States. DCA is noted for its Kmart, General Mills, Ameritech, and DaimlerChrysler ad campaigns, among many others. Coleman also demonstrated his foresight in multicultural marketing when he headed up a national alliance of marketing firms targeted at African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians.

Coleman may never have gone into advertising if his football career had not been cut short by injuries. A former linebacker for the University of Michigan, New Orleans Saints, and New York Jets, Coleman was permanently sidelined in 1977 due to a series of knee injuries. He’d already earned his B.A. at the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. in marketing from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, so Coleman was able to fall back on his education. In 1977, he began his career in advertising at Lintas Campbell-Ewald in Warren, Michigan. Lintas Campbell-Ewald was a major, general-market firm, and had little interest in Coleman’s observations of the incredibly underserved African American and Hispanic markets. Coleman, who rose to the position of vice president and management supervisor at Lintas Campbell-Ewald, decided he wanted to learn everything about the industry. In 1985, he moved to Chicago to accept a position as senior vice president for Burrell Advertising, an African American-owned company.

A Diverse New Agency

In 1988, Coleman moved back to Detroit and opened Donald Coleman & Associates (DCA). He was also able to lure away some of the more talented staff from Lintas

At a Glance…

Born Donald Alvin Coleman on January 11, 1952 in Toledo, OH; son of Augustus and Dorothy Bowers Coleman; married Jo Moore on October 5, 1976; children: Kelli. Education: University of Michigan, B.A., 1974; Hofstra University, M.B.A., 1976.

Career: Vice president, Lintas Campbell-Ewald Advertising, 1977-85; senior vice president, Burrell Advertising, 1985-87; president and C.E.O., Donald Coleman Advertising, Inc., Southfield, Ml, 1988-.

Member: NAACP; American Association of Advertising Agencies, 1988; advisory committee, Reggie McKenzie Foundation, 1988; National Association of Market Developers, 1989; executive board, Adcraft Club of Detroit; board of directors, Alma College; board of directors, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History; board of directors, Children’s Center of Michigan.

Awards: Advertising Agency of the Year, PRAME, 1997, Black Enterprise Advertising Agency of the Year, Black Enterprise magazine, 1998.

Addresses: Office— Donald Coleman Advertising, Inc., 26555 Evergreen Rd., 18th Floor, Southfield, Ml, 48076.

Campbell-Ewald and Burrell. By 1995, DCA had Domino’s Pizza, Chrysler, and General Mills on its client roster, and was seen as a first-tier advertising agency. In 1998, DCA was the third largest African American-owned ad agency in the United States, trailing only Burrell in Chicago and UniWorld Group in New York City. “No one else has graduated from a black agency, started their own business and then become a rival to that former employer,” Ken Smikle, president of Target Market News, a research firm that tracks African American consumers, told Black Enterprise about Coleman, “That’s important because it suggests that the next generation of black-owned ad agencies is in good hands.” Cassandra Hayes of Black Enterprise added: “The agency’s ability to meld innovative creative product with clever business strategy serves as a lead for the next generation of black advertising firms.” It was that blend of creative and business talent that earned DCA Black Enterprise’s 1998 Advertising Agency of the Year award. “They (DCA) have the ability to blend sophistication and hipness in their creative approach,” Smikle told Black Enterprise.

DCA seeks to capitalize on the brand awareness of African Americans without pandering to racial stereotypes. Coleman’s agency tries to “present an intelligent African-American image and mindset in everything we do,” W. Juan Roberts, a senior vice president and creative director at DCA, said in an interview with Black Enterprise, “We stay away from ’the ghetto’.” In her article in Black Enterprise, Cassandra Hayes defined “the ghetto” as “the hip-hop, finger-popping, singing, dancing, and dunking ads that have been laid before African-American consumers for so long.”

Brand-Name Recognition

Chrysler, now known as DaimlerChrysler, first started working with DCA in 1994. DCA was in charge of minority advertising, promotions, and special events for the Neon, Cirrus, Intrepid, and Jeep vehicles. Chrysler’s selection of DCA for its minority advertising proved to be a wise choice. The company’s share of the African American automotive market increased from 13.8 percent in 1994 to 17.9 percent in 1996. “We had to show African Americans that these cars fit their lifestyles,” Coleman told Black En terprise in reference to Chrysler.

In 1997, DCA earned the business of the Kmart Corporation and its numerous Kmart and Super Kmart retail stores. Kmart hired DCA as a specialty agency to focus marketing on African American shoppers. Kmart declared it’s commitment to meeting the needs of African American consumers, and Coleman remarked in the New York Beacon that he was excited to provide his services to a major retailer.

Worked Tirelessly for Clients

Coleman’s business acumen is simple. “It’s to learn everything about the client, strategically attack the competition, establish product identity, and grow the client’s business,” he remarked in an interview with Black Enterprise. That philosophy has made DCA the fastest-growing African American advertising firm. In order to become better identified as an advertising agency, Coleman elected to change the firm’s name from Donald Coleman & Associates to Donald Coleman Advertising, Inc.

In 1999 DCA joined True North Diversified Companies, under its New America Strategies Group (NASG), the company’s multicultural offshoot. True North gained a 49 percent interest in DCA, and named Coleman as the head of NASG. The merger gave DCA the resources of the largest multicultural marketing-firm network in the U.S. and NASG added DCA to its billings, which would increase to about $200 million. NASG also boasted that it was the only partnership with the resources to target the African American, Hispanic, and Asian markets simultaneously. In an interview with Black Enterprise, Coleman remarked that he was pleased with the merger: “This network represents a new and compelling model with the potential to create a strong link between the mainstream advertisers and America’s growing multicultural communities. The credibility and experience we are providing now will make corporate America more comfortable in addressing multiculturalism. It’s going to be a lot easier for companies to get involved in these markets through us because we are all working together.”

Although many general-market agencies have started ethnic-market “boutique” agencies to try to compete for African American advertising dollars, Coleman never had an interest in seeking out general-market accounts. Instead, he focused on developing the African American and multicultural markets, which represent his agency’s greatest strength. “Why would I jump into that shark tank [developing general-market accounts] when I’m dealing with the fastest-growing ethnic segment that my general-market competition knows nothing about?” Coleman told Black Enterprise.